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GUEST: Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director at the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

Discussions for the upcoming 2007 Farm Bill have begun among government officials, legislators and special interest groups. Every five years the Farm Bill, which is essentially a collection of laws that set the overall direction of U.S. agriculture policy, comes up for Congressional renewal. The Farm bill also specifies the amounts of federal subsidies to agribusinesses. So far, the proposals to address agricultural waste would continue government subsidies of factory farms. More specifically, policymakers have discussed continuing and even increasing subsidies for the so-called “concentrated animal feeding operations,” or CAFOs. Proposals for CAFOs are geared towards financially helping large agribusinesses comply with existing government environmental regulations. Critics say that such handouts encourage factory farms to expand, thereby creating even more pollution than they already do. They cite that manure from CAFOs can contain harmful pathogens that taint drinking water supplies and cause respiratory problems.

For more information, visit www.sustainableagriculturecoalition.org/, and

Relevant article in The New Standard: http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/4581