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Farm Bill
Update
Contact Your
Representatives Today and Urge Action!
 On Tuesday, Feb.
29, President Bush made his State
of the Union address, and made pleas to Congress to
cut earmarks, pass an economic stimulus package and
increase funding to our troops in Iraq. However, he made
no mention of the looming farm bill that has stalled in
Congress and that he has threatened to veto before it has even
been through a conference of the two chambers.
"I was appalled," said NFU President Tom Buis in The
Politico, who watched the speech from the
House gallery.
The current programs will expire March 15, leaving few
legislative days for Congress and the president to come to an
agreement on the bill. We urge you to contact
your Representatives in Congress today and voice
your support for a new farm bill passing before March
15.
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NFU Poll of the Week
Were you surprised that President Bush
did not mention the farm bill in his State of the Union
address?
Click
here to take our online poll--and tell us what you
think!
Last week we asked how far you have to travel to get to a
hospital.
10% said less than 5 MILES,
45% said less than 20 MILES and
45% said less than 50 MILES.
Although, one respondent commented, "A hospital is not
'health' care. A hospital is 'sick' care. It's what you get
when you didn't get what you needed in the first place: local
doctors."
Thanks for all your great feedback!
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Join us in Las Vegas!
The 2008
NFU Convention is just one month away! There's
still time to attend - the registration deadline is
Feb. 18.
Hotel reservations can still be made by reserving through
Bally's.
Additional Las Vegas Information:
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Ed Schafer Confirmed
as Secretary of Agriculture
Senate
Confirms by Unanimous Consent
 Just in time for
President Bush's State
of the Union address, former North Dakota
Governor Ed
Schafer was confirmed as the Secretary of U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Jan. 28. The late Monday
afternoon confirmation allowed Schafer to attend the address
as a member of President Bush's cabinet.
NFU President Tom Buis said of Schafer's confirmation, "I
congratulate Governor Schafer on today's confirmation. His
time as governor of North Dakota, a state with a large
agriculture economy, has given him an understanding of the
challenges and opportunities facing family farmers, ranchers
and consumers in the countryside."
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Renewable Energy Incentives Included in
Stimulus
Senate Finance Committee
Package to Benefit Rural America
The package introduced by Committee Chairman Max
Baucus, D-Mont., includes a short-term extension of
the Production Tax Credit (PTC), which is set to expire at the
end of this year. The PTC is critical to the continued
development of wind projects in rural America.
"NFU is committed to making the credit permanent.
However, this short term extension meets the goal of a
stimulus package by ensuring continued development of the
renewable energy industry, helping decrease energy costs for
consumers, and ensuring continued job growth in the renewable
energy sector in rural communities," NFU President
Tom Buis said.
The package will now move to the Senate floor for
debate.
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Members' Corner: Harriet Lavin, Wisconsin Farmers
Union
Highlighting Outstanding Members in Our States
 Harriet Lavin grew
up in Lowell Massachusetts, and now lives in Kansasville,
Wis., population 2,832 (read: number is approximate). Needless
to say, Harriet has found herself to be a displaced city
girl...all in the name of love.
Harriet left the east coast to attend the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, where she met her husband Barney. The two
traveled Europe and Africa after graduation before settling
permanently in Barney's hometown, where he now is the fifth
generation working on his family's farm. The Lavins grow corn,
soybeans and hay and raise beef cattle. Harriet is a
registered nurse and works at a local hospital.
The Lavins got involved in Farmers Union a few years ago.
A political activist friend encouraged Barney to
help establish a local Wisconsin Farmers Union group.
Barney took his friend up on the offer, helped found a
southeast WFU chapter and now serves as the
Secretary/Treasurer. While Harriet does not do the farming in
the family, she will be giving a presentation at this
weekend's annual WFU convention in Eau Claire as well as at
the youth event being held in conjunction with the convention.
The presentation will not be about farming, or even about a
city girl moving to the countryside, rather Harriet will be
talking about genocide, rape, refugee camps and how we can
help.
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Read our previous profiles:
Do you know someone you would like to
feature from your state? Contact Amber
Birtcher. |
2008 Convention
Countdown - National Youth Advisory
Council
Meet Kyle Johnson, Atwater,
Minn.Leading up to the National Farmers Union
Convention in Las Vegas, we will be counting down the weeks by
introducing the eight members of the NFU
National Youth Advisory Council. The NYAC members
will be serving as pages at the convention. Check back next
week for our next profile!
 Kyle Johnson lives
on a small "hobby farm" in rural Atwater, Minn., with his
father Keith, an agronomist at Hutchinson Co-op, and mother Janell,
city administrator for Grove City.
Kyle is a senior at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City High
School, where he is involved in football, basketball, baseball
and concert band. He is also involved in 4-H and his church
youth group.
Farmers Union has been a big part of Kyle's life for the
past six years. He has attended Minnesota Farmers Union summer camps
and helped with Farmers Union fund-raisers.
"I'm excited to be able to serve as a member of this
year's NYAC," said Johnson. "I want to spread education about
Farmers Union to the youth and teach others about what it is.
I hope to make the 2008 All-States Camp a fun and memorable
place for everyone and make sure the campers have an
experience they won't forget."
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Missouri,
Texas Annual Conventions a Success
Officers Elected, Policy Written
Missouri
Jan. 25 -26 brought more than 150 members to Moberly,
Mo., for Missouri Farmers Union's 9th annual
convention. Russ Kremer was re-elected president. Newly
elected to the office of vice president was Steve Wright,
Madison, and to the office of treasurer Marilyn Simpson,
Clarence. Barbara Ross, Jefferson City, was re-elected MFU
secretary, and joining the board of directors MFU members
elected Tom Coudron, Columbia; Tom Kruzen, Mountain View;
Steve Maxwell, Mexico; Winston Simpson, Clarence.
"Convention delegates crafted policy calling for action,
opportunity for economic revitalization in rural Missouri and
measures to improve overall quality of life," said Kremer.
"Members also clarified the MFU position against animal
identification and premise registration due to concerns with
cost and liability."
Speakers for the event included Senator Claire
McCaskill, D-Mo., Missouri Attorney General Jay
Nixon and NFU President Tom
Buis. Buis provided an update on the lack of
progress on the farm bill debate, and called on Congress and
the President to move forward.
"On behalf of Farmers Union we want to state, we are
fully supportive of getting a new farm bill written and
written soon," said Buis. "If Congress can't override a veto
by March 15, when the programs expire, we then start operating
under a different budget baseline. This will only compound the
problem of ever working out the budget provisions for the farm
bill because we will have less money in the baseline to work
with."
Convention attendees called for policies to strengthen
rural economic development and strongly opposed national
animal and premise identification. They also had the
opportunity to learn about issues such as carbon credits,
climate change, healthy foods and the current rural economic
outlook among other topics.
Texas
Wes Sims was re-elected to his seventh term as president
of Texas
Farmers Union during the organization's 106th
annual convention. Sims is a family farmer and cattle producer
from Sweetwater and was first elected to lead TFU in
1996.
"I pledge to continue a total commitment and effort to do
all I can to bring economic justice to our family farmers and
ranchers," said Sims. "Anything less than fairness and justice
for rural America is totally unacceptable."
Mike Oldham was re-elected as vice president. District
directors were also elected: Donnie Dendy, Perryton; Kathy
Seymore, Merkel; Terry Priesmeyer, El Campo; Shorty Miller,
McGregor.
The convention passed the Texas Farmers Union 2008 Policy
Statement which contained a Special Order of Business (SOB)
acknowledging passage of a farm bill by both the House and
Senate and called upon the administration to work with
Congress to resolve differences so that a new farm bill can be
enacted immediately.
Established in 1902 in Point, Texas, the Texas Farmers
Union is the oldest general farm organization in America that
represents family farmers, ranchers and rural interests
working to improve the quality of life for rural people
through education, cooperation and
legislation. |
| State News
 Missouri: Missouri Farmers Union is buying the
Sappington International Farmer's
Market, a 4,000-square-foot market outside of
St. Louis in Marlborough, Mo.
All food sold at the market is all
natural, of the best quality, and they personally know
the Missouri farm or ranch they come from. The
market's farmers and ranchers really care about a
wholesome way of life, their families, their
animals, their environment and allowing equally caring
consumers the benefit of the best quality foods.
The St. Louis Dispatch wrote a story about MOFU
and the Sappington Market last week. Read it
here.
Rocky Mountain: On Jan. 31, Rocky
Mountain Farmers Union launched a new website. RMFU members can now sign up
for newsletters, make online donations, participate in forums
to discuss important issues, view calendars with up-to-date
events and deadlines and much more.
"The new site allows us to serve our members and the
agricultural community more promptly and interactively," said
RMFU Communications Director Mick McAllister. "We are excited
about the potential of fully utilizing the web to promote
legislation, cooperation, and legislation that furthers our
mission."
Iowa: The 2008 Iowa
Farmers Union Booster Club Luncheon will be held
Sunday, Feb. 17. The event will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will
be held at the Best Western Regency Inn in Marshalltown,
Iowa.
Senator Chuck
Grassley, R-Iowa, will be the keynote speaker at
the event. Rep. Bruce
Braley, D-Iowa, has also been invited to attend.
The annual fundraiser raises money to support IFU's lobbying
efforts on behalf of independent family farmers. IFU lobbyist
Judie Hoffman will give a report on the legislative session to
date and IFU President Chris Petersen will address the
luncheon.
Reservations must be made by Feb. 13. Call
(800)775-5227 to reserve your place at the luncheon.
Have NFU news you want to share? Send
any info about meetings, conventions, state fairs, individual
members' success, state government news, or anything else
relevant to NFU and its members to Amber
Birtcher. |
Farmer's Share
of Retail Food
Dollar
January 2008
Farmer's Share of Beer
There have been several reports in the media, beginning
around the fourth of July, indicating the rise in the cost of
beer is due to increased production of ethanol. NFU looked
into the issue and here's what we found:
A 6-pack of Miller Light cans retails for $5.05 at
Safeway -
the farmer's share
of that 6-pack is only $0.11.
Farmer's Share of Retail Food
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Farm Price
Barometer
January 2008
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On Jan. 30, the 
