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12 CapitalPress.com January 15, 2016 American Farm Bureau Federation Stallman retires with warning on excessive regulation American Farm Bureau chief cites threat to ‘land of liberty’ By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press ORLANDO, Fla. — The final address of retiring Amer- ican Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman con- tained a warning to both farm- ers and the government about excessive regulation. With too many restrictions over where and how agricul- ture can be practiced, the U.S. would no longer be the “land of liberty” and would not be able to feed itself for long, said Stallman, who is retiring after 16 years at the Farm Bureau’s helm. “Bad government should not be the straw that breaks us,” he said during AFBF’s annual convention in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 10. As farmers contemplate the organization’s policies regard- ing government assistance, they should remember that such federal aid seldom comes with no strings attached, he said. “When we ask and receive from the government, it does bind us,” Stallman said. The Farm Bureau did push to include risk management tools, such as an enhanced crop insurance program, in the 2014 Farm Bill, but federal as- sistance is ultimately a short- term method for dealing with lower farm incomes, he said. The long-term goal should be increased trade through agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will create greater de- mand for farm commodities overseas, Stallman said. While government over- reach is a concern for agri- culture, the industry has an optimistic future with genetic engineering, robotics and other technological advances prom- ising improved productivity at a lower cost and environmen- tal impact, he said. Technologies such as ge- netic modification are current- ly controversial, but Stallman said he’s optimistic about public acceptance since con- sumers vote with their dollars and biotech crops are already widespread. “Those who claim to speak for the average consumer but shop only at Whole Foods will eventually have to come around,” he said, referring to a grocery chain known for high- end and organic foods. Farmers can no longer com- plain that they have no way for the public to pay attention to their story, as social media ap- plications have greatly opened the channels of direct commu- nication, he said. “Never have their been more tools that allow us to en- gage,” Stallman said. When asked about the re- cent takeover of a national wildlife refuge headquarters in Oregon, Stallman said there’s no rationale for such illegal acts but sympathized with the plight of the Dwight and Steven Hammond, Farmers grill USDA chief on issues By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press ORLANDO, Fla. — Grow- ers who attended the American Farm Bureau Federation’s con- vention this week got the rare opportunity to directly grill USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack about his agency’s policies. Vilsack began his Jan. 10 speech at the meeting by commending farmers for their adaptability and urging them to promote the industry’s evo- lution to consumers. For example, few people outside agriculture realize that most of the allergens in peanuts have been eliminated through breeding, he said. “You can either manage change or be managed by change.” The USDA chief then took questions from the audience and followed up with a press conference with media repre- sentatives. Following is a sum- mary of some of his replies: Oregon arson charges A rancher in the audience said he was nervous about setting back burns to reduce fuels and stop wildfires that threaten his property in light of the arson charges against two Oregon ranchers. Dwight and Steven Hammond, a father and son, recently reported to pris- on for five-year sentences after being convicted of setting fires that burned public land, which led to protesters taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Vilsack said he doesn’t know enough about the case to comment on it, as the fires oc- curred on property owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Man- agement, which isn’t under the USDA’s jurisdiction. He then turned the subject to funding for firefighting efforts by the U.S. Forest Service, which is a division of his agency. Some ranchers are frus- trated with the restrictions on grazing in national forests, which the Forest Service re- ranchers whose five-year arson sentences for burning federal rangeland sparked the protest. “What happened to the Hammonds, we don’t think showed a lot of justice or fairness,” he said. Stallman said a distinction should be drawn between the problems with federal land management encountered by the Hammonds and the stand- off at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The armed protesters ha- ven’t created a climate that’s conducive to reasonable de- bate over federal policies on grazing and similar issues, he later told Capital Press. “Tying it to the guys oc- cupying the building is abso- lutely the wrong approach,” he said. Biotech convert preaches for mandatory labels Lynas believes labeling will dispel consumer fears By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, left, fields questions about food stamps, firefighting, immigration and other issues directly from growers during the 2016 American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Orlando, Fla. Beside him is Bob Stallman, who is retiring as the Farm Bureau’s president after 16 years. quires to maintain environ- mental health, Vilsack said. If the agency were able to devote more resources to conserva- tion, the improvements would allow the agency to permit more grazing, he said. However, 62 percent of the Forest Service’s budget is currently devoted to firefight- ing, up from 16 percent two decades ago, he said. No oth- er agency has to pay for such disasters out of its operating budget, Vilsack said. Wildfire suppression should be treated the same as the federal reaction to hurri- canes or floods, which is paid for with funds from the Fed- eral Emergency Management Administration, he said. Food stamps for junk food An audience member de- manded to know why the USDA didn’t try harder to dis- courage people from spending their food stamps on junk food, which received spontaneous applause. Vilsack responded that the issue was more com- plex than it would seem on its face. USDA has studied how people enrolled in the Supple- mental Nutrition Assistance Program use their benefits, and it doesn’t differ much from how other consumers spend their food money, he said. Discerning which foods should be excluded from SNAP would be complicated for technological and policy reasons, Vilsack said. For ex- ample, should shredded wheat that contains sugar be prohibit- ed? If certain fruit juices con- tain more sugars than soda, is it fair to allow them? “How would you dis- tinguish between items like that?” Vilsack asked. Only about 20 percent of the people enrolled in SNAP aren’t in the workforce and their benefits are limited to 90 days per year, he said. Vil- sack said it’s a tough question whether people with low in- comes should be blocked from making food decisions such as celebrating an occasion with cake. “We don’t want to stigma- tize people,” he said. Overregulation of agriculture When asked about the heavy regulatory burden faced by farmers, Vilsack respond- ed that USDA’s role primarily involves helping growers who are affected by rules enacted by other federal agencies. To this end, the USDA has cost- share programs available to assist with improvements on farm properties, as well as technical assistance for farm- ers, he said. The agency can assess farmers’ conservation efforts to verify they’re com- plying with requirements and help them access markets for ecosystem services, such as carbon credits generated from growing crops, Vilsack said. Labor and immigration A farmer asked whether it’s realistic that the feder- al government will reform the H-2A agricultural guest worker program to reduce barriers and make more for- eign employees available. Vilsack said there’s a grow- ing recognition of a problem with H-2A but he hasn’t com- municated specifically about this program with the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees it. However, he said his broader hope is that compre- hensive immigration reform will be passed by Congress, which would address farm- workers who are already in the U.S. While such a solution isn’t probable in the current polit- ical climate, hopefully mem- bers of Congress will learn why such change is necessary over the coming year, Vilsack said. “There needs to be a pro- cess in which people come out of the shadows and ac- knowledge they haven’t been here legally,” which could in- volve the assessment of fines, he said. Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Bob Stallman, who is retiring as president of the American Farm Bureau Federation after 16 years, warned farmers and the government about regula- tion during the group’s recent convention in Orlando, Fla. ORLANDO, Fla. — Con- sumer acceptance of geneti- cally engineered foods would increase if companies were re- quired to label them, according to a controversial proponent of biotechnology. Food manufacturers and conventional agriculture groups have come out against mandatory labeling efforts, but Mark Lynas of the Cornell Al- liance for Science, a nonprofit group, believes embracing la- bels would be a strategic move for the industry. Lynas, an environmental- ist who once opposed genetic engineering, said consumers would likely stop worrying about transgenic ingredients once they realized how com- mon they are in food. “You can dispel fear by letting the sunshine in, essen- tially,” Lynas said on Jan. 11 during the American Farm Bu- reau Federation’s convention in Orlando, Fla. “The more transparency you have, the more comfort- able people feel with it,” he said. Labels for genetically mod- ified organisms would not have to exist in a vacuum — manufacturers could convey positive messages about bio- tech crops, such as the reduced usage of insecticides or lower levels of carcinogenic acryl- amides in potatoes, Lynas said. While some have called for voluntary GMO label- ing, Lynas said this approach would not be effective because many companies would avoid making the switch while those who adopt labels would be sin- gled out by critics. By fighting labels, food manufacturers and agriculture groups also create the percep- tion that they want to obscure facts from the public, which confirms critics’ allegations of a conspiracy, he said. If food companies were required to label GMOs, it would eliminate one of the most persuasive arguments that opponents have against biotechnology, Lynas said. Some food industry rep- resentatives are apprehensive about mandatory labeling due to the precedent it would set, possibly resulting in new pres- sure to label other production practices. Charlie Arnot, CEO of the Center for Food Integrity con- sumer research nonprofit, said he applauds the recent decision by the Campbell Soup Co. to voluntarily label products made with GMOs. However, it would be im- possible for food manufactur- ers to disclose all the informa- tion that consumers care about — such as worker and animal welfare — unless they attach a scroll to their products, he said. “Today the issue is GM la- bels, the next year it’s going to be something else,” Arnot said. Lynas acknowledged that there’s no scientific justifica- tion for GMO labels, but said they may be worth adopting to calm the current rancor. “This is a political solution to a polarized situation that needs to be resolved,” he said. “You are compromising on a matter of principle but it may be politically justified.” Many opponents of genetic engineering see the technology as a symptom of broader forc- es controlling global food pro- duction, reflecting their view that the world is run clandes- tinely by powerful interests, Lynas said. Lynas believes this mental- ity betrays a longing for some- one being in control, even if those forces don’t have the public’s interest at heart. ‘(Duvall) from a region that’s pretty diverse agriculturally’ AFB from Page 1 As the AFBF’s policy positions are decided by a grassroots process that be- gins at the county level, the president’s role is primarily as an advocate and admin- istrator rather than a deci- sion-maker about the group’s political stance. For those reasons, dele- gates are expected to evalu- ate candidates on their style, speaking abilities, capacity to manage a large staff and abil- ity to oversee a substantial business operation. Regional differences also influence the process, as the South and Midwest are rep- resented by a much higher number of delegates than the West or Northeast due to their sizable Farm Bureau mem- berships, which are often tied to insurance programs. To win the presidency, a candidate must win a simple majority of the vote, which none of the four contenders managed to do in the first or Mateussz Perkowski/Capital Press Zippy Duvall, the new president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, speaks at a press conference after his election at the organization’s annual convention in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 12. second ballots. Rogers was the first to be eliminated, followed by Bushue in the second round. Because of uncertainties about the electronic counters capturing all the votes, the delegates contemplated a for- mal rule where there would be a paper count if the mar- gin were less than 10 percent between the two finalists. Instead, it was decided that the delegates who nom- inated the candidates could demand a paper ballot if the margin was very narrow, but this procedure proved unnec- essary. Stallman announced Du- vall as the winner immedi- ately after the third round and passed him the gavel. “If you didn’t vote for me this time, I’m going to work so hard, you’re going to want to vote for me the next time,” Duvall told the crowd. When asked about the election results, delegates downplayed the influence that Duvall’s Southern provenance may have had on his victory. With more than 200 dele- gates, the AFBF’s Southern region controlled more than 57 percent of the group’s total voting delegation. There are certain geo- graphic alliances in the Amer- ican Farm Bureau Federation, but this was not the predom- inant factor in Duvall’s win, said Neil Walter, a delegate from Texas. Walter said he voted for Duvall because of his compe- tence as a leader. Bob Stallman said he saw the election results — which by tradition are not publicly disclosed — and confirmed there was no region that vot- ed as a bloc to secure Duvall’s victory. Jimmy Parnell, a delegate and president of the Alabama Farm Federation, said Duvall rose to the top because he’s an eloquent speaker and was able to connect with farmers of varied backgrounds. “He’s from a region that’s pretty diverse agriculturally,” he said. Right up until the election, delegates were tight-lipped about their preference for AFBF president. Perhaps they were being diplomatic, but delegates contacted by Capi- tal Press insisted there was no clear front runner and the race was up in the air. Even so, stickers and but- tons for Duvall and Villwock were a common sight, which in hindsight provided a fairly accurate prediction of the fi- nal face-off in the election. Some delegates from the West, such as Don Shawcroft of Colorado, remained opti- mistic that the region’s candi- dates had a genuine shot at the top job, given the unique chal- lenges faced with ranching on federal land. As Shawcroft said, stickers and buttons don’t necessarily translate into delegates. Once the results were in, however, Shawcroft sounded an optimistic note about Du- vall’s victory, noting he was excited about the new “quar- terback” for the organization. “The best thing about change is that it brings enthu- siasm, even if we oftentimes resist it,” he said. Craig Ogden, a delegate from New Mexico, said he wasn’t familiar enough with either Villwock or Duvall to have much of a preference in the final vote, as he was pull- ing for Bushue to win. “When he didn’t make it into the top two, I was some- what surprised,” Ogden said. Prior to the election, dele- gate Brenda Baker of Tenne- see said she didn’t expect the Southern region to vote as a bloc based on geography. “As far as I know, the South has only been united once,” she joked. “And that was a long time before the Farm Bureau.” However, Baker indicat- ed that Tennessee, which has more voting delegates than any other state, had coalesced around a certain candidate, though she declined to name him. She hinted only that the candidate’s “faith and family” was a deciding factor in their support. While all four candi- dates emphasized their belief in God, Baker’s comment may well have referred to Du- vall, who serves as a deacon in his Baptist church and has four children and three grand- children.