Vandenheuvel Justifies FMMO in CA

Vandenheuvel Justifies FMMO in California

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

This Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing in Clovis, now in its seventh week, still has more ground to cover before it wraps up. Rob Vandenheuvel, general manager of the Milk Producers Council (MPC), reflected on the current California Marketing Order, “We’ve been operating under a separate system for many, many years. And while that may have worked for a good chunk of that time, in recent years, we’ve seen that the California system has not kept up with prices paid for milk in other parts of the country. So we’re trying to get on an even playing field.”

Vandenheuvel said resistance to the FMMO has come mainly from those who currently purchase California milk. “They’re not interested in a system that would require them to pay more for their milk,” he said. “They’ve had a pretty good deal in California, so they’re trying to protect it.”

He said some minor resistance comes from non-California dairymen concerned their prices could decrease should California join the FMMO. “There was talk earlier in this hearing that if dairy farmers in California were put on an even playing field and had more money paid for their milk, would they increase production? What impact might that have on the overall market?”

“When you look at California and the competition for land from pistachios and almonds,” Vandenheuvel said, “dairy is not the only agricultural interest here. So competition for land and competition for water are really going to put a lid on future growth—no matter what the dairymen get paid.”

Significant LossesMilk Producers Council

Vandenheuvel said the state’s current system has caused a significant profit loss for dairymen in California. “Our milk going to cheese plants is the largest class of milk sold in the state, but it’s still 45 percent of the total milk production. So, the state cheese price is less than the Federal price on that 45 percent of milk. The difference is a shortfall of nearly $2 billion since 2010 for the California producer.”

Vandenheuvel said when all dairies in the United States slumped in 2009, those outside of California were better able to recover under the FMMO than those inside under the CSMO. “When you look at the peaks and valleys that the dairy industry has gone through, we’ve had years like 2009, which was the worst ever,” Vandenheuvel said, “and 2012 was probably the second worst ever due to high feed costs. Most of the rest of the country recovered in the months and years following 2009 and then again 2012.

“California is still reeling. If we had sold off assets, we really haven’t recovered to where we were before 2009. So that $2 billion divided by the 2,000 dairymen that existed at that time in California was the difference between catching up and netting a profit. But actually happened, is that the industry has never recovered the losses, even after a few good years,” he noted.

Out-of-State Dairies Object to Federal Order

Vandenheuvel said that many California dairymen are looking to become part of the FMMO to get on a level playing field with the rest of the country’s milk producers. “If you buy into the theory that California dairymen got a fair price for milk will increase milk production and that would have a negative impact on the rest of the country,” Vandenheuvel said. “The best thing to happen to the rest of the country would be for California to go completely broke and shut down our entire dairy industry because they would be better off because we’d have twenty percent less milk in the whole country. That’s why I don’t think that those concerns are really strong. This hearing is more about the sellers of milk getting a fair shake and the buyers of milk not wanting to pay that fair shake.”

Vandenheuvel said that the way the dairy industry works—with milk spoiling each day—the government had to get involved in order to prevent buyers from refusing to buy one dairy’s milk and significantly devaluing the price of milk. “Cows don’t produce Monday through Friday only; there is no on or off spigot,” Vandenheuvel said. “So when you have a product that is being produced and piled up every day and has to be sold every day to a group of buyers who don’t have to buy every day –and they don’t have to buy from you—you’re at a huge disadvantage negotiating a fair price for that product.

“Imagine going to a car dealership where they had to sell a certain amount of cars that day or the vehicles would literally spoil, go bad and be worthless,” he noted. “You would have a great position to buy a car. That’s where we are, and that’s why the government got involved, said milk is important and we know dairymen are at a disadvantage. So we’re going to play referee between the two parties. Our problem in California is that that referee has been much more on the side of the processors keeping a low price in California.”

Two Main Proposals

Vandenheuvel said that two major proposals have been submitted to the USDA—one from the dairy-farmer-owned cooperatives and the other from the manufacturers. He said the USDA would decide upon the final proposal that will be voted on by producers.

“Manufacturers do not vote on Federal orders,” Vandenheuvel said, “It’s a producer vote. So it really comes down to the USDA. We think we’ve put together—as a producer coalition—a very sound, comprehensive approach of going to a FMMO while still respecting some of California’s issues—like our quota program; our transportation program.”

Vandenheuvel explained that it was very difficult to get the USDA to hold a hearing on the Milk Marketing Order. “We had to basically exhaust every alternative option in the state system,” he noted. “We tried a dozen hearings over the last ten years. We’ve tried legislation in California. We’ve tried suing the Secretary of Agriculture in California. We’ve tried protests and rallies on the steps of the capitol in front of CDFA, and at the end of the day last year our milk prices, compared to the rest of the country, had a bigger gap than we’ve seen in the last ten years.”

Vandenheuvel said the CDFA could have easily addressed many of the issues that caused milk producers to fight for a FMMO. Nevertheless, one issue, the CDFA could not have regulated for producers is interstate commerce. “That’s big for a state like California,” Vandenheuvel said. “We’ve got 35-40 million people here who drink milk and we’ve had situations in the past and currently in which milk is moving into California just to take advantage of the fact that California can’t do anything about it. Only a FMMO can regulate interstate commerce because of the way the constitution is drafted.”

Vandenheuvel said he hopes to see a recommended decision on the order by the middle of next year.

 

2016-05-31T19:27:04-07:00November 9th, 2015|

Health Benefits of Pomegranates

Dong Wang on Health Benefits of Pomegranates

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

 

As the demand for healthy food items increases, farmers are choosing from among a larger diversity of crops to grow. Dong Wang, research leader with the United States Department of Agriculture Research Service in Parlier, spoke at the 2015 UC Kearney Ag Research and Extension Center (KARE) & USDA-ARS Pomegranate Field Day last week.

Wang said “the International Society of Horticultural Sciences[1] organized a conference in 2013 on pomegranates and other minor fruits. Attendees from about 20 countries presented their pomegranate research findings on crop production, yield, quality, and genetic aspects of different species, including cultivars. They also presented findings relating to health benefits and the biochemistry of pomegranate products.”

Researchers and experts in California and around the world continue to explore producing a plant variety with the genetic potential for higher yield. And while increased marketable yield is important, Wang said researching pomegranate health benefits and phenolics—compounds with antioxidant propertiesmay be more beneficial than the absolute yield, “so people are researching multiple aspects of the topic.”

Dong Wang, research leader with the USDA-Agriculture Research Service in Parlier

Dong Wang, research leader with the USDA-Agriculture Research Service in Parlier

While the U.S. has a relatively small market for fresh pomegranates, pomegranate juice and secondary products, which are more common in the U.S., help to increase the fruit’s marketable yield. Wang explained some Americans eat fresh arils atop salads and other dishes, but those not-so-perfect on-the-surface pomegranates will still be desirable for the fresh market because they still contain beneficial compounds when processed. This research on phenolics, vitamins, and other compounds found in the fruit has been performed not only on the juice and the arils, but also in high-concentrate peels.

The International Society of Horticultural Sciences organized a conference in 2013 on pomegranates and other minor fruits. Conference attendees from about 20 countries presented their pomegranate research findings on crop production, yield, quality, and genetic aspects of different species, including cultivars. They also presented findings relating to health benefits and the biochemistry of pomegranate products.”

As a result of the 2013 International Society of Horticultural Sciences Conference in 2013 on pomegranates, Wang co-authored a proceedings book published by the International Society of Horticultural Sciences in July 2015. Co-written with Zhaohe Yuan, Nanjing Forestry University and Erik Wilkins, Paramount Farming Company, the volume, “Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Pomegranate and Minor Mediterranean Fruits,” covers the following major areas of research and state-of-the-art technology: Physiology and Biochemistry, Secondary Metabolism and Human Health, Integrated Pest Management and Disease Control, Marketing and Economics, Genetic Resources and Breeding, Cultivation Techniques, and Post-harvest Technology. According to the USDA, “The book serves as the largest collection of the most current knowledge on pomegranate science and technology in the world.”[2]

_____________________________________

[1] International Society of Horticultural Sciences

[2] USDA ARS

 

2016-05-31T19:27:05-07:00October 30th, 2015|

Milk Marketing Order in CA Worries Other Dairy States

By Kyle Buchoff, Assistant Editor

Tom Van Nortwick, owner and publisher of Agribusiness Publications in Fresno for the last 35 years, has been attending the USDA dairy hearing in Clovis to adopt a Federal Milk Marketing Order in California. Van Nortwick warned that should California go with the Federal Milk Marketing Order, the move could hurt prices for all milk producers across the nation.

“Dairymen in other parts of the country have expressed concern that if California dairymen were paid more for their milk, they may go ahead and produce more milk,” Van Nortwick said. “California is a milk-making machine with comparatively fewer dairies. More milk on the market has been proven to create volatility and huge price fluctuations up or down, depending on demand. So California producers’ getting paid more and producing more milk would reduce the price of all milk throughout the country.”

“We found that 2-3% too much milk in the market at any one time can create up to a 40% reduction in price paid to producers,” Van Nortwick explained. “And of course, California is not the only overproducing state; Wisconsin, Minnesota and other midwestern states are also overproducing at this time.”

Van Nortwick also pointed out, “Domestic demand is strong, but exports have shrunk by about 50%, which is about 8% of last year’s market. So when you add an 8% oversupply of milk volume to the market as we broach the time for holiday season orders, and there are strong indications that inventories of milk, butter, powder, and cheese are rising across the country, prices paid to producers will fall.

“Nobody needs prices to go any lower,” stated Van Nortwick. “Our counterparts in New Zealand, Australia, and the European Union are suffering mightily, even more than we are, with record-setting low prices because they think they can just produce more than they can sell. If you produce more than you can sell, you are going to take a hit, and unfortunately it is the producers who end up taking that hit.”

2016-05-31T19:27:06-07:00October 19th, 2015|

More on Federal Milk Marketing Order

Continued Coverage on Federal Milk Hearing in Clovis

More on Federal Milk Marketing Order: Let the Market Sort it Out

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

 

Bill Verboort is the General Manager for AgriTech Analytics (ATA), a national company based in Visalia Calif. Owned by the Holstein Association USA, AgriTech is part of the U.S. Dairy Herd Improvement Association System, and provides data to dairy producers for management, genetic improvement and pedigree purposes. Verboort has been attending the USDA Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) hearing in Clovis, Calif., which is gathering testimony from milk industry people who want, or do not want to abandon the California Milk Marketing Order and adopt the FMMO.

“I think it is a very historic day, because I think California is one of the only major markets outside the FMMO,” said Verboort. “When the Federal system came in the 1930s, there were good reasons for us to be on a state order due to geographic isolation, etc. Today, I don’t see us as geographically isolated as we once were. So why not be part of the FMMO?”

Verboort noted that the FMMO should put California producers on par with the rest of the country when it comes to milk and cheese prices. “That is the intended and anticipated effect,” he said.

Of course there are many against adopting the FMMO. “Some are saying if the California producer is going to get more money for his milk, he is going to produce more,” said Verboort. “If you look at the industry over decades, when the price of milk has gone up, producers have produced more. You’ve got to make hay when the sun shines, so to speak. And when prices are down, the cash flows are down, so a producer needs to get more cash. What is the solution to that? Produce more milk!”

“So the California producers are going to produce more milk whether the FMMO system is in place or not; at least that’s the way I see it,” Verboort explained. “But if our producers in California are at a disadvantage to producers in other parts of the country, we need to make an equitable situation here.”

“And the market will shake it out. It is as simple as that,” he said. “We can produce milk products more efficiently in California and I think that is good for the U.S. and for the consumer. If the producer can produce it here more efficiently by getting on the right strategy with the FMMO rather than the California milk order, then we are on the right track.”

“California producers have been on the short end of the stick for a long time,” Verboort said. “Even though last year was a very good year for most producers throughout the country, and for California producers as well, they still sold their milk for several dollars per hundred weight less than the rest of the country,” Verboort said.

As for the hearing taking place in Clovis, Verboort said it seems that the momentum is going in a good direction. “But we will find out; that is what these hearings are about,” he added.

 

AgriTech Analytics (ATA) is a certified Dairy Records Processing Center.   

Part of the U.S. DHIA System, AgriTech Analytics provides data to dairy producers for management, genetic improvement and pedigree purposes.  

By utilizing the reports and herd analysis made available by AgriTech Analytics, Herd owners are able to maximize profitability and better position themselves in today’s competitive dairy industry.

________________________________________

Links:

AgriTech Analytics

U.S. Dairy Herd Improvement Association System

 

2016-05-31T19:27:07-07:00October 14th, 2015|

3rd in a Series on Mental Health on Farm

Part 3 Mental Health on the Farm:

Isolation in Farm Country

Resources are provided at the end of this post.

In light of Mental Illness Awareness Week last week, Karen Markland, Division Manager for the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Healths Planning, Prevention and Supportive Services, talked extensively with California Ag Today Editor, Laurie Greene, about members of the local agricultural industry who could be going through significant emotional suffering due to the drought and environmental water restrictions impacting their livelihoods.

Editor: Is there anything unique about how farmers and farmworkers suffer from stress?

Markland: In our experience with farm-working populations, they have a couple of strikes against them. They are geographically isolated in rural areas; they are probably linguistically isolated as well, as their native language is typically not English; and, they are culturally isolated in that many of our cultures believe in not talking about sick minds or sick feelings. Plus there is transportation barriers. Our county is so large that it is very difficult for rural workers to receive any services. And so, we think it is a combination of things that discourage people from reaching out for help.

Editor: Are there financial issues or constraints?

Markland: What we have found is anytime we we use Mental Services Act dollars, we have to do it based on what the community wants. The stakeholders have brought up not a financial barrier, per se, but a transportation barrier. They tell us, “I can’t afford a car. I can’t afford the taxi from Kerman to Fresno or Parlier to Fresno.” They see it as a transportation barrier.

Editor: Is this population at risk?

Markland: There have at least two suicides in the agricultural community, a landowner and a farmworker. That is too many. It is unacceptable, but it has brought to light some uncomfortable subjects that we have to try to make more comfortable. When individuals feel that stressors become more difficult to manage, thoughts of wanting to harm themselves and not wanting to continue or to fight through, become stronger.

Editor: What can you do for people who feel this way?

 Markland: We are concerned about the farmworker who wakes up to such serious depression or anxiety and who has to fight through their day. That is no quality of life. So, we have a couple of resources. One that we are proud of right here in Fresno is the Central Valley Prevention Suicide Hotline 1-888-506-5991. This is a 24/7 hotline that has all language capabilities. So no matter what your language, we are here for you. This is a local number. The reason I keep saying local is that the person who picks up that phone call understands the culture of our valley—that we we have farmworkers facing dire drought conditions that others in California do not encounter with the same potential catastrophic loss; and the anxiety behind that, and the longevity of that—that it is not a one-week problem. This isn’t a breakup with a person; this is a long-term problem. So having local people manage the hotline is a wonderful resource.

Editor: Of course, farmers and farmworkers outside of Fresno County may have a similar resource in their counties. (Please refer to resources listed at the end of this article.) Could you tell us how successful has the Fresno County hotline been?

Markland: They are a crisis hotline; plus they are there just to help talk to people who are depressed or anxious. We do “talk-down” calls and rescue calls. This hotline has saved over 53 lives in active rescues in the last 12 months. Individuals have called the hotline as their last resort, and we’ve been able to activate emergency medical services and save their lives. In addition, we do follow-up calls.

Editor: What about follow-up calls?

Markland: If a person calls our hotline, and they have a safely plan, and the staff on the call feels they are safe, they’ll do a follow-up call in two days. Staff will ask if they have stuck with their safety plan, how they are feeling, and if they accessed the support systems they wanted to, because we really are dedicated to having a healthy community.

The Fresno Department of Behavioral Health is dedicated to supporting the wellness of individuals, families, and communities in Fresno County who are affected by, or at risk of, mental illness and/or substance use disorders through cultivation of strengths toward promoting recovery in the least restrictive environment.County of Fresno Logo

The Fresno Department of Behavioral Health provides mental health and substance abuse services to adults within the County of Fresno. The programs within our department focus on delivering the highest quality of service. There are over 300 professionals and staff dedicated to providing services in both metropolitan and rural areas. The diversity of our staff has helped us create a department that is sensitive to cultural differences and attempts to bridge the language barriers with our consumers. 

2016-05-31T19:27:07-07:00October 12th, 2015|

Cornell Kasbergen On Federal Milk Marketing Order

Continued Coverage of Milk Hearing

Dairyman Cornell Kasbergen: We Need Federal Milk Marketing Order

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Cornell Kasbergen, a dairyman in Tulare County, is fed up with the flawed California State Milk Marketing Order. So much so, that he and other dairymen and women have a great desire to switch to the Federal Marketing Order.

This idea is presently front-and-center in Clovis, CA as USDA officials are holding an historic hearing that may extend into early November.

“It started three to four years ago when our milk prices were dramatically less than those in the rest of the country, and we wanted to get our industry on a level playing field. It has been a lot of work getting the co-ops together, but we are just at the beginning of this whole process.”

Having the USDA here is, in itself, a big beginning,

Kasbergen has worked hard to drum up interest in the idea. “When I was a co-op board member at Land O’Lakes, Inc. [a national, farmer-owned food and agricultural cooperative milk cooperative], we worked with other dairy co-ops and their members to get educated.  We discovered, for the last three to four years, California’s whey value in its milk pricing formula deviated from national prices, and California producers were losing money. Once we realized we were leaving a lot of money on the table—over a million dollars a day—it opened people’s eyes. That’s why we are having this hearing.”

“The California Department of Food and Agriculture intentionally left the state’s whey prices lower than the rest of the nation, and though we’ve been petitioning them over and over again to rectify the issue, they have failed,” said Kasbergen. “That’s why we have gone this route in getting our milk prices formulated by the federal government rather than by the state. Our state has really let us down.”

“The CDFA has taken hundreds of millions of dollars out of the dairy farmers’ pockets, the loss is killing the dairy industry in California,” said Kasbergen.

2016-05-31T19:27:07-07:00October 9th, 2015|

2nd in Series: Mental Health on the Farm

Part 2  Mental Health on the Farm:  Destigmatizing Mental Health

October 4th – 10th is National Mental Illness Awareness week, and National Depression Screening Day is tomorrow, October 8, 2015.

Resources are provided at the end of this post.

Karen Markland, Division Manager for the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Healths Planning, Prevention and Supportive Services. spoke with California Ag Today Editor Laurie Greene about mental health and the state’s farmers and farmworkers who have experienced increased stress due to the drought and environmental water restrictions impacting their livelihoods.

Editor: Back in April, your department partnered with the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) and the USDA to receive a grant specifically to host a conference called “The Drought Emergency and Preparedness Conference,” (DEAP). DEAP was a full-day event for farmers to discuss the drought and water, but also included representatives from mental health?

Markland: Here was the Department of Behavioral Health, a mental health partner, at an agricultural event. It was fascinating to see the curious looks that implied, “I kind of want to go up there, but I don’t want to go up there.” And by the end of the day, we had attendees and farmers approaching our table. We created an agricultural theme with plants and live videos of our gardening projects to destigmatize and show that mental health and mental wellness speak all languages. So we were pleased to be there.

Editor: We understand the Fresno County Farm Bureau participated?

Markland:   Yes, the meeting with the EOC and USDA was actually initiated by the Fresno County Farm Bureau, which is is very interested in the wellbeing of its community. Ryan Jacobson, Farm Bureau ceo/executive director, had received some communication indicating our farmers were feeling stress and that some had lost their lives based on the anxiety and depression brought on by these drought conditions. It was time for us to activate and come together to talk about a very uncomfortable subject.

Our Farm Bureau and the USDA partnered to talk to workers and farmers who aren’t just happy; rather, they are depressed and anxious, and we are worried about them. The collaboration among the Farm Bureau, USDA and mental health was wonderful.  It was an amazing dialogue to jointly say, “This is such a stigmatizing topic for a group of individuals who are typically adult male farmers who don’t want to share or hear these words. Yet, we’ve lost lives, so it is time to make a difference.”

The Fresno Department of Behavioral Health is dedicated to supporting the wellness of individuals, families, and communities in Fresno County who are affected by, or at risk of, mental illness and/or substance use disorders through cultivation of strengths toward promoting recovery in the least restrictive environment.County of Fresno Logo

The Fresno Department of Behavioral Health provides mental health and substance abuse services to adults within the County of Fresno. The programs within our department focus on delivering the highest quality of service. There are over 300 professionals and staff dedicated to providing services in both metropolitan and rural areas. The diversity of our staff has helped us create a department that is sensitive to cultural differences and attempts to bridge the language barriers with our consumers. 

2016-05-31T19:27:08-07:00October 8th, 2015|

Dairyman Xavier Avila on Federal Milk Marketing Order

Continued Federal Milk Marketing Order Hearing Coverage

Kings County Dairyman, Xavier Avila Worked Hard to Get Federal Milk Marketing Order on the Docket 

By Laurie Greene, Editor

Xavier Avila, a dairyman in Kings County, is monitoring the USDA Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Dairy Hearing in Clovis very closely. “Well, I was one of the ones who pushed for it five or six years ago. It’s kind of dear to me to get it done,” he said.

Avila explained, “As a kid growing up in the sixties and seventies, all my family members who were in the dairy business talked about how bad it was before the orders. Milk needs to be picked up everyday, so it it’s really easy to mess the market up if you don’t pick up a guys’ milk or threaten not to pick it up. So the California marketing order was established to bring order to California milk.”

Avila said the California marketing order worked for many years when dairies across the country were making the same amount of money per hundredweight. But prices are not equal now, and California dairy farmers are getting paid much less than those other parts of the country.

“We set up a solution on end-product pricing. Yet in California, the CDFA was not following the rules. If the rules had been followed, we wouldn’t have a need to go to the FMMO,” said Avila. “But CDFA just wouldn’t follow the rules regarding end-product pricing and the USDA does follow the rules; so it is just a simple matter of going with the people who are following the rules.”

“For the past ten years,” Avila said, “our whey prices have been much less than the national whey price, so the California dairy industry has lost billions of dollars.”  “It’s really simple. There are six pounds of whey per every 100 pounds of milk. Basically for the last few years, whey was 60 cents/pound. Doing the math, 60 cents times 6 pounds; you come up with a total of $3.60 for the whey in each 100 pounds of milk. With the California Milk Marketing Order, we were paid just 25 cents towards that total and the plant kept the rest. The Federal order is basically the reverse; not quite, but almost the reverse.”

Avila is bullish on the California dairy industry’s conversion to a FMMO. “I think it’s going to happen. Nothing is for certain, but the industry is united. Milk is the same everywhere, and I think it is in California dairy farmers’ hands because we are going to vote on this. Whenever you produce the same product and earn far less for it, it is inevitable that something is going to happen.”

Avila noted it will take some time, “but I knew that from the start, it would not be quick and easy. We are looking at anywhere from one to two years,” Avila said, affirming his belief the California dairy industry can hang on for two years. “We’ve got not choice. Now with the drought, there are other crops you can do better with. Some dairy farmers will leave the business just because they have something better to do than milk cows. So we see this as saving the California dairy industry,” Avila said.

Click here to view Video of Xavier Avila, September 22, 2015.

 

 

2016-05-31T19:27:08-07:00October 6th, 2015|

Historic Milk Pricing Hearing in Clovis

Historic Milk Pricing Hearing in Clovis:

Converting California to the Federal Milk Marketing Order

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

In Clovis last week, an historic USDA milk pricing hearing commenced to gather testimony from the California dairy industry, which for the most part, favors changing to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO). This represents an abandonment of the state marketing order which has been harmful to dairies since it was altered 10 years ago to disallow dairies from getting paid the same price for their milk and whey products.

William Francis, director, USDA Order Formulation and Enforcement, is involved in the formal rule-making process for marketing orders. Francis commented, “There’s been tremendous interest in a federal order for California and we are holding a formal rule hearing for the promulgation of a California FMMO. This is an historic event. For years, the state has operated a program. But, farmers have gotten together and invited us to come in for the state’s hearing.”

The hearing could last as long as eight weeks to review each of four proposals. Francis noted, “We are here as long as it takes. We want to make sure we have a complete and accurate record so there are no time constraints,” He said the USDA will post a transcript on their website, filter through all of the documentation and make a recommendation.

A comment period with a sufficient amount of time will follow the public announcement of the USDA decision. “Then we will generate a modified final decision,” Francis said. “By the time we complete that process, farmers will have the opportunity to vote on the modified decision through a referendum process, which could be up to two years away.”

USDA Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO)

Industry Information Request postings

All of the proposals can be viewed at www.ams.usda.gov/CAOrder.

2016-05-31T19:27:08-07:00October 2nd, 2015|

Super PAC Needed to Save Forests, Wildlife, Ag, Part 1

Rachel Martin on Need for Super PAC to Save Forests, Wildlife, Ag

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Part 1:

This is part one of a three-part series with Rachel Martin, the national chairperson of Homeland Security for the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW), on the importance of creating a political action committee (super PAC) to save forests, wildlife, and ag suffering from limited water allocations during this extensive drought.

Martin said a super PAC must be created to combat the environmentalists who have been lobbying in Washington and Sacramento for years and to improve conditions for all constituencies. The resulting environmental regulations have prevented forest maintenance, such as logging, thinning of the forests, and controlled burns, which has increased the likelihood and severity of wildfires that burn thousands of acres each year and kill the animals environmentalists are trying to protect.

“I’ve been working with public safety as well as a lot of animal activists since ’99,” Martin said, “and I know that with ag, it’s been a fight for the last 30-plus years with the environmentalists and the Environmental Protection Act. Ag alone is not the only affected group of agencies or businesses. People don’t often think about how the lack of water significantly affects California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the U.S. Forest Service, and law enforcement agencies as well. We need to come together.”

“Law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Forest Service have told me the environmentalists are actually hurting and killing a lot of the creatures they stand to protect,” Martin said. “Other animals die during those fires, and they’re dying the most horrible deaths—which is death by fire.”

2016-05-31T19:28:06-07:00August 31st, 2015|
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