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1. 118 Organizations Sign Letter To Bush Opposing Dorr
2. New "EQIP" Meant For Factory Farms?
3. New Zealand Burns 30 Tons of GMO Seeds
4. Cargill Pays: Manager Does Time For Sewage Spill

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1. 118 GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS SIGN LETTER TO BUSH OPPOSING DORR

With the help of Rural UPdates! action-oriented readers, the National Family Farm Coalition found the support of 118 organizations nationwide in signing a letter to President Bush opposing his "recess appointment" of Thomas Dorr as Undersecretary for Rural Development. As we reported in last weeks action alert, the Senate Ag Committee recently rejected Dorr saying he was unfit for the job. (See article at: www.familyfarmer.org/updates/081602.html) As soon as the Senate left town for their summer recess the President appointed Dorr in defiance of the committee. Yesterday, in a press release about the affair, the Western Organization of Resource Councils blasted the President saying, "You [President Bush] have ignored the multitude of voices of protest that have been raised to this nomination and have trumped the right of our elected Senators to judge the fitness of Mr. Dorr's candidacy. You seem to have no qualms about appointing a man whose ethical, moral and business conduct falls far short of the minimum publicized standards set by your Administration. Stay tuned for the Presidents response. Read the letter at: www.familyfarmer.org/alerts/actiondor.html

While a progressive alliance of rural advocates helped to advance the most generous Conservation title in Farm Bill history, one particular program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), received the lion's share of the new funding. Why? Everyone watching the Beltway's political scene knew the well-heeled agribusiness lobbyists were buzzing the hill like bees around honey. They knew the family farm-conservation lobby was strong and instead of fighting the conservation trend, they decided to co-opt it and helped steer the federal honey pot towards a program that could, with a small change, benefit agribusiness - EQIP.

Livestock facilities over a certain size used to be ineligible for EQIP funding - not anymore. The recent Farm Bill removed all safeguards that prevented Factory Farms from qualifying for EQIP funds. Now the factory farms that have been rural environmental nightmares that undercut sustainable producers are eligible for billions in federal subsidies. To add insult to injury, CAFO's (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) can use up to 60% of the entire program funding! Rural UPdates! will be keeping you posted on upcoming efforts to minimize the impact of this change.

3. CARGILL PAYS - MANAGER DOES TIME FOR SEWAGE SPILL

In February, Cargill, a multi-billion dollar international agribusiness giant with financial tentacles that stretch into all hemispheres of the globe, agreed to pay a $1 million fine and $51,779 in restitution for violating the Clean Water Act. The agreement was reached after the government determined that Cargill illegally dumped hog manure from an 18,600 unit factory farm creating a three-mile dead zone and killing more than 53,000 fish on a five mile stretch of the Loutre river near Martinsburg, MO. The dumping killed white crappie, minnows, darters, blue gill, shad and bass. Adult frogs in the contaminated zone were the only survivors. Now, the Columbia Dailey Tribune is reporting that the Cargill farm manager has been sentenced to five months in prison on federal charges that he knowingly allowed the illegal dumping. U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton also ordered Duane Connor, 40, now living in Iowa, to spend five months on house arrest after his prison term.

Last week in Auckland, New Zealand the Australian seed manufacturing giant "Pacific Seeds" burned more than 30 tons of maize seed, after it emerged that the seed was contaminated with genetically modified material. New Zealand, one of the few countries in the world to ban genetically modified plants or seeds, becomes the latest staging area in the skirmish over the dangers of GMO crops. Opponents of GMO technology argue that the "drift" of genetically engineered seeds will infect cultivar and native species, while proponents argue that genetic movement can be contained. In New Zealand, according to the Australian ABC Rural News, the Ministry of Agriculture has reassured consumers that the affected corn seed has not entered the food chain and it has not been determined how the contaminated seed ended up in the seed crop distributed to New Zealand producers.