
Farm Issues
OCA's Resource Center on Farm Issues
Farm Bill: Healthy Food, not Corporate Welfare!
Unless you are a diehard policy wonk, it's tough to get excited about the Farm Bill. But consumers have a bigger stake in this mammoth piece of federal legislation than we may realize. Big Ag's lobbyists fight hard to protect corporate interests, almost always at the expense of consumers. The OCA is here to help you fight for for healthy food and against corporate welfare!
News
June 15, 2006
Seattle Post Intelligencer Op-Ed columnist Bill Virgin http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/virgin/273964_virgin15.html noted in today's paper that, "We ask a lot of farmers: Provide us with a reliable, inexpensive and safe supply of food regardless of weather (here or elsewhere), politics and trade issues, input costs or markets. And did we mention cheap?
"Now we want farmers to do the same for energy.
"What the oilfields were to transportation in the 20th century, many expect the nation's farms to be in Read more
"Now we want farmers to do the same for energy.
"What the oilfields were to transportation in the 20th century, many expect the nation's farms to be in Read more
News
June 15, 2006
To receive: Send name and e-mail address to avkrebs@comcast.net
OVERVIEW:
ETHANOL AS ECONOMIC ELIXIR
By Edward Epstein
COMMENTARY: WASHINGTON'S PANDER BEARS
By Ed Wallace
CORN GROWERS UNITE TO OPPOSE LIFTING IMPORT TAX ON ETHANOL
By Forrest Laws
ETHANOL IDEAS BURN BRIGHT IN CALIFORNIA
By Edward Epstein
ADM WILL MARKET FOR ETHANOL MAKER
By Lavonne Kuykendall
ETHANOL AS ECONOMIC ELIXIR
By Edward Epstein
San Francisco Chronicle
June 12, 2006
Lena, Illinois -- The sunrises Read more
OVERVIEW:
ETHANOL AS ECONOMIC ELIXIR
By Edward Epstein
COMMENTARY: WASHINGTON'S PANDER BEARS
By Ed Wallace
CORN GROWERS UNITE TO OPPOSE LIFTING IMPORT TAX ON ETHANOL
By Forrest Laws
ETHANOL IDEAS BURN BRIGHT IN CALIFORNIA
By Edward Epstein
ADM WILL MARKET FOR ETHANOL MAKER
By Lavonne Kuykendall
ETHANOL AS ECONOMIC ELIXIR
By Edward Epstein
San Francisco Chronicle
June 12, 2006
Lena, Illinois -- The sunrises Read more
News
June 13, 2006
OVERVIEW:
USDA CHIEF TOUTS FARM LABOR VISAS
By Susan Ferriss
U.S. REJECTS MEXICO'S REQUEST TO RENEGOTIATE NAFTA
By Bloomberg New Service
FARMERS; SPECIALTY CROPS NEED MORE HELP FROM FEDS
By Shannon Dininny
FARM SUBSIDY DATA OPENED
By Libby Quaid
DENISE O'BRIEN WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR IOWA AG SECRETARY
By Tim Higgins
POWERHOUSE BUSINESSWOMAN TAKES OVER AGRICULTURAL POWERHOUSE ADM
By Ameet Sachdev and Mark Skertic
CONTINUING THE ETHANOL DEBATE
By George Naylor
USDA CHIEF TOUTS FARM LABOR Read more
USDA CHIEF TOUTS FARM LABOR VISAS
By Susan Ferriss
U.S. REJECTS MEXICO'S REQUEST TO RENEGOTIATE NAFTA
By Bloomberg New Service
FARMERS; SPECIALTY CROPS NEED MORE HELP FROM FEDS
By Shannon Dininny
FARM SUBSIDY DATA OPENED
By Libby Quaid
DENISE O'BRIEN WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR IOWA AG SECRETARY
By Tim Higgins
POWERHOUSE BUSINESSWOMAN TAKES OVER AGRICULTURAL POWERHOUSE ADM
By Ameet Sachdev and Mark Skertic
CONTINUING THE ETHANOL DEBATE
By George Naylor
USDA CHIEF TOUTS FARM LABOR Read more
News
June 9, 2006
OVERVIEW:
COMMENTARY: "THE FAULT, DEAR BRUTUS, IS NOT IN OUR STARS BUT IN OURSELVES" FAT DAYS MAY BE OVER FOR FARM SUBSIDIES By Richard Wolf THE TRUE LIMITS OF MANUFACTURERS AND COMMERCE By Thomas Jefferson CONGRESS FAILS TO SUPPORT FAMILY FARMERS AND RANCHERS By National Farmers Union SMITHFIELD'S PROFIT PLUNGES AS MEAT GLUT HURTS PRICES By Associated Press A "RAW MATERIALS PROCUREMENT AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM" By Fred Stover WAL-MART SAYS STORE UPGRADES ARE PAYING OFF By Emily Kaiser
COMMENTARY: "THE FAULT, DEAR BRUTUS, IS NOT IN OUR STARS BUT IN OURSELVES"
Read more
COMMENTARY: "THE FAULT, DEAR BRUTUS, IS NOT IN OUR STARS BUT IN OURSELVES" FAT DAYS MAY BE OVER FOR FARM SUBSIDIES By Richard Wolf THE TRUE LIMITS OF MANUFACTURERS AND COMMERCE By Thomas Jefferson CONGRESS FAILS TO SUPPORT FAMILY FARMERS AND RANCHERS By National Farmers Union SMITHFIELD'S PROFIT PLUNGES AS MEAT GLUT HURTS PRICES By Associated Press A "RAW MATERIALS PROCUREMENT AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM" By Fred Stover WAL-MART SAYS STORE UPGRADES ARE PAYING OFF By Emily Kaiser
COMMENTARY: "THE FAULT, DEAR BRUTUS, IS NOT IN OUR STARS BUT IN OURSELVES"
Read more
News
June 4, 2006
Until he saw the light, Jon Taggart--6 ft. 5 in., jeans, white cowboy hat, Texas twang--was a rancher like any other in the southern Great Plains. He crowded his cattle onto pasture sprayed with weed killers and fertilizers. When they were half grown, he shipped them in diesel-fueled trucks to huge feedlots. There they were stuffed with corn and soy--pesticide treated, of course--and implanted with synthetic hormones to make them grow faster. To prevent disease, they were given antibiotics. They were trucked again to slaughterhouses, butchered and shrink-wrapped for far-flung supermarkets. " Read more
News
June 7, 2006
Web Note: Al Krebs is a member of the Policy Advisory Board of the Organic Consumers Association.
Editor\Publisher: A.V. Krebs
E-Mail Address: avkrebs@comcast.net
To receive: Send name and e-mail address to avkrebs@comcast.net
EDITOR'S NOTE:
* Unfortunately, due to the recent absence of THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER and THE CALAMITY HOWLER contributions to the work of these two newsletters fell off dramatically. It is for that reason that this SPECIAL APPEAL is being made to readers for their continued support. Checks should be made out to A.V. Read more
Editor\Publisher: A.V. Krebs
E-Mail Address: avkrebs@comcast.net
To receive: Send name and e-mail address to avkrebs@comcast.net
EDITOR'S NOTE:
* Unfortunately, due to the recent absence of THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER and THE CALAMITY HOWLER contributions to the work of these two newsletters fell off dramatically. It is for that reason that this SPECIAL APPEAL is being made to readers for their continued support. Checks should be made out to A.V. Read more
News
June 5, 2006
To receive: Send name and e-mail address to avkrebs@comcast.net
EDITOR'S NOTE:
* Unfortunately, due to the recent absence of THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER and THE CALAMITY HOWLER contributions to the work of these two newsletters fell off dramatically. It is for that reason that this SPECIAL APPEAL is being made to readers for their continued support. Checks should be made out to A.V. Krebs and mailed to P.O. Box 2201, Everett, Washington 98213-0201.
* A limited number of inscribed copies of THE CORPORATE REAPERS: The Book of Agribusiness (Essential Books: 1992) Read more
EDITOR'S NOTE:
* Unfortunately, due to the recent absence of THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER and THE CALAMITY HOWLER contributions to the work of these two newsletters fell off dramatically. It is for that reason that this SPECIAL APPEAL is being made to readers for their continued support. Checks should be made out to A.V. Krebs and mailed to P.O. Box 2201, Everett, Washington 98213-0201.
* A limited number of inscribed copies of THE CORPORATE REAPERS: The Book of Agribusiness (Essential Books: 1992) Read more
News
May 30, 2006
State officials are mounting a major initiative to clean up California's smoggy farm regions with new regulations and policies that will target hundreds of pesticides.
The Department of Pesticide Regulation < long criticized for failing to act as air quality deteriorated in the San Joaquin Valley < has developed a strategy to eliminate tons of smog-forming gases that waft daily from fields treated with fumigants and other agricultural chemicals.
The agency has asked manufacturers to begin reformulating more than 700 insecticides, herbicides and other pest-killing Read more
The Department of Pesticide Regulation < long criticized for failing to act as air quality deteriorated in the San Joaquin Valley < has developed a strategy to eliminate tons of smog-forming gases that waft daily from fields treated with fumigants and other agricultural chemicals.
The agency has asked manufacturers to begin reformulating more than 700 insecticides, herbicides and other pest-killing Read more
News
May 31, 2006
To receive: Send name and e-mail address to avkrebs@comcast.net
EDITOR'S NOTE:
* Unfortunately, due to the recent absence of THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER and THE CALAMITY HOWLER contributions to the work of these two newsletters fell off dramatically. It is for that reason that this SPECIAL APPEAL is being made to readers for their continued support. Checks should be made out to A.V. Krebs and mailed to P.O. Box 2201, Everett, Washington 98213-0201.
* A limited number of inscribed copies of THE CORPORATE REAPERS: The Book of Agribusiness (Essential Books: 1992) Read more
EDITOR'S NOTE:
* Unfortunately, due to the recent absence of THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER and THE CALAMITY HOWLER contributions to the work of these two newsletters fell off dramatically. It is for that reason that this SPECIAL APPEAL is being made to readers for their continued support. Checks should be made out to A.V. Krebs and mailed to P.O. Box 2201, Everett, Washington 98213-0201.
* A limited number of inscribed copies of THE CORPORATE REAPERS: The Book of Agribusiness (Essential Books: 1992) Read more
News
May 31, 2006
MIDDLETOWN, Md. -- The image that schoolchildren conjure up when they imagine how animals live probably looks a little like Eric Rice's Country Pleasures Farm: a half-dozen steers on acres of hill pasture, gnawing lazily on orchard grass.
On a recent Saturday, Rice, a mustachioed farmer in filthy khakis, was throwing homegrown apples at the herd in an attempt to get their attention. The animals, responding with a collective "moo," stayed put, savoring the verdant countryside.
Beef producers such as Rice, who feed their animals only grass instead of corn, say this traditional
Read more