–by Kelly Sanderbeck, Annual Fund Manager & Story Catcher

More news of chemicals and viruses in our food, water and air, can definitely take the wind out of your sails at times. It’s no wonder more of us are growing our own food and wanting to know our farmers directly.

It’s disheartening, though, when a growing population is pushing  farmers to apply more chemicals to crops, hoping to increase yields. According to the EPA, “more than 50 percent of rivers, streams, and lakes and nearly 60 percent of bays and estuaries are impaired because of excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus.”   And in a new report, the Environmental Working Group says:  “The only solution to preserve clean water is to tackle the problem of polluted agricultural runoff at the source.” Another study from UC Berkeley shows that increased fertilizer use over the past 50 years is responsible for a dramatic rise in atmospheric nitrous oxide, which is a major greenhouse gas contributing to global climate change.

Then there’s the E. Coli and arsenic in our chicken, and plastics leaching into our food…

But steady push-back is happening. The FDA recently banned antibiotics for animal use except with a prescription, after more than three decades of trying to protect public health.

In other uplifting news, WSU received a $5 million gift to expand their Organic Farming Program in April! This will support the need to replace current farmers who are aging and starting to retire, as publicly recognized by the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. These broad policies as well as on-the-ground work done by the Trust and other organizations will hopefully bridge the gap between those new farmers and getting them on the land to grow us food!

So, keep buying your organics and visiting farmers markets. Since more than 9 out of 10 Americans across the political spectrum support labeling GMO food, farmers hope organics will receive a boost in sales. Direct marketing to consumers is increasingly offering farmers a way to become more profitable and stay in business, and the next wave of the National Organic Program just may be Food Justice Certification, ensuring that workers on organic farms are able to afford the food they’re helping to produce.  Onward!

One day at a time – this is enough.  Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone:  and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come.  Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.

-Ida Scott Taylor

1) Bayern Brewery donates $1 for every 6 pack sold at PCC in May.

2) Left Hand Brewery donates $1 for every 6 pack sold at PCC in May.

3) Oskar Blues donates $1 for every 6 pack sold at PCC in May.

4) 21st Amendment Brewery donates $1 for every 6 pack sold at PCC in May.

Sturgeon Farm has been in agricultural production since the late 1800’s and has highly productive prime agricultural soils, excellent farm-to-market access, water rights and drainage tile. The property includes a home site, 6 barns, and additional agricultural facilities. Sturgeon Farm is adjacent to the recently preserved 100-acre organic Orting Valley Farms property, includes a creek and forest land and is located in an open space corridor that is a continuum between Mt. Rainier National Park and Commencement Bay. This property could be ready by the 2013 production season!

Below are some photographs of the property. If you are interested in learning more about this wonderful opportunity to farm in the Puyallup River Valley, please contact Melissa Campbell, PCC Farmland Trust Conservation Director, or call our office at (206) 547-9855.

Above: Looking SW across the pasture toward the barns

Above: Looking down on Sturgeon Farm from the hillside

Above: Looking NE across the pasture

Samuel Smith donates $1 for every case sold at PCC Natural Markets in April.

Left Hand Brewery donates $1 for every case of 6 packs sold at PCC Natural Markets in April.

Pinkus donates $1 for every case sold at PCC Natural Markets in April.

Big Sky Brewing Co. will donate $1 for every case of 6 packs sold at PCC Natural Markets in April.

Eel River donates $1 for every case of 6 packs sold at PCC Natural Markets in April.

Oakshire Brewery donates $1 for every case sold of 22oz beers at PCC Natural Markets in April.

Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office Grant Applications

As a nonprofit land trust, PCC Farmland Trust relies on grant programs such as the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office—Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP), to provide funding to purchase agricultural conservation easements. In fact, the WWRP program provided half of the dollars need to conserve Orting Valley Farms. Very soon,  PCC Farmland Trust will submit several grant applications to this program with the goal of protecting over 350 acres of farmland in Washington State.  If you have any questions about these applications, our ambitious plans for the year or would like more information about the WWRP grant program, please contact Melissa.Campbell@pccfarmlandtrust.org  And as a reminder, all PCC Farmland Trust Board meetings are open to the public. Our next board meeting is June 13^th, 6:00-8:00pm.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to conserve organic farmland forever!

Some of you may have heard the latest statistic from the USDA that in the next decade, 70% of our country’s remaining farmland will be sold. That’s right. No longer do we have generation after generation inheriting their parents’ land and continuing to farm. After seeing up close how difficult farming is–physically and financially–many are moving on to other careers. Some farmers keep their land by selling development rights and using the income to expand their business, pay off debts or even retire. But those remaining often need to sell their land–their only “pension”.

Luckily, our country is seeing a resurgence of people who do want to farm. Some are young, educated and tired of sitting at a computer. Others are on their second careers and want to pursue a life-long dream. Either way, making sure these up-and-coming farmers are connected to land that is preserved forever for farming is the only way to secure our country’s food future. Alongside those in the Occupy Movement, farmers are declaring that it is they who are the “2 percent.“  “The real shift we need cannot take place when only two percent of us is doing the work to grow the food for the rest, while everyone else is cheering us on. We love the attention, but farming is not a spectator sport.” —Michael Ableman: farmer, founder of the Center For Urban Agriculture, and author of From The Good Earth, On Good Land, and Fields Of Plenty.

One way new farmers can get a foothold is through a new USDA program, Start2Farm, that includes training, financing, technical assistance and other support services specifically for beginning farmers and ranchers. Education and actual experiences can change our perceptions, and a local farmer is doing just that by creating a bridge between farming and the government. A group after my own Story-Catcher heart, FarmResilience.org, brings us stories directly from the farmers who say, “Just get out to a farm!!”

The best way to feed a growing population and sustain the environment continues to be a polarizing issue. “Farming in a way that’s good for the environment doesn’t have to mean accepting a dramatic drop in food production,” says Dr Hanna Tuomisto, who led a recent study at Oxford comparing the environmental impact of different farming systems.

In bad news, Monsanto recently prevailed in a suit brought by organic growers, and now super weeds are sprouting despite Roundup Ready seeds.  Unfortunately, in response Dow Chemical is poised to battle the weeds with stronger herbicides such as the Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange. Yet the Gates Foundation continues to bring GMO farming to Africa.

Because of the public health problem created by factory farming of animals, and the resulting drug resistance caused by antibiotic overuse, food corporations and their customers are increasingly demanding humanely-treated and safe meat. Animals raised in confined and unsanitary conditions are breeding grounds for bacteria versus those raised on pasture as in the Niman Ranch Pork Program. By eating a bit less meat and paying a bit more for it, we’re helping farmers make a decent living and creating a healthier society at the same time.

Finally, the USDA wants you to Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food.  This program of interactive information is designed to bring you the most up-to-date information on local farmers and local food. Hopefully this will bring about more impetus for a decentralized and re-localized food system, as in the town of Hardwick, Vermont (portrayed in The Town that Food Saved).  As author Ben Hewitt muses:  “Imagine a world in which lenders base their decisions on factors such as soil health, water quality, and percentage of waste that’s composted.  Imagine legislation that creates tax incentives for farmers to sell directly to consumers or, vice versa, compels consumers to keep their food dollars in their communities.  Are these things really so far-fetched?”

Jetta at Bennington Place Farm

May 12th, 1-5 PM

Walla Walla, Washington

Join PCC Farmland Trust at our preserved farms in Walla Walla. Joel Huesby of Bennington Place Farms and Ray and Tom Williams of Williams Hudson Bay Farm will lead tours and discussions about what it means to be organic farmers amidst a sea of conventional agriculture in Eastern Washington. Learn about the farmers’ partnership with PCC Farmland Trust and the Trust’s ongoing work to secure, preserve, and steward threatened farmland in Washington. Tours will conclude at 5 o’clock, and will include snacks and beverages along the way.

Tickets to this event will go fast, so be sure to secure your spot and register early!

In recent weeks, there’s been a flurry of policy activity at the federal level—both good and bad–related to conservation and agricultural programs critical to landowners and sustainable farmers.

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and education program is under fire in the 2013 budget. The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program  are also on the chopping block. As a key agricultural appropriator, Washington Congressman Norm Dicks plays a  significant role in the protection of these valuable programs.

On a positive note, Congressmen Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) announced in February that 300 representatives have co-sponsored their bill to conserve America’s forests, agricultural lands and open spaces – more than any other tax bill. H.R. 1964 makes permanent a recently-expired tax incentive that allows modest-income landowners to receive significant tax deductions for donating conservation easements that permanently protect important natural or historic resources on their lands.

And the Farm Bill. The debate is heating up again with the sustainable agriculture community pushing to get the Farm Bill completed in 2012. Delaying a farm bill creates unnecessary uncertainty for people who receive nutrition assistance, for farmers making production and planting decisions, for food and farm businesses planning to grow, hire employees, and access new markets. The longer the delay in passing a new farm bill, the more opportunities there are for there to be less funding for the bill.  The less funding there is for the bill, the harder it becomes to pass a bill because programs that people in every state and district care about and benefit from compete for funding.

• Conservation and Agricultural Programs

Washington plays a critical role in the 2013 agriculture budget and we have the opportunity to weigh in on critical Federal Government programs that help farmers improve management and land stewardship practices.

Farmers and ranchers never stop working to improve their operations each season – from trying a new cover crop to bringing in a new breed of cattle, they’re always experimenting. And the Sustainable Agriculture Research Program (SARE) is right there with them – it’s a successful federal program that funds the crucial on-farm research farmers and ranchers need. During last year’s budget-cutting frenzy, Congress slashed valuable programs, and they’re at risk again this year. At the same time, Farmers and the environment alike get a big leg up from conservation programs. Farmers count on them to conserve soil for future generations, keep water and air clean, and create habitat for wildlife – all while farming profitably. In the budget-cutting frenzy of the last two fiscal years, Congress slashed conservation programs by over $1.5 billion!

Right now, Washington Congressman Norm Dicks is making decisions about next year’s agriculture budget. Your call today will protect crucial SARE funding that drives innovation for farmers nationwide and rewards farmers for the environmental goods they produce. It takes just a moment: please call Congressman Dicks, who is a key agricultural appropriator, at (202) 225-5916.  Ask for Rep. Dicks’ agricultural appropriations aide, and share the following message:

“I am a constituent.  Please support $30 million in funding for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program in Fiscal Year 2013.  Year in and year out, SARE is at the forefront of farmer innovation, giving farmers and ranchers the tools they need to thrive.  Known for its efficiency, SARE needs $30 million to drive innovation that makes farmers and farm businesses successful and profitable.”And  Please protect Farm Bill conservation programs from further cuts in Fiscal Year 2013. We must protect our natural resources and reward farmers for the environmental goods they produce – please oppose any further cuts to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and other Farm Bill conservation programs.”

For more information on the SARE program in Washington, click here. For more information about CSP and other conservation programs, click here.

• Majorities of Republicans and Democrats – 300 Cosponsors – Urge House Passage of Conservation Tax Incentive

Congressmen Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) announced today that 300 representatives have co-sponsored their bill to conserve America’s forests, agricultural lands and open spaces – more than any other tax bill. H.R. 1964 makes permanent a recently-expired tax incentive that allows modest-income landowners to receive significant tax deductions for donating conservation easements that permanently protect important natural or historic resources on their lands.

“We are thrilled that majorities of Republicans and Democrats can agree on supporting the work of local land trusts that is so important to their communities,” said Land Trust Alliance President Rand Wentworth. “We thank U.S. Representatives Jim Gerlach and Mike Thompson for championing this cause, and look forward to working with all 300 co-sponsors to get the job done.”

“This legislation has generated tremendous bipartisan support because the conservation easement tax incentive works,” said Rep. Jim Gerlach (PA-6). “The tax incentive gives family farmers, ranchers and other property owners more choices and creates opportunities for partnerships between non-profit organizations, federal, state and local officials. With the support of nearly three-quarters of the House, I am hopeful that conservation easements will remain an option for all property owners.”

“The enhanced conservation easement incentive is a success – last year we reached a total of 47 million acres of land saved from development, a 27% jump from 2005. But it’s not just about the numbers, it’s about helping folks plan, conserve land and protect wildlife so our kids and grandkids can enjoy these natural treasures,” said Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-1). “300 co-authors from both the Republican and Democratic sides of the aisle is a nearly unmatched statement of support. Now it’s time to pass this bill and make this conservation incentive permanent.”

Landowners can retire the development rights on their land by donating a conservation easement to a land trust in their community – keeping agricultural land in productive use, protecting important fish and wildlife habitat, and conserving our scenic and historic heritage. Since the incentive expired at the end of 2011, landowners with modest incomes now receive little tax benefit from restricting what may be their family’s most valuable asset.  By allowing donors to deduct a larger portion of their income over a longer period of time, H.R. 1964 will help thousands of family farmers, ranchers, and forest owners afford to conserve their land.

Visit our friends at the Land Trust Alliance to learn more about the Conservation Tax Incentive program.

• On its “Path to the 2012 Farm Bill” series, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition gets into the details of the 2012 Farm Bill debate.

On Wednesday, February 15, the Senate Agriculture Committee held its first in a series of four hearings for the upcoming 2012 Farm Bill. Hearings are an important part in the farm bill process because they bring attention to critical issues and policy changes that are needed, informing the debates and deliberations around the bill.

Titled “Energy and Economic Growth for Rural America,” the hearing covered programs and policies in the Energy and Rural Development Titles of the farm bill.

Opening Remarks and the Farm Bill Timeline

Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) opened the hearing with general comments on the next farm bill, noting that with the nation’s agriculture sector employing 16 million Americans, the farm bill is thus a “jobs bill.”  With the current farm bill expiring on September 30, 2012, she added that it is “critical” that a farm bill be passed this year, a sentiment she acknowledged was echoed in a letter sent by over 80 organizations last week, including NSAC, to complete the farm bill in 2012.  Later in the hearing, she commented that the $23 billion in proposed cuts from the Agriculture Committees for the Super Committee last year were “our fair share” of deficit reduction.

Roberts concluded his opening remarks by commenting on the need for crop insurance for agricultural producers and expressed disappointment with the President Obama’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, with $8 billion in cuts to this safety net.  Later in the hearing on the subject of the timeline for the next farm bill, Sen. Roberts noted that this spring’s process will have as a goal the finalizing the Senate version of the bill shortly after the conclusion of the fourth hearing in late March.

Regarding Rural Development, Secretary Vilsack noted a need for streamlining of the 40 current programs, as well as administrative flexibility to provide for regionally-specific needs.  Referencing Sen. Roberts’ remark on cuts to crop insurance and justifying the lack of proposed cuts to nutrition assistance programs, he acknowledged that the President made a choice; the administration believes those that would be affected by the proposed crop insurance cuts are in a better position to handle difficult times than those struggling to put food on their tables.

Research and Beginning Farmers

Though the hearing focused on Energy and Rural Development, other key NSAC priorities were also discussed.  In a dialogue with Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN) about farm bill funding, Secretary Vilsack commented that “agricultural research has not deserved the attention it deserves…it has been flat lined for a long time.”  He added that when you look at the numbers, increased productivity in agriculture corresponds to investments in agriculture research.  NSAC is currently working with congressional offices on a major new agricultural research and extension bill.

When speaking to Sen. Boozman (R-AR), Secretary Vilsack spoke about concerns with our aging farmer population and the need to support beginning farmers and ranchers.  He suggested providing incentives for sales of farmland to not only beginning farmers and ranchers but also to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.  NSAC is advocating for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act (S. 1850, H.R. 3236), which would begin to tackle the needs of our next generation of farmers.

More Hearings

The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold three more farm bill hearings in February and March on conservation, healthy food initiatives and local production, and risk management and commodities.

-by Kelly Sanderbeck, Development Director & Story Catcher

What’s the right way to feed the world? The Gates Foundation thinks GMOs are the answer.  But “GE crops have remained an industrial tool dependent upon costly inputs, such as patented seeds and synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, that farmers in the most food insecure regions can ill-afford.” The U.N. believes agroecology is the way. Is there a happy medium?

“Ninety percent (more than 15 million) of the growers utilizing biotech varieties are resource-poor farmers in developing countries,” (Dr. Cathleen Enright, Executive VP, Food and Agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization). The problem is that the research touting GMOs is skewed, funded by those benefiting from the outcomes.

“The wheat farmers in my district don’t want it anywhere near their fields,” said Rep. Cary Condotta, a Republican from rural Eastern Washington, referring to genetically modified wheat. But after attending some seminars on genetically engineered foods, Condotta said he became aware of what he thinks are food safety issues. “People should be concerned,” he said. “There aren’t enough studies done on the potential long-term effects of this on human health. It can be scary. There are times we shouldn’t be messing with Mother Nature.” Even institutional investors are leading the push for a sustainability strategy as a hedge against large-scale risks. “While the Earth has plenty of natural inputs — land, nutrients and water — humans face a growing challenge to manage them.”

Some producers worry that the down trend for eating meat will affect their business, but at least we have some good news on the home front for school lunches (though pizza and French fries are still considered vegetables…).  Other good news comes in the form of conservation where “practices applied to cultivated cropland in the Ohio-Tennessee River Basin are reducing losses of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus from farm fields and decreasing the movement of these materials into the Mississippi River and other waterways.”

There is some worry when you read an article titled, “Will the last farmer to leave Puget Sound please wish us luck?,” but here at the Trust we’re not seeing a dearth of young (or second career) folks wanting to farm. Instead their hurdles include finding land that’s affordable for commercial farming or land that is secure enough for a long-term lease, even when the development tides change.  In the words of Fran Korten, from YES! Magazine:  “Owning a farm may not be everyone’s dream, but my hunch is that the trends driving the urge to grow one’s own will only intensify.  So here’s to the under-30s (and a lot of over 30s too) who are leading the way to a healthier, happier food system.”

“It is increasingly understood that poverty, inadequate access to land and food, and unfair trade policies are the major causes of hunger in the world, rather than absolute shortage of food.  Additional factors contributing to food insecurity include declining investments in infrastructure (storage facilities, roads to markets) and increased diversion of food crops for biofuels and animal feed.”

1/25/12, The Center for Food Safety

Jody lived a life dedicated to “telling the truth and speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. My community, my culture, is our common humanity. I aspire to speak for that.”

Author of 11 books, True North/Nord Vrai, was her last, published in 2007. Her writing is featured in international periodicals and anthologies and earned many awards. Her collected papers are at the University of Washington library.

Born on the Midwestern prairie in 1943, Jody earned a B.A. from Occidental College and her M.A. from Brandeis University. She was teaching in Alabama the year Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered and afterward worked as media representative with the Vietnam Moratorium Committee in Washington D.C. and Chicago.

She moved to Seattle in 1970 where she worked for many years for PCC Natural Markets and co-founded PCC Farmland Trust (formerly PCC Farmland Fund). Deeply involved in the second wave of feminism, she worked against war and for social and environmental justice all her life.

Her many dear friends will keep in their hearts memories of her wonderful spirit and powerful voice. Sign Jody’s on-line Guest Book at Legacy.com. Remembrances may be made to Greenpeace or PCC Farmland Trust.