While the huge federal budget surplus has sparked record tax cuts, a House subcommittee on agriculture is recommending "ZERO FUNDING" for three key ag conservation programs: the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), the Wildlife Habitats Incentive Programs (WHIP) and the Farmland Protection Program (FPP). These three voluntary, incentive based programs protect hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat and the wildlife that depend on it. They also often provide the only means family farmers and ranchers have to properly steward the land. While cutting the funding for such programs is a theme of the Bush Administration, a coalition of over eighty national and local farming, church, conservation and hunting and fishing groups take the position that incentive based ag conservation should be supported. To view a letter to Congress signed by these groups calling for more funding for farm conservation programs see: http://www.familyfarmer.org/alerts/letter.html

2. RURAL ADVOCATES URGE HARKIN TO OPPOSE THOMAS DORR NOMINATION

Rural advocates were outraged when Thomas Dorr of Iowa was nominated for the position of USDA's Undersecretary in charge of Rural Development. Dorr, who has openly made statements supporting large scale corporate factory farms, has been called the "poster boy for corporate agriculture." Now, in less than a week over 155 groups have signed a letter urging Senate Majority leader Tom Harkin (D-IA) oppose Dorr's nomination. The letter cites his "resistance to sustainable agriculture, and his comments tying rural economic development to a lack of ethnic and religious diversity." The Iowa CCI is spearheading this effort as part of the National Farm Action Campaign. (NFAC) Key groups in the NFAC include FARM AID, The Missouri Rural Crisis Center, The Federation of Southern Cooperatives, The Western Organization of Resource Councils, The National Family Farm Coalition and the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. These groups plan to present the letter to Senator Harkin on Wednesday June 13, 2001. To view the letter or learn more about Thomas Dorr see: http://www.familyfarmer.org/alerts/actiondor.html

3. ACTION NEEDED -- HELP TYSON'S WORKERS GET FAIR WAGES!

While Tyson and Purdue Chicken is profiting well from factory chicken farming, the workers who endure the horrors of "chicken catching" are not. Your action is needed to help these folks get full compensation for their overtime work. These workers round up as many as 60,000 chickens per day in the huge chicken factories run by poultry giants Perdue and Tyson. They have been denied overtime pay, benefits, and full employee status by the companies who depend on these workers to keep their chicken-processing assembly line running. With the help of the Delmarva Poulty Justice Alliance, chicken catchers at Perdue recently won $2.4 million in back pay and the right to be recognized as full employees. But many of the workers at Tyson are still struggling to receive fair treatment. In response to the suit filed by the workers, Tyson offered in April to settle out of court for 1/20th of the amount they owe the workers. 

Please contact Tyson and let them know that the company whose logo is "It's What Your Family Deserves," should give its workers what their families deserve.  

You can call Tyson at 1-800-233-6332, email them at nicholsone@tyson.com or send a letter to: Mr. John Tyson Foods, Inc., P.O. Box 2020, Springdale, AR 72765.

Tell them that: 1) That they should reach an out of court settlement that is satisfactory to the Delmarva chicken catchers by June 15. 2) They should hire all chicken catchers as full-time employees with full benefits and fair wages.

For more information, see the Delmarva Poultry Justice Alliance website at http://www.dpja.org

This month's issue of Earth Island Journal reports on the resurgence of wind power as a source of income for family farmers. "Landowners who lease their land to wind plant developers typically earn $1,500-2,000 annually for 30 years for each large scale wind turbine on their land," the article reports. Given that each turbine requires relatively little acreage, this can amount to a per-acre income that is 10-25 times greater than what the average farmer earns from commodity sales. When careful planning is undertaken to ensure that turbines are designed and located in a way that minimizes bird collisions, wind power can be the one of the most environmentally friendly forms of energy production, and some studies have shown that customers are willing to pay a premium for electricity generated in this way. The current combination of high energy prices and low farm commodity prices indicates that the time is right for farm-based wind programs that will meet the demand for clean, domestic energy and allow farmers to boost their incomes. More information about wind power, designing turbines, and minimizing bird impacts is available through the National Wind Technology Center.