Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture
9200 Edmonston Road, #117
Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 441-8777
E-mail: hawiaa@access.digex.net
World Wide Web: http://www.hawiaa.org
* * *
If You Are Interested in Sustainable Agriculture...
In addition to this monthly newsletter, the Henry A. Wallace
Institute for Alternative Agriculture publishes the American Journal of
Alternative Agriculture, a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of research on
alternative agriculture. It is a scientific forum for disseminating
technical, economic, and social research findings about the character and
requirements of alternative agriculture systems.
A comparison of alternative pest and soil management strategies for
Maine potato production systems is featured in the new issue (Volume 13, No.
4). Other articles cover a comparison of conventional and organic apple
production systems during three years of conversion to organic management in
coastal California, and the response of corn, soybean, and wheat crops to
fertilizer and herbicides in Ohio compared with low-input production
practices. Subscriptions to AJAA are $44 for libraries; $24 for
individuals; and $12 for students; contact the Wallace Institute, 9200
Edmonston Road, #117, Greenbelt, MD 20770; (301) 441-8777; e-mail
hawiaa@access.digex.net
Table of Contents
USDA Outlines Improvements in Proposed Organic Standards, p.1
Groups Ask FDA To Ban Antibiotics for Farm Animals, p.2
Wallace Board Re-Elects Officers, Announces Reorganization, p.2
Organic Practices Can Reduce Groundwater Contamination, p.3
New Strategy Will Clean Up Factory Farms, p. 4
Peach Oil Could Replace Methyl Bromide, p. 4
Special Issue of Audubon Chronicles Organic's Progress, p. 4
Resources, p. 4
Positions, p.5
Upcoming Events, p. 5
USDA OUTLINES IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPOSED ORGANIC STANDARDS
At the most recent meeting of the National Organic Standards Board,
the USDA announced several significant improvements on policy issues for the
National Organic Standards that were among the most controversial of the
first proposed standards. Keith Jones, Director of the USDA's National
Organic Program, outlined improvements in standards for livestock, synthetic
materials, inert ingredients in pesticide formulations, and ecolabeling.
Important provisions include a 100% organic feed requirement; a ban on
antibiotic use in livestock; a requirement for access to the outdoors for
all animals and pasture for all ruminants, with some limited exceptions;
NOSB authorization for all approved synthetic materials; a prohibition on
all List 2 EPA inerts and all List 3 inerts unless specifically approved by
the NOSB; and no restrictions on label claims other than the organic claim.
The USDA will seek a one-time authorization to cover the cost of the
first round of certifier accreditation, which will enable small, private
certifiers to work in the national program. It is also negotiating a
contract with the Organic Materials Review Institute to conduct the
necessary technical reviews of materials being considered for the National
List of allowable synthetics in organic production. The NOSB has also
brokered a tentative compromise between the USDA and the private certifier
community on provisions for termination of certification. The arrangement
would allow private certifiers, after finding a serious violation of
standards and conducting an internal appeal process, to revoke the letter of
certification through which it authorized the offending operation to use its
seal. The operation can elect to appeal the certifier's decision to the
USDA Secretary, who retains final authority to terminate certification.
Kathleen Merrigan, the Wallace Institute's Senior Analyst, is a
member of the NOSB.
GROUPS ASK FDA TO BAN ANTIBIOTICS FOR FARM ANIMALS
Five health, consumer, and other public interest groups last month
asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of certain
antibiotics to fatten farm animals. Scientists have said that the use of
antibiotics to promote animal growth increases the prevalence of bacteria
that are resistant to antibiotics' effects, and jeopardizes human health.
Adding antibiotics to livestock feed can lead to antibiotics resistance in
foodborne pathogens, which can make cases of food poisoning difficult to
treat or even deadly, according to the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, one of the groups which signed the petition to the FDA. The other
groups are the Environmental Defense Fund, Food Animal Concerns Trust,
Public Citizen's Health Research Group, and Union of Concerned Scientists.
For more than 40 years, ranchers and growers have fed low levels of
penicillin, tetracycline, and other antibiotics to poultry, cattle, and pigs
to speed their growth and to cut costs, according to the Center. In the past
two years, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention have called for ending the use of several antibiotics for
growth promotion in livestock.
The groups' concerns are shared in Europe, where the Soil
Association of England has released a report revealing "statistics on the
enormous increases in use of the most common antibiotics such as penicillin,
despite the supposed efforts of successful governments to curtail it. And
it reveals some of the failures in the regulatory system which are leaving
the human population exposed to the increasing risk of drug-resistant
disease." In its magazine Living Earth (January-March, 1999), the
Association calls for a ban on all non-medical uses of antibiotics in
agriculture.
WALLACE BOARD RE-ELECTS OFFICERS, ANNOUNCES REORGANIZATION
The Wallace Institute Board of Directors last month re-elected
officers and announced reorganization plans for the Institute. Three board
members were re-elected to serve another term: Christine (Cass) Peterson,
owner/operator, Flickerville Mountain Farm and Groundhog Ranch; Jose
Montenegro, Director, Rural Development Center, Salinas, CA; and Neil
Anderson, Anderson Associates Sheep Consultants, Manhattan, KS. These
members of the Executive Committee were re-elected: President, Cornelia
Butler Flora, Professor, Iowa State University; Vice President, Dr.
Frederick Magdoff, Professor, Department of Plant and Soil Science,
University of Vermont; Secretary, Cass Peterson; and Treasurer, Jose
Montenegro.
The board also announced that after 16 years, the Wallace Institute
will broaden its scope and reorganize to deliver its message closer to home.
"Sustainable agriculture has finally achieved scientific legitimacy," said
Garth Youngberg, Institute, executive director, citing a multitude of
sustainable agriculture initiatives at the USDA and land grant universities
across the country. "When we began this Institute, our goal was to provide
a safe haven for alternative farming practices that were shunned by the
establishment. Now those practices are considered credible mainstream
science. It is time for the Institute to focus on a new analytical agenda
that includes rural development, marketing, and the environment, issues of
enormous importance to all Americans, and all Americans should know about
them."
At its annual meeting, the Board reviewed the challenges that
remain. "Achieving scientific legitimacy is only the first step," said
Board chair Cornelia Flora. "It does not mean that we have fulfilled our
vision of an agricultural system that is environmentally sound, socially
just, and economically viable. In many ways, our work has just begun." To
fulfill its new mission, the Wallace Institute is considering several
reorganization plans, including mergers and new virtual facilities to take
advantage of technological advances in communication and research. "We will
have a new look," said Flora. "We will avail ourselves of cutting-edge
communications technologies and build new partnership networks not available
throughout much of the Institute's history."
Flora said that credible policy analysis will continue to be the
heart of the Institute's work, but the agenda will expand to include
environmental management, rural development, and marketing. Final decisions
about the Institute's new design are not expected until later this year.
"The Institute and its founding executive director, Garth Youngberg,
have contributed enormously to the success of sustainable agriculture," said
Jean Wallace Douglas, the Institute's Honorary President and longtime
benefactor. "Whatever turn the Institute takes, it will honor and build
upon that legacy."
ORGANIC PRACTICES CAN REDUCE GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
The adoption of organic soil practices can effectively reduce
nitrate contamination of groundwater while maintaining yields and improving
overall soil quality, according to a 15-year study by the Rodale Institute.
The research highlights an organic solution that could reduce the harmful
effects of agricultural groundwater pollution and its contamination of
surrounding waters. The study also found that organic management increased
soil fertility, improved water filtration and holding capacity, reduced
erosion, and increased crop productivity, especially during dry years.
NEW STRATEGY WILL CLEAN UP FACTORY FARMS
A Unified National Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations, announced
last month by the EPA and USDA, will reduce polluted runoff from 450,000
cattle, dairy, poultry, and hog farms where animals are raised in confined
operations across the country. The strategy sets a goal of developing and
implementing Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans for all animal feeding
operations by 2009. Those plans will include actions to prevent or reduce
runoff, improve storage and handling of manure, and identify new
technologies to implement the plans. Voluntary programs will be the main
approach for smaller operations, but larger operations with more than 1,000
animal units, which comprise 5 percent of all animal feeding operations,
will be required to obtain Clean Water Act discharge permits. The strategy
requires large livestock companies that contract with smaller operators to
share responsibility for meeting regulatory requirements.
The strategy is available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/owm;
from the EPA at (202) 260-7786; or the USDA at (202) 720-5974.
PEACH OIL COULD REPLACE METHYL BROMIDE
The natural oil that gives peaches their perfume also kills fungus
and other pests in the soil, and could replace the pesticide methyl bromide,
according to The New York Times (March 14, 1999). The peach compound,
called benzaldehyde, is manufactured synthetically and has been screened by
researchers at the Agricultural Research Service. "When it proved
effective, they developed a new approach for applying benzaldehyde onto soil
using granules of activated charcoal saturated with the fragrant chemical,"
according to the article. "Not only does the peach essence kill off
pathogens like Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium
aphanidermaturm, and Sclerotinia minor, the researchers found, but it seems
to favor other, beneficial organisms in the soil that then continue to
muscle out the unwanted pests." The use of methyl bromide, which damages
the Earth's ozone layer, is required to end in 2005.
SPECIAL ISSUE OF AUDUBON CHRONICLES ORGANIC'S PROGRESS
A special issue of Audubon (March-April, 1999) examines the progress
of organic farming with articles on "The Organic Revolution," the increase
in integrated pest management practices, and Wes Jackson and the Land
Institute. Conventional farmers this year "will apply 24 million tons of
fertilizer and nearly 1 billion pounds of pesticides on their land,"
according to the lead article. "Some of these chemicals will invariably
wind up in our groundwater, rivers, and estuaries." But "some experts are
starting to come around," realizing the potential for organic farming which
"increases biodiversity and benefits soil microorganisms that break down
organic matter, earthworms that build soil structure, and soil arthropods
that prey on insect pests." A second article explores the "quiet revolution
in American agriculture called integrated pest management, or simply IPM,"
and a third describes Wes Jackson's "grand experiment: a form of agriculture
that, like a prairie, runs entirely on sunlight and rain."
RESOURCES
"Cultivating Diversity: Agrobiodiversity and Food Security" is
available from World Resources Institute, 10 G St., NE, Washington, D.C.
20002; on the Internet, http://www.wri.org/wri/
"Pests of the Garden and Small Farm: A Grower's Guide to Using Less
Pesticide," 286 pages, is $35; "1999-2000 Catalog" of publications, videos,
and slide is free; both are available from the University of California,
DANR Communication Services/Publications, 6701 San Pablo Ave., Oakland, CA
94608; (800) 994-8849, or (510) 642-2431.
"Getting Food on the Table: An Action Guide to Local Food Policy" is
$12 from Community Food Security Coalition, P.O. Box 209, Venice, CA 90294;
(310) 822-5410.
POSITIONS
California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group seeks a full-time
Coordinator to lead policy advocacy, movement-building, and educational
activities; contact CSAWG, P.O. Box 1599, Santa Cruz, CA 95061; (831)
457-2815; e-mail casawg@igc.org
Farmers' Market Trust seeks an assistant to the Executive Director,
Food Security Meeting Planner, Technology/Web Site Assistant, and GIS
Specialist; contact Meredith Stone, FMT, 1201 Chestnut St., 4th Floor,
Philadelphia, PA 19107; (215) 568-0882; e-mail fmtrust@libertynet.org
Mothers & Others seeks an Executive Director; send resume to ED
Search, Mothers & Others, 40 West 20th St., New York, N.Y. 10011; e-mail
wgordon@mothers.org
Washington Tilth Producers seek apprentices on their farms; contact
Lisa Taylor, Seattle Tilth, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103; (206)
633-0451; e-mail tilth@speakeasy.org
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 14-16, "Beyond Pesticides: Pollution Prevention Is the Cure,"
the 17th National Pesticide Forum and 8th Annual California Pesticide
Organizing Conference, will be held in Santa Barbara, CA; contact Beyond
Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, (202)
543-5450; e-mail ncamp@ncamp.org
May 14-16, Organic Landscaping Workshop will be held in East Troy,
WI; contact Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, W2493 County Rd. ES, East
Troy, WI 53120; (414) 642-3303; e-mail: mfai@igc.apc.org
May 17-19, 29th Annual Composting and Recycling National Conference
will be held in Albuquerque, N.M.; contact BioCycle Magazine, 419 State
Ave., Emmaus, PA 18049; 1-800-661-4905.
May 19-20, Summit on Organic Food Technology will be held in Gilroy,
CA; contact Gay Franklin, SOFT, (408) 842-4893; e-mail gvnc@safemail.com
May 21-23, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy's Annual Conference
will be held in LaFox, IL; contact Cynthia Ehrman, ALBC, P.O. Box 477,
Pittsboro, N.C. 27312; (919) 542-5704.
May 23-28, 10th International Soil Conservation Organization
Conference will be held in West Lafayette, IN; contact Nona Schaler, Purdue
University, 1-800-359-2968 ext. 92N; e-mail njschaler@cea.purdue.edu; on the
Internet, http://topsoil.nserl.purdue.edu/isco99/isco99.htm
May 26-29, "Permanent Agriculture: Designing Our Farms for a Future
That Matters" will be held in Buena Vista, VA; contact Good Earth Farm
School, (540) 261-8775.
June 6-8, "NABC 11: World Food Security and Sustainability: The
Impacts of Biotechnology and Industrial Consolidation," the 11th annual
meeting of the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council, co-hosted by the
Wallace Institute, will be held in Lincoln, NE; contact the Center for
Biotechnology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, (402) 472-2635; or NABC,
(607) 254-4856; e-mail nabc@cornell.edu
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