ACTION ALERT

Major Farm/Environment Policy Decisions to be Decided

Final Senate Vote on Farm Bill Set for December 11th or 12th

The full U.S. Senate is now debating and voting on the Farm Bill that will be in effect for at least the next five years. Major decisions affecting the quality of our environment, the stewardship of the land, and the future of family farms and rural communities will be made during the week of December 10th. We are asking all LSP members and supporters to call their U.S. Senators before noon on December 11th. Even if you have never done so before, now is the time to let your Senators know that they need to vote for policies that protect the land, support family farms, build up rural communities, and move us all towards a more sustainable food and agriculture system.

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

CALL YOUR U.S. SENATORS TODAY!

We are asking you to call (use the state-by-state list of U.S. Senators and phone numbers listed below) because a constituent calling has more of an impact than an email. However, if you prefer to email, just search for your two U.S. Senators' web sites and email from there. Tell your Senators:

1. BAN PACKER OWNERSHIP OF LIVESTOCK
Call your U.S. Senators and tell them to vote for the Wellstone/Johnson amendment to ban packer ownership of livestock. Packers use direct ownership of livestock to force independent producers (like many LSP farmer members) to take lower prices for the animals they raise. As of August 2001, Smithfield owned 711,000 sows and Cargill, Tyson, and Premium Standard Farms each owned well over 100,000 sows. The packers' goal is to take the whole industry, leaving little or nothing for independent producers. The Senate Agriculture Committee, influenced by heavy pro-corporate lobbying by commodity groups and corporate lobbyists, voted down efforts to restore fairness and competition to the livestock industry by a 12 - 9 vote. Now we need to bring the Wellstone/Johnson amendment to ban packer ownership of livestock before the whole U.S. Senate. There is growing support among Republicans and Democrats, with Senators Grassley, Thomas, Harkin, and Dorgan also co-sponsoring the amendment. Our country has always said we need family farms - what does your senator say? Tell your senators to ban packer ownership of livestock. There is no excuse for any other position, unless they support the corporate takeover of agriculture. Tell them to vote for the Wellstone/Johnson Amendment.

2. NO SUBSIDIES FOR CORPORATE FACTORY FARMS
Also tell your senators that you don't want taxpayers' dollars supporting factory farms. Tell them to support the Wellstone Amendment to prohibit the largest livestock operations from getting Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds to build new facilities or expand current facilities. Senator Lugar of Indiana and others have put together a billion-dollar per year EQIP budget which will funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to the mega-hog farms owned or controlled by Big Agribusiness. EQIP, as it has operated over its first five years, has been a good program, but now the U.S. Senate and House are considering a huge increase to EQIP funding (5 times as much) and removing the prohibition against using EQIP funds for mega-farms, in order to give taxpayer dollars to new and expanding factory farms to build huge hog manure lagoons. It's a taxpayer-funded boondoggle for corporate welfare.

It will spur further industrial hog production by subsidizing them, at the expense of the independent producer. A factory farm will be able to get $150,000 from the government under the Senate bill as it now stands! Tell your senators that you don't want your money going to accelerate industrial hog production and driving prices down. Tell them that factory farms should take care of their own mess. Tell your senators to prevent any EQIP funds from being used for new or expanding mega-livestock operations. Tell them to vote for the Wellstone Amendment on EQIP.

3. SUPPORT FULL FUNDING FOR THE CONSERVATION SECURITY PROGRAM
Up to this point, strong leadership by Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa on conservation issues has meant that a very good new approach towards environmental stewardship on working farmlands has been moving forward in the Senate. Called the Conservation Security Program (CSP), this component of the Farm Bill would reward farmers who care for the land by paying for the public benefits (such as enhanced water quality, improved soil conservation, and increased wildlife habitat) that good stewardship farming produces. LSP's Federal Farm Policy Program, led by a 10-person committee of LSP members and staff, has played a key role for 3 years in designing the Conservation Security Program and working to pass it. The CSP passed the Senate Agriculture Committee in the last week in November and is part of the Farm Bill being brought to the Senate Floor. Despite numerous attempts by various interests to eliminate, weaken, or cut back the Conservation Security Program, its supporters have held firm. Right now, 85% of federal conservation funds go to take land out of production or "idle" it. We need a fully-funded Conservation Security Program to help us move to a stewardship-oriented agriculture on working farmlands. (Full funding for CSP means two things. First, it is an "open enrollment" program - any farmer who wants to sign up for the CSP and meets the standards for conservation practices and environmental outcomes laid out in the program, can enroll. Secondly, it is budgeted at $500 million per year). Tell your Senator to support the Conservation Security Program and to oppose any attempts to weaken the program or cut back on its funding.

IN SUMMARY…

1. Call your own Senators by checking the list below for your state. Call both Senators. Leave a message with whomever you talk to, or on the answering machine if you get one. The message should tell them to vote for the Wellstone/Johnson amendment to ban packer ownership of livestock, to vote for the Wellstone Amendment to prevent EQIP money from being given to corporate factory farms, and to support full funding for the Conservation Security Program. Ask them how your Senator is planning to vote. You should also leave your name, town, and phone number. Let them know you will be watching how your Senators vote. LSP will post a report on the Senate vote on our Web site as soon as we can. (In Minnesota, Senators Mark Dayton and Paul Wellstone have shown strong support on each of the three priorities for the Farm Bill highlighted in this action alert. So Minnesotans should contact Dayton and Wellstone, thank them for their strong support, and encourage them to convince other Senators to support these measures.)

2. Contact LSP Policy Program Director Mark Schultz by phone at 612-722-6377 or by email at marks@landstewardshipproject.org to let us know what your Senators told you. If you can get them to commit to voting for the amendments, please let us know right away. We're counting votes!

• THANK YOU! •

U.S. Senate Telephone Directory

State: Senator
AK: Sen. Frank Murkowski - (202) 224-6665
Sen. Ted Stevens - (202) 224-3004
AL: Sen. Jeff Sessions - (202) 224-4124
Sen. Richard Shelby - (202) 224-5744
AR: Sen. Tim Hutchinson - (202) 224-2353
Sen. Blanche Lincoln - (202) 224-4843
AZ: Sen. Jon Kyl - (202) 224-4521
Sen. John McCain - (202) 224-2235
CA: Sen. Barbara Boxer - (202) 224-3553
Sen. Dianne Feinstein - (202) 224-3841
CO: Sen. Wayne Allard - (202) 224-5941
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell - (202) 224-5852
CT: Sen. Christopher Dodd - (202) 224-2823
Sen. Joseph Lieberman - (202) 224-4041
DE: Sen. Joseph Biden Jr. - (202) 224-5042
Sen. Thomas Carper - (202) 224-2441
FL: Sen. Bob Graham - (202) 224-3041
Sen. Bill Nelson - (202) 224-5274
GA: Sen. Max Cleland - (202) 224-3521
Sen. Zell Miller - (202) 224-3643
HI: Sen. Daniel Akaka, - (202) 224-6361
Sen. Daniel Inouye - (202) 224-3934
IA: Sen. Chuck Grassley - (202) 224-3744
Sen. Tom Harkin - (202) 224-3254
ID: Sen. Larry Craig - (202) 224-2752
Sen. Mike Crapo - (202) 224-6142
IL: Sen. Richard Durbin - (202) 224-2152
Sen. Peter Fitzgerald - (202) 224-2854
IN: Sen. Richard Lugar - (202) 224-4814
Sen. Evan Bayh - (202) 224-5623
KS: Sen. Sam Brownback - (202) 224-6521
Sen. Pat Roberts - (202) 224-4774
KY: Sen. Mitch McConnell - (202) 224-2541
Sen. Jim Bunning - (202) 224-4343
LA: Sen. John Breaux - (202) 224-4623
Sen. Mary Landrieu, - (202) 224-5824
MA: Sen. Edward Kennedy - (202) 224-4543
Sen. John Kerry - (202) 224-2742
MD: Sen. Barbara Mikulski - (202) 224-4654
Sen. Paul Sarbanes - (202) 224-4524
ME: Sen. Susan Collins - (202) 224-2523
Sen. Olympia Snowe - (202) 224-5344
MI: Sen. Carl Levin (202) 224-6221
Sen. Debbie Stabenow - (202) 224-4822
MN: Sen. Paul Wellstone - (202) 224-5641
Sen. Mark Dayton - (202) 224-3244
MO: Sen. Christopher Bond - (202) 224-5721
Sen. Jean Carnahan - (202) 224-6154
MS: Sen. Thad Cochran - (202) 224-5054
Sen. Trent Lott - (202) 224-6253
MT: Sen. Max Baucus - (202) 224-2651
Sen. Conrad Burns - (202) 224-2644
NC: Sen. Jesse Helms - (202) 224-6342
Sen. John Edwards - (202) 224-3154
ND: Sen. Byron Dorgan - (202) 224-2551
Sen. Kent Conrad - (202) 224-2043
NE: Sen. Charles Hagel - (202) 224-4224
Sen. Ben Nelson - (202) 224-6551
NH: Sen. Judd Gregg - (202) 224-3324
Sen. Bob Smith - (202) 224-2841
NJ: Sen. Robert Torricelli - (202) 224-3224
Sen. Jon Corzine - (202) 224-4744
NM: Sen. Jeff Bingaman - (202) 224-5521
Sen. Pete Domenici (202) 224-6621
NV: Sen. Harry Reid - (202) 224-3542
Sen. John Ensign - (202) 224-6244
NY: Sen. Charles Schumer - (202) 224-6542
Sen. Hillary Clinton - (202) 224-4451
OH: Sen. Mike DeWine - (202) 224-2315
Sen. George Voinovich - (202) 224-3353
OK: Sen. James Inhofe (202) 224-4721
Sen. Don Nickles - (202) 224-5754
OR: Sen. Gordon Smith - (202) 224-3753
Sen. Ron Wyden - (202) 224-5244
PA: Sen. Rick Santorum - (202) 224-6324
Sen. Arlen Specter - (202) 224-4254
RI: Sen. Lincoln Chafee - (202) 224-2921
Sen. Jack Reed - (202) 224-4642
SC: Sen. Strom Thurmond - (202) 224-5972
Sen. Ernest Hollings - (202) 224-6121
SD: Sen. Thomas Daschle - (202) 224-2321
Sen. Tim Johnson - (202) 224-5842
TN: Sen. William Frist - (202) 224-3344
Sen. Fred Thompson - (202) 224-4944
TX: Sen. Phil Gramm - (202) 224-2934
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison - (202) 224-5922
UT: Sen. Robert Bennett - (202) 224-5444
Sen. Orrin Hatch - (202) 224-5251
VA: Sen. John Warner - (202) 224-2023
Sen. George Allen - (202) 224-4024
VT: Sen. James Jeffords - (202) 224-5141
Sen. Patrick Leahy - (202) 224-4242
WA: Sen. Patty Murray - (202) 224-2621
Sen. Maria Cantwell - (202) 224-3441
WI: Sen. Russell Feingold - (202) 224-5323
Sen. Herb Kohl - (202) 224-5653
WV: Sen. Robert Byrd - (202) 224-3954
Sen. John Rockefeller IV - (202) 224-6472
WY: Sen. Mike Enzi (202) 224-3424
Sen. Craig Thomas - (202) 224-6441