Department of Agriculture

www.usda.gov

In 2009, the USDA will spend about $95 billion, according to budget estimates, and it's not just about agriculture. In addition to subsidies to ranchers and farmers, the agency handles nutrition, school lunches, promoting exports, WIC, ag research, soil and water conservation, managing the national forests, marketing commodities domestically, inspecting food, rural development, preparing against Avian flu and developing renewable energy sources such as biofuels.

Location

Subsidies

The subsidies, which were about $81 billion from 2004-2008, generate the most controversy, especially when the farm bill is up for debate. Although Congress rewrites it every few years, the lobbying starts early and the work usually runs long.

Here is a synopsis of the types of subsidy programs, from a USDA publication:

• Fixed income transfers (sometimes referred to as "decoupled payments") do not depend on the farmer's production choices, output levels, or market conditions. These include production flexibility contract and fixed direct payments. They cover subsidized “program” crops such as wheat, corn, cotton and rice.

• Marketing loan and other miscellaneous program benefits augment market receipts when commodity prices are low and depend on the farmer's production and market conditions. These include loan deficiency payments.

• Ad hoc and emergency payments compensate eligible farmers for economic or natural disasters. These include crop disaster payments, dairy indemnity and market loss payments, livestock compensation and emergency assistance payments, among others.

• Conservation payments reimburse participating farmers for all or part of the cost of implementing conservation practices. These include Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetland Reserve Program, and Environmental Quality Incentive Program payments, among others.

For a complete glossary of terms: www.ers.usda.gov/Features/FarmBill/2002glossary.htm

Mad cow, aka Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or BSE

If a case turns up in your state, you will need to plug into the USDA's Chief Veterinary Officer and his staff, which is the federal office in charge of investigating. They are part of the USDA'S Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). This issue is also related to a national animal identification system that is in the works. A website with a primer about the disease and contact names and numbers: www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_issues/bse.shtml

Black farmers

A 1999 consent decree was designed to compensate black farmers who were denied loans for discriminatory reasons. While the USDA did not admit fault, the decree has paid out or forgiven loans worth about $900 million over the years. The terms of the decree continue to be a source of controversy, especially among farmers who have again been denied assistance.
Website with up to date statistics on the Pigford settlement for black farmers:
http://www.pigfordmonitor.org/index.htm

www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/Environment_Agriculture.shtml
Overview on every facet of agriculture

Congressional Committees

U.S. House Committee on Agriculture

April Slayton, press secretary
april.slayton@mail.house.gov

Chairman Collin Peterson, D-MN

Ranking Republican Frank Lucas, R-OK

The committee has a handy searchable glossary of ag terms at http://agriculture.house.gov/info/glossary.html
 

U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry

Grant Gustafson, press secretary

Chairman Tom Harkin D-IA.

Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss, R-GA

Lobby

American Farm Bureau Federation (www.fb.org)

Largest farm organization in the U.S.

Bob Stallman, president
bstallman@fb.org

Don Lipton, director, public relations

Mace Thornton, deputy director, public relations
macet@fb.org

Phyllis Brown, assistant director, public relations
phyllisb@fb.org

Tracy Taylor Grondine, director, media relations
tracyg@fb.org

Find a full staff directory with phone numbers and
email addresses at
http://www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=about.staff.
 
The Farm Bureau has affiliates in all 50 states, many of whom also have representatives in Washington. Here is a link to the state by state info: www.fb.org/state/

National Farmers Union (www.nfu.org)

Represents small and family farms; more liberal, populist than the Farm Bureau.

Roger Johnson, president

Liz Friedlancer, director of communications
lfriedlander@nfudc.org

Also has affiliates in some states: www.nfu.org/in-the-states/
 

Associations

Cenex Harvest States
www.chsinc.com
one of biggest farmer-owned cooperatives in the U.S.

Lani Jordan, director of communications
lani.jordan@chsinc.com

Does this agency's information need updating? programs@nationalpress.org