The latest news on the Farm Bill is that the Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to meet on Wednesday, October 24.  The full Senate is expected to vote on it the following week or the first week of November. The Committee members are still negotiating the text of the bill behind closed doors.
 
ISSUE 1: National Animal ID System.  The last draft of the Senate Farm Bill did not include NAIS, unlike the House version.  But we don't have a final draft yet, and we don't know what amendments Senators will offer.  So we need to keep up the pressure!
  
ISSUE 2:  Competition provisions.  Senator Harkin has proposed provisions intended to combat the increased concentration and lack of competition in agriculture that comes from a few companies controlling the production chain.  Harkin's proposal includes contract fairness provisions, reforms to address undue pricing preferences, and reforms on the standard of proof for anti-competitive injury.  Two other bills (the Captive Supply Reform Act, S 1017, and the Packer Ban, S 305) aimed at prohibiting packers from using "captive supplies" to manipulate cash market prices may be introduced as amendments to the Farm Bill.  More information on these provisions is below. 

 Take Action

Call your Senators, and Senators Harkin and Chambliss. Ask to speak to the staffer who handles agricultural issues.  If you are transferred to voice mail, leave a message with your name, phone number, and the reason you are calling.  Be sure to mention that you are a constituent.
 
MESSAGE 1:  I do not want the NAIS included in the Farm Bill or any other bill. I want funding for the NAIS to be stopped. Additional talking points are listed below.  Pick the issues that matter the most to you, and explain why NAIS will hurt you and your community.
 
MESSAGE 2: I support all of the competition provisions proposed by Senator Harkin, as well as the Captive Supply Reform Act and the Packer Ban.   More information on these provisions, which you can use as talking points, is below.
 
People to Contact:

    * Your Senators: Go to www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm or call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll free at 877-851-6437.   Be sure to call both of the Senators for your state.
    * Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of Agriculture Committee, (D-IA) 202-224-3254
    * Senator Saxby Chambliss, Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee, (R-GA) 202-224-3521

 More Information and Talking Points on NAIS

For more information on NAIS, go to www.farmandranchfreedom.org.  The Top 10 Myths is good reading for newcomers to this issue.
 
Talking Points:

Please do not put any provision for NAIS in the Farm Bill or any other bill.
NAIS will hurt our economy:

    * There still is no cost-benefit analysis of NAIS. USDA has only recently requested one from Kansas State University. The study is unlikely to be a thorough or unbiased study, given that Kansas State has just established a federally-funded Animal Identification Center.
    * Costs of the program include the cost of the tags, hardware, software, time and labor
    * Many small farmer and ranchers cannot afford these costs
    * Service providers (veterinarians, feed stores, auction houses, meat processors, etc.) will be harmed when the farmers and ranchers go out of business.
    * Remaining farmers will pass the costs on to consumers, adding to inflation

The USDA has provided no scientific proof to show that NAIS will improve disease control:

    * It does not address the cause, treatment, or transmission of disease, in domestic or wild animals.
    * It does not significantly improve on current methods for identification and tracking of disease.

NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program

NAIS will not improve food safety:

    * USDA itself has stated that this is not a food safety program
    * Contamination of food with e. coli and other bacteria occurs at the slaughterhouse or afterwards, while NAIS will stop before that point.

NAIS will not protect against terrorism:

    * The microchips chosen by the state can be cloned, destroyed, or infected with computer viruses, and reprogrammed. Any terrorist or thief can use this.
    * The database of information, created by the state agency and available to USDA, will provide a target for hackers.

NAIS infringes on people's constitutional rights, including due process, privacy, and religious freedom.

More Information on the Competition Provisions 

The information below comes from the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/competitionOct07.php
 
INCREASE FAIRNESS IN AGRICULTURAL CONTRACTS AND MARKETS - Below are provisions in Senator Harkin's Proposed Livestock Title. Current abuses contained in processor-drafted agricultural contracts allow for manipulation of the producer.
 
1. Fairness Standards for Agricultural Contracts:
Minimum standards must be set for contract fairness in agriculture including - prohibition of binding arbitration in contracts of adhesion, protections for producers from having their contracts prematurely terminated if they have made a sizable capital investment, a 3 day right to review a contract before final decision, and prohibition of requiring additional investments unless they are offset by additional considerations by the company.
 
2. Closing Poultry Loopholes in P&SA:
Poultry loopholes in the P&SA should be closed to provide the Packers and Stockyards Administration with the necessary enforcement authority over all poultry cases. This is necessary to bring poultry in line with other livestock within the P&SA. Despite evidence of the contract being used as a tool to intimidate, retaliate, and reduce growers profits to poverty levels, the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration does not currently have the authority to take administrative action and protect growers by halting unfair practices or penalizing poultry companies that violate the law.
 
3. Bargaining Rights for Farmers:
Amend Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967 to require companies to bargain in good faith with bargaining associations, and allow farmers to join associations without fear of retaliation by processors.
 
LIMIT PACKER CONTROL/MANIPULATION OF LIVESTOCK MARKETS - These provisions would address a significant problem of captive supply-which packers use to manipulate markets.
 
4. Captive Supply Reform Act (S. 1017):
Currently, formula contracts and marketing agreements are negotiated in secret. These formula contracts and agreements depress prices and shut small and independent producers out of markets when packers base the price they pay for contracted cattle on a cash market they can manipulate. The Captive Supply Reform Act would require that packers offer contracts with a .rm base price and offer them in an open public manner.
 
5. Prohibition on Packer-Owned Livestock (S. 305):
Meat packers use packer-owned livestock as a tool for exerting unfair market power over farmers and ranchers. This practice fosters industrial livestock production and freezes independent farmers out of the markets, lowering farm gate prices to farmers and ranchers while consumer food prices continue to rise.
 
Read the letter to the Senate, signed by FARFA and 170 organizations: http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/CompConc2007.php

Tell Your Friends

Calls to members of the Agriculture Committee are most effective when they come from people within the state the Senator represents. The Committee members are listed below, and their states are indicated in parenthes ().  Please be sure to pass this alert on to your friends and relatives in the states listed below!
 
Other Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee:

Patrick Leahy (D-VT) 202-224-4242
Kent Conrad (D-ND) 202-224-2043
Max Baucus (D-MT) 202-224-2651
Blanch Lincoln (D-AR) 202-224-4843
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) 202-224-4822
Ben Nelson (D-NE) 202-224-6551
Ken Salazar (D-CO) 202-224-5852
Sherrod Brown (D-OH) 202-224-2315
Robert Casey (D-PA) 202-224-6324
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) 202-224-3244
Richard Lugar (R-IN) 202-224-4814
Thad Cochran (R-MS) 202-224-5054
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 202-224-2541
Pat Roberts (R-KS) 202-224-4774
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 202-224-5972
Norm Coleman (R-MN) 202-224-5641
Mike Crapo (R-ID) 202-224-6142
John Thune (R-SD) 202-224-2321
Charles Grassley (R-IA) 202-224-3744

Keep Up the Fght!

We depend on your support to keep fighting to protect independent agriculture against threats like NAIS.  If you are not yet a member of FARFA, please consider joining us! Membership starts as low as $10. Your membership dues and donations fund FARFA's work. Just as importantly, more members means more impact on the legislators.
 
We have a long way to go this fight. Please help us to continue this important work by joining today, or giving an additional donation if you are already a member. Visit our membership page: http://farmandranchfreedom.org/content/join-farfa
Working together, we can make a difference.
 

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