1.  BUSH TO REVERSE FACTORY FARM REGULATIONS

Tom Raum of the Associated Press reported Saturday, Jan. 20, that President elect Bush "will issue an order that would effectively block a series of President Clinton's outgoing executive orders.

Among those that affected", reported Raum, "are new environmental restrictions that the Clinton administration announced earlier this week to stem runoff from animal feeding operations." According to Raum, "Bush will impose a moratorium that would for the time being block any new rules from being printed in the Federal Register. That would essentially block the most recent of Clinton's executive orders, since most rules can't take effect until they've appeared in the Federal Register for a certain period of time." At the time of this writing it is not clear if Bush's decision will also impact efforts to reduce pollution in the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone." (See story below)

2. FARMERS VOW TO PROTECT "CHECKOFF" VICTORY

Last week family farmers and environmentalists celebrated a stunning victory over corporate agribusiness. They abolished a mandatory "tax" they said was being used to advance factory hog production over family farming. This tax, called a "checkoff" was voted out in a GrassRoots effort advanced by the Campaign for Family Farms and others. Now the National Pork Producers Council, the sole beneficiary of the mandatory fee, is suing to have the results overturned. Rhonda Perry, a hog farmer and a spokeswoman for the Campaign for Family Farms vowed "that producers would work together to protect their victory and the democratic vote from the legal maneuvering of NPPC." For more information call Mark Schultz, Land Stewardship Project, 612-722-6377 Rhonda Perry, Missouri Rural Crisis Center, 573-449-1336 Hugh Espey, Iowa CCI, 515-282- 0484 Martin King, Illinois Stewardship Alliance, 217- 498-9707

3. CLINTON ADVANCES PLAN FOR GULF DEADZONE

According to Newswire, Jan. 19, the out-going Clinton Administration "announced a long term plan" for reducing the size of the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. The final plan, released earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency, calls for improvement through a series of specific, practical, and cost-effective voluntary actions and incentives for farmers. The "dead zone" is caused when excessive nitrogen pollutants from fertilizer and animal wastes -- increase growth of algae. To meet this goal, the White House plan calls for increases in financial and technical assistance for landowners implementing conservation measures and the development of new partnerships to reduce polluted runoff into the basin.

4. FARM BUREAU CALLS PESTICIDE SETTLEMENT A SLAP

In 1999, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over what they claimed was failure by the EPA to meet deadlines in the classifications of certain chemicals used in agricultural production. NRDC has repeatedly expressed concerns over the effects of these chemicals on consumers including the effects on farm children. See http://www.nrdc.org/health/kids/nfarm.asp. On January 19, 2001 a settlement was reached between the EPA and the NRDC that would require EPA to enforce regulation of these pesticides. In a press release that can be found on their website, the American Farm Bureau Federation is calling the settlement a "slap in the face" of "farmers and ranchers." See: http://www.fb.com. Several Farm Bureau Insurance companies have large stock investments in various pesticide manufacturers including Monsanto, DuPont and Novartis.

To learn more about the Farm Bureau leadership policies and financial connections go to http://www.familyfarmer.org/awg.html. To join a national GrassRoots call for an investigation into the leadership of the American Farm Bureau visit: http://www.defenders.org/rural3.html.