Food and Ag News Nuggets

Roundup: Vilsack Champions Ethanol, GMO Coming to a Veggie Near You and Climate Change Farming

By Courtney Lowery Cowgill, 4-21-11

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has been talking up biofuels this week, taking on critics who say federal support of ethanol should be eliminated.

First, he came out strong against suggested cuts to the 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit on ethanol to a Senate committee, saying in a (very complete, worth the full read) report from Phillip Brasher of the Des Moines Register that: “If you create a cliff, you’re going to create a significant job loss in rural America at a time when we’re just beginning to turn a corner in terms of the economy.”

Later, at a meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists, he said those calling for less federal support of biofuels (mostly big meatpackers saying ethanol drives up feed costs) are engaging in a “false debate.” Vilsack said in this report from Bloomberg news: “We’re trapped in a debate that leads us down the road of shortchanging American agriculture, rather than recognizing its enormous capabilities.”

Later, in Iowa, at a tour of algae biofuels plant that biofuels, Vilsack again painted biofuels as a savior to rural America, saying “It’s a way to create jobs in small towns” and “The only way we can continue to grow in this part of the country is for our young people to have access to high-tech, scientific jobs for young people who want to live and raise their families here.” (See more in the Des Moines Register here.)

He brought the tour to Minnesota Wednesday, where he cautioned that without the tax credit, ethanol could fall away just as biodiesel did when its tax credit was eliminated.

Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency joined Vilsack on his Midwest tour, along the way defending her organization after months of bad press and criticism over several regulations that some in farm country saw as overreaching for the agency.

At the meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists, Jackson went down the list of “myths” she’s been getting heat for, including a “cow tax.” (See this story in AgWeek.)

Jackson gained some favor with producers the same day by announcing the agency would exempt spilled milk in its regulation for oil spills.

Also in this week’s food and ag news:

GMO

An onion that doesn’t make you cry? There might be a genetically modified answer to that, according to this piece by Harvest Public Media detailing how ag and GMO giant Monsanto is taking its genetically modified domination to a vegetable section near you. (Hat tip to the Rural Blog.)

Also, according to this post from Jeff McMahon on Forbes, Monsanto’s next crop might be soybeans filled with fish oil.

Monsanto’s real bread and butter, however, are Roundup Ready crops (those that are genetically altered to resist Monsanto’s brand of gylphosphate herbicide). But, according to this Reuters report, the herbicide might not be long for this regulated world.

TEACHING FARMERS=FEEDING WORLD?

This cool graphic from GOOD tracks how investment in farming can help farmers and their communities, here and in developing countries.

LOBBYISTS OF THE CORN

Food activist Marion Nestle, writing on her Food Politics blog, explains how the corn lobby works.

GROWING IN A CHANGING CLIMATE

Gary Paul Nabhan, a favorite food writer, grower and seed guy, writes an excellent essay in The Atlantic about farming in the Southwest in an age of climate change.

GROWING ORGANICALLY GROWING

A new study out by the Organic Trade Alliance shows the organic industry growing more than $25 billion in the three years between 1997 and 2010. Overall, the sector grew by 8 percent last year alone, according to the study. More stats in the press release here, as well as snippets of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s remarks to the organization at its recent policy meeting.

URBAN FARMING

The city of Minneapolis has passed an “Urban Agriculture Policy Plan,” which, among other things, encourages the city to think about agriculture in its long-range planning and look for places in the city for commercial farming operations. (Story from Minnesota Public Radio, hat tip to ATTRA: The National Sustinable Agriculture Information Service.)

Speaking of planning and agriculture, one of the bills Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer vetoed last week in typical showman fashion (by branding them with a VETO branding iron) was House Bill 542, which would have stripped a local government’s ability to consider the impacts a subdivision would have on agriculture. 

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Courtney Lowery Cowgill is a writer and editor (formerly of these pages) who also runs Prairie Heritage Farm, a small farm in Central Montana. She and her husband grow vegetables, turkeys, ancient and heritage grains and sometimes a little ruckus. As a farmer and writer, she works on and follows food and agriculture issues closely and each week, rounds up the top stories on the web in this arena for New West. Have an ag story you think should be included in next week’s roundup? You can reach Courtney at courtney@newwest.net.

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