Friday, December 19, 2008

Californians Seeking Appointments

Four Californians are being supported by the Ag Council for key agricultural related appointments in the Obama-Biden Administration. We are supporting the first two individuals for specific positions:

Karen Ross – USDA Deputy Secretary Karen is president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, an Ag Council board member and former vice president of Government Affairs for the Ag Council. She’s a proven leader and is involved in many state and national activities of importance to the winegrape industry. Karen has earned a broad base of support from many California agricultural and environmental organizations.

Mary-Ann Warmerdam – EPA/USDA Mary-Ann is seeking Region 9 Administrator or Assistant Administrator, Prevention, Pesticides & Toxic Substances at EPA. She is also interested in the position of Undersecretary, Resources & the Environment at USDA. Mary-Ann currently serves as the Director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. She formerly worked for the California Farm Bureau Federation and is a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

We’ve also submitted general letters of support for agricultural policy related positions on behalf of:

Joe Zanger – USTR/USDA Joe is Managing General Partner, Casa de Fruta Orchards. He’s served on many trade and agricultural policy committees including United States Trade Representative and Foreign Agricultural Service - Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Fruits and Vegetables 2001-2007; Farm Service Agency California State Committee 1994; UC Davis Agricultural Issues Center Advisory Board 2005 – present, Chairman 2007.

Val Dolcini – USDA Val previously served as State Executive Director, USDA Farm Services Agency from 1999-2001. Prior to that held legislative staff positions in the offices of former Rep. Vic Fazio and current Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In addition, he worked on agriculture and rural issues for former Gov. Gray Davis and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

On Wednesday President-elect Barack Obama announced the selection of former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as his secretary of agriculture. The fact that the new secretary is from the Midwest should play to the Karen’s advantage by clearing the way for someone from the west to be appointed to the deputy position.

Farm Credit Report

According to leaders in the Farm Credit System (FCS), the continuing unrest in the financial markets and the prevailing need to find and address the underlying causes, it’s expected that the federal government will focus considerable time next year on revamping the financial regulatory structure. This will likely involve deciding the future fate of at least two other government sponsored enterprises (GSEs): Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. During this process, there is significantly heightened political risk and the Farm Credit System and Farm Credit Administration (FCA) could get swept up in such reform.

Therefore, FCS supporters are working together to address the threat to the System’s GSE status and to the notion of losing FCA as the System’s independent safety and soundness regulator. The “super regulator” concept could certainly include the regulatory responsibilities for the Farm Credit System now performed by FCA. Additionally, the Congressional Agricultural Committees may lose their current jurisdiction over System oversight and future legislation. In that event, such activities would likely report up through the Banking and Financial Services Committees. As the System was created to assure that U.S. agriculture is not held hostage to the market practices of commercial bankers, this shift in congressional oversight would not be in the best interests of the FCS or their farmer and rancher customers. Given the uncertainty of Congressional response to the aftermath of the meltdown of global financial markets, it’s critically important that ag organizations throughout the country rally in support of the Farm Credit System.

Stewardship Index

On Thursday a group of more than 30 leading growers, suppliers, buyers, technical experts and environmental and public interest organizations announced the formation of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops. Through an inclusive effort, the group will develop and share a comprehensive system for measuring sustainable performance across the supply chain—at farms, processors, distributors, food service providers, and retailers. The project will address the unique needs of specialty crop stakeholders while demonstrably improving environmental and social impacts. “Specialty crops” are defined to include fruits, vegetables, nuts and horticulture.

Unlike other sustainability initiatives, the Stewardship Index will not seek to prescribe standards or define a specific level of performance as “sustainable.” Rather, it aims to provide a system for measuring stewardship performance by focusing on desired outcomes. The project seeks to reduce the potential for duplicative monitoring and reporting systems, while allowing operators to engage in the sustainability journey regardless of their current level of performance.

The project is currently seeking public comment on an initial list of issues it believes should be measured to assess sustainable performance. The proposed issues and a list of current participants may be found at the project’s web site at www.stewardshipindex.org. The project is encouraging broad participation from interested stakeholders across the specialty crops industry, including technical experts and public interest organizations.

CDFA Ag Vision

On Wednesday, Ag Council participated in a stakeholder panel to testify to the CDFA board on its 2030 Ag Vision. Their goal to determine a vision for this industry is commendable, given the existing challenges that face us today. The initial framework of the Ag Vision is displayed on their website at http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/agvision/. Comments are due in February and can be submitted online.

Secretary Kawamura had some insightful comments describing the thought process behind this vision. He highlighted the issues we’ve had to overcome in the last 30 years and our current strategy of negotiating to lose less is not a sustainable path to take us to the future. This document aims to answer the following questions:

• Where do we want to go?
• How do we get there?
• Who do we need to get there?

As this is an ongoing process, our panel presented various issues that remain missing or overlooked in the document. Ag Council will participate in stakeholder committees and submit written comments on the initial framework, in an effort to work with CDFA to create the best document possible.

ARB Truck Regulation Passes

On Friday, December 12, the ARB Board unanimously passed the Statewide Bus & Truck Rule. Diesel exhaust filters will have to be installed on all rigs, beginning on January 1, 2011, with nearly all vehicles being upgraded by 2014. There is a staggered implementation schedule from 2012 to 2022.

Farm vehicles were given additional time to accomplish the retrofitting or replacement needed to meet the new regulations. Most farm trucks have until Jan. 1, 2017, to meet the standard. If a truck is used under 10,000 miles annually, the changes have to be completed by Jan. 1 2023.

Best wishes for a warm holiday season and a prosperous New Year!