1. CONSERVATION SECURITY ACT INTRODUCED

Yesterday, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) unveiled a visionary new piece of
farm conservation legislation called the Conservation Security Act.
(CSA). In introducing the bill, Senator Harkin emphasized that the CSA
provides a comprehensive, locally driven, flexible approach to
agricultural conservation on lands in production. "Under the
Conservation Security Act," said Harkin, "ranchers and farmers
(including producers of fruits, vegetables, specialty crops, row crops and
livestock) would receive payment for voluntarily maintaining or adopting
conservation practices that enhance the environment, natural resources
and wildlife habitat. The bill was introduced with 16 co-sponsors in the
Senate and 14 in the house.

To learn more about the CSA see http://www.familyfarmer.org The bill
number in the Senate is S.932 and can be viewed on the internet at
http://thomas.loc.gov/

2. WILL CONGRESS INVESTIGATE BIG AG?

These days, at every turn family and independent farmers are calling for  
federal investigations into corporate agribusiness. Producers maintain
"Big Ag" unfairly manipulates their markets and misrepresents the voice
of the farmer. Plagued by record low prices and rapid rural decay,
producers are increasingly demanding scrutiny by Congress. Last
week, on the heels of an ongoing cry by family pork producers to
scrutinize the "sleazy, backroom deals" of the National Pork Producers
Council, the National Farmers Livestock Association demanded scrutiny
on cattle price fixing. NFL Director Brian Harris said, "Producers
continue to be manipulated out of profits, with little or no repercussions
for those whose pockets are being lined with livestock dollars. Enough
is enough, we encourage producers and consumers to contact their
Senate and House representatives and demand a full investigation."
Last year at this time over 20,000 individuals and over 200 groups
nationally called for an investigation into the American Farm Bureau and
related businesses. To date Congress has made no attempts to
investigate any of these growing concerns.

To read more about how corporate "Big Ag" has co-opted the voice of
the farmer see http://www.familyfarmer.org/sections/corpcontrol.html
To sign on to a call for an investigation into business leadership of the
American Farm Bureau federation go to:
http://www.defenders.org/rural3.html

3. THE OIL GAME: RISING PRICES BUT WHERE'S THE CRISIS?

In a guest editorial May 17, 2001 in the Washington Post former
President Jimmy Carter asks the responsible question regarding the
rapidly rising price of gas and oil - where is the crisis? As a president
who lived through the very real oil crises of 1973 and 1979 Carter stated
concisely in the editorial that current "energy supplies are adequate and
stable." Further, Carter added, "Some officials are using misinformation
and scare tactics to justify such environmental atrocities as drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.'' "Forbes" magazine addresses the
issue directly in their 'on-line" article entitled "There is no energy crisis!"
After citing statistics on the use of oil over the last two decades the
article quotes R. Martin Chavez, chief executive of Kiodex, a company
which supplies software to corporations for managing their energy costs.
"There is no energy crisis," adds Chavez. "There are more known
reserves now than there ever has been." Meanwhile, in rural America,
the prices of oil and other farm inputs skyrocket. With all the
concentration and price fixing underway in similar pockets of the
agribusiness sector - the question must be asked - is the American
farmer being gouged and what is the federal government prepared to do
about it?

4. WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE CHILDREN?

A recent study of children in Belgium, published in "New Scientist"
Magazine, indicates that a residue of the pesticide DDT is suspect in the
onset of premature adolescence in children. The study compared
immigrant children from developing countries with Belgian-born children
and found that the immigrant children were more likely to exhibit both
elevated of the chemical (DDE) and unusually early onset of puberty.
DDE, which researchers suspect acts like a human hormone to stimulate
sexual development, is a derivative of the pesticide DDT, which was
outlawed in the United States and Europe but is still widely used in many
other countries. The study cautions that research needs to be done to
make sure that the early puberty isn't linked to genetics, change in diet,
or environmental factors other than DDT. However, the findings add to
the body of evidence supporting long standing concerns that hormone-mimicking pesticides might be affecting children in ways that could lead to reproductive difficulties or cancers.

For text of article, visit http://www.newscientist.com