Despite the risks, the USDA has now made it clear that they are not interested in regulating Monsanto’s GE Alfalfa. They approved it January 27th for planting this spring by farmers with no restrictions.

Tell President Obama that you don’t want organic and conventional agriculture contaminated by GE Alfalfa, and that you have a right to eat meat, dairy, and eggs from livestock who consume non-genetically engineered crops.

Alfalfa is the fourth most widely grown crop in the U.S. and a fundamental source of livestock forage for dairy and beef farmers. Livestock farmers consider it the “queen of legumes.”

Alfalfa is a perennial crop that is open-pollinated by bees and other insects – with a pollination radius as large as 5 miles. Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered alfalfa threatens to contaminate both conventional and organic agriculture year after year with the drift and spread of its novel DNA. It has sparked an ongoing court battle and stiff opposition from both conventional and organic farmers, seed producers, beekeepers, exporters, and a mix of food and farm groups, retailers and organic food manufacturers.

Contact President Obama and let him know that the USDA’s approval of GE Alfalfa is dangerous, unacceptable, and MUST be reversed.

Tell him and the first lady, Michelle Obama, to think about the organic garden in their back yard and whether they want their two daughters to have access to natural, organic food, without genetic contamination, in perpetuity.

President Barack Obama:

Phone: (202) 456-1111
Fax: (202) 456-2461
Email: Contact the Whitehouse

For a fact sheet with additional information on GE Alfalfa, click here. Read Full Article »

Posted in Action Alerts

National Farmers Organization
Ray Scheesley

Nestled in the rolling foothills of Allegany County on the outskirts of the two-college town of Alfred, NY, lays a small but quaint 50 cow Certified Organic dairy farm named Sunny Cove. Jerry and Dottie Snyder, along with their 8 children, operate a not so typical “raw milk permitted” Organic Dairy farm and ship through Organic Valley and NFO.

Members of NFO since 2006 they have operated their picturesque dairy farm keeping three main points in mind: Family, Cow Health and a meticulous focus on Milk Quality. He will also be the first to tell anyone that Raw Milk is his passion.

After graduating from Alfred State College of Agriculture in 1978, Jerry started his dairy on a grass fed basis, keeping a focus on cow health and wise use of forages. This philosophy made his transition to organic in 2002 relatively easy. He and his family maintained an on farm milk quality average that earned him a ranking in the top of New York State’s strict bacteria standards. This led him and his family to apply for and receive, a New York State Raw Milk Sales Permit in 2006. These permits are rare in NY and he still maintains it to this day. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this afternoon that the agency will fully deregulate Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered alfalfa. The choice was favored by the biotech industry and one of three options identified in the USDA’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released last month.

Read Full Article »

Posted in Cornucopia News

The Daily Caller
By STEVE KARNOWSKI – AP

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The federal government has spent millions of dollars to help farmers nationwide buy greenhouse-like structures called high tunnels that can add valuable weeks and even months to their growing seasons by protecting produce from chilly temperatures.

About $13 million has gone to more than 2,400 farmers in 43 states to help pay for the low-tech tunnels that look like a cross between Quonset huts and conventional greenhouses. The structures, also known as hoop houses, have been particularly beneficial in the north, where they allow farmers to plant as much as four weeks early and keep growing later in the fall.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture touts the tunnels as environmentally friendly and a way to help meet the demand for local and sustainable produce. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News

The Des Moines Register
by Philip Brasher

The grain and cotton growers that dominate U.S. farm subsidies came out unscathed in the first proposal from some of the most conservative House Republicans to cut spending. Instead, the Republican Study Committee targeted spending for organic farmers, sugar growers and an export promotion program that is popular with fruit and vegetable growers.

The panel made no proposal to cut the biggest single source of farm subsidies – the $5 billion in fixed annual payments that primarily go to growers of corn, soybeans, wheat, rice and cotton. About 10 percent payments go to Iowa alone.

Instead, the committee proposed to eliminate a program that subsidizes the cost of getting certified as an organic farm, packer and processor. Read Full Article »

Posted in Media/News