Competition in the American Economy

Today President Biden signed an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. It includes the agriculture sector. He intends for the Department of Agriculture to toughen enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act by making rules that clearly identify unfair and unjust practices, reinforce the interpretation that a violation of the act doesn't … Continue reading Competition in the American Economy →

Public Comments to Federal Agencies

I was recently involved in my first attempt at making a public comment to a federal agency, in this case The Department of Agriculture. It was a great learning experience, though I'm sure we could do a much better job the second time around. My first lesson was that we need to allow LOTS of … Continue reading Public Comments to Federal Agencies →

County Urban Agriculture Committees

County Committees have deep roots The US Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency had its origins (under another name) in the 1930s as part of an effort by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help farmers during the Great Depression. County committees of farmers have been a significant means for the agency to keep … Continue reading County Urban Agriculture Committees →

Federal Farm Policy-AFT

Free Range Conversations from American Farmland Trust (AFT) talks about federal farm policy. Host: Greg Plotkin, Digital Communications Manager, AFTGuest: Tim Fink, Policy Director, AFTEmily Liss, a Federal Policy Associate, AFT Streamed live on Jan 21, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/embed/YsTKTsuVeI4 AFT's 2021 Transition Recommendations: Develop a USDA Cover Crop InitiativeEstablish a Commission on Farm TransitionsMaximize the Economic … Continue reading Federal Farm Policy-AFT →

Progress Report-US

The whole point of this blog is that it's a work in progress. Here's my progreess so far on US policy. (Eventually I'll get around to California and local policy.) First, I'm specifically interested in food production as it relates to climate. There are two federal bodies that deal primarily with food, the Department of … Continue reading Progress Report-US →

Agriculture Resilience Act

This bill, introduced by Chellie Pingree, is dead this session, but bills that fail aren't necessarily gone. They can be reintroduced, sometimes modified in ways that make them more passable. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition considers the bill one of the good things that happened in agriculture in 2020, so it's something I'd like to … Continue reading Agriculture Resilience Act →

Urban-Rural Divide

Bill Hogseth Worth a read: Why Democrats Keep Losing Rural Counties Like Mine, by Bill Hogseth, chair of the Dunn County Democratic Party in Wisconsin, in Politico, 12/01/2020. He details how consolidation in the food industry -- that is, big companies buying out smaller ones and then moving on to consume each other -- is … Continue reading Urban-Rural Divide →

Big Ag and Antitrust, a Conference

Yale law school is offering a free online conference on January 16, 2021, “Big Ag & Antitrust: Competition Policy for a Sustainable and Humane Food System,” 6 am (ouch!) to 2 pm. I'm signed up! Six am is early, but it's better than the event I attended that was set in Europe. Bill Bullard, the CEO … Continue reading Big Ag and Antitrust, a Conference →

Vilsack

Tom Vilsack is Biden's pick for Agriculture Secretary according to Politico, though a formal announcement hasn't been made yet. Vilsack has already served in that role under Obama, and advised on rural and agriculture policy during Biden's campaign. He is definitely not a wild-eyed reformer. I suppose that means he'd be easier to get confirmed, … Continue reading Vilsack →

The People’s Department

The Department of Agriculture should renew its mission as "the people's department," as President Lincoln called it when he created it. That's the argument made by Ricardo Salvador from the Union of Concerned Scientists and food writer Mark Bittman in a New York Times opinion piece last week. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/opinion/usda-agriculture-secretary-biden.html Phil Lempert, the "supermarket guru" and … Continue reading The People’s Department →