Oct. 15 UI ANF Game Day Features First-Ever 'Card Stunt' and Former Hawkeye/NFL Players

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - October 10, 2011 - Iowa is insulated against the worst of the nation's economic woes, thanks to the strength and influence of agriculture, according to a recent survey by Creighton University economists.  "Farming has contributed 5,000 manufacturing jobs in this state over the past year and that's just one more reason why we want to share the good news of today's agriculture," says Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) President Craig Lang.

As part of the ANF partnership announced in August between the Iowa Farm Bureau and the University of Iowa Athletics Department, the football game this Saturday (Oct. 15) at historic Kinnick Stadium between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Northwestern Wildcats has been designated "ANF Day at Kinnick." The game, to be televised live on the Big Ten Network (BTN) at 6 p.m. CT, will feature a host of activities celebrating why America Needs Farmers, including a pre-game autograph session with former Hawkeye stars Jared DeVries, Tim Dwight, Marv Cook, Ed Podolak and Gary Dolphin at the Legend's Tent in the Krause Family Plaza located immediately south of the stadium.

Other activities include Tailgate Toss with ANF prizes and the UI's first stadium 'card stunt', where all fans in the four grandstands of Kinnick Stadium will, on cue, hold them up and deliver two designs and messages for the enjoyment of the 70,000 people in the stadium and the national television audience watching on BTN.

ANF was first launched in 1985 during the height of the Farm Crisis by legendary Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry, who wanted to show an increasingly urban nation why agriculture matters.  "Farming has seen many innovations since then, which bring more food and energy choices and job opportunities to a new generation," says Lang, a fifth-generation Brooklyn, Iowa dairy farmer. "Today's farming isn't just about feeding people; it's about innovation in renewable energy, medicine, building materials, diagnostic tools, and more which combine what we know with what we grow."

Iowa farmers lead the nation in what they grow.  Just this week, the world celebrates the efficiency and sustainability of today's farmers through the 25^th anniversary of the World Food Prize honoring another Iowa farmer, Norman Borlaug. "In less than a generation, the world's population will need 100 percent more food than we are growing today on a finite amount of productive land.  IFBF is always looking for ways to show consumers how we plan to do that, while maintaining the integrity of the land, water, and rural communities where our farmers raise their own children," said Lang.

Iowa farmers realize with an increasing number of consumers curious about innovations in farming and food production, they need to find ways to make farming more transparent.  Larry Sailer, a Hardin County Farm Bureau member who farms near Iowa Falls, says, "Anything you can do to start a conversation with consumers about food and agriculture is good. We want to know what questions they have about what we do and why we do it. And in a high profile event, like an Iowa Hawkeye football game, it's literally a new way to show them this whole new playing field of modern agriculture."

For more information about the Iowa Farm Bureau/U of I ANF partnership and additional ANF Game Day activities or merchandise, click on www.americaneedsfarmers.org.

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I thought you might be interested to see these statements of support on USDA's Conservation Reserve Program, which announced today payments to help safeguard soil and water on 417,000 farms. See today's press release from USDA's Farm Service Agency at the end of this alert.

Thank you.

David Nomsen, Vice President of Governmental Affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever

"CRP delivers habitat to wildlife. Examples range from doubling and tripling local pheasant populations to adding two million ducks annually to fall migrations and preventing species from being listed as threatened and endangered. America needs a strong CRP, along with an entire suite of other voluntary incentive-based conservation programs, as the starting point to sustain continued agricultural production."

John Salazar, Colorado Agriculture Commissioner

"The Conservation Reserve Program has a significant environmental impact, not only across the country, but in Colorado as well. This program encourages sound conservation practices that will have lasting benefits for generations to come.  Agricultural producers have long held the responsibility of protecting our natural resources and the CRP is a vital resource in that effort."

Bill Northey, Iowa Agriculture Secretary

"The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a very important USDA program helping farmers better care for their land and protect water quality. Iowa landowners continue to add acres in the continuous enrollment CRP, which is especially valuable in targeting benefits to the most sensitive acres. Over 50,000 Iowa farms have at least some of their acres enrolled in CRP, with payments to Iowa landowners exceeding $200 million."

Release No. PENDING                   

Contact:

Isabel Benemelis (202) 720-7809

USDA Issues Conservation Reserve Program Rental Payments to Help Safeguard Soil and Water on 417,000 Farms

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2011–The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will distribute Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) rental payments to participants across the country. USDA's Farm Service Agency administers CRP, while technical support functions are provided by public and private sector partners. CRP is a voluntary program that helps agricultural producers safeguard environmentally sensitive land and provide millions of acres of habitat for game and non-game wildlife species. Participants enroll in CRP contracts for 10 to 15 years. Currently, total CRP enrollment stands at 29.9 million acres.

"CRP protects millions of acres of American topsoil from erosion and is designed to safeguard the America's natural resources," said FSA Administrator Bruce Nelson. "By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, CRP protects groundwater and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. Acreage enrolled in the CRP is planted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to increased wildlife populations in many parts of the country."

The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) makes annual rental payments based on the agriculture rental value of the land, and it provides cost-share assistance for up to 50 percent of the participant's costs in establishing approved conservation practices.

USDA also issues non-rental CRP payments throughout the year. These payments include a 50 percent expense reimbursement for establishing and managing cover as well as incentive payments for enrolling eligible high priority conservation practices.

Beginning today, producers holding 752,000 contracts on 417,000 farms will receive an average CRP rental payment of $55.06 per acre. Producers will earn an average payment of $4,115 per farm enrolled in the program. Included in the totals are 414,000 contracts (5.1 million acres) for continuous CRP enrollments and 338,000 contracts (24.8 million acres) enrolled under general CRP. In all, the payments total approximately $1.7 billion.

A table, located below and at fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/apportstate091311.pdf, lists acreage enrollments by state, number of contracts, number of farms, acres enrolled as of the end of the 2011 fiscal year and CRP projected rental payments for fiscal year 2012.

CRP ENROLLMENT AS OF SEPTEMBER 2011

AND OCTOBER 2011 RENTAL PAYMENTS

1/ Data from States with fewer than 4 contracts not reported.

For more information on CRP, producers should contact their local FSA office or visit FSA's website at www.fsa.usda.gov.

Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley

Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security

Hearing on: "America's Agricultural Labor Crisis: Enacting a Practical Solution"

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The United States is blessed with a rich agricultural bounty which provides food not only for U.S. consumers, but also for a growing world population. American farmers are the most productive food producers in the world.  In fact, each farmer feeds more than 120 people at home and abroad.

George Washington once said that "Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most noble employment to man."  Although I'm biased, I couldn't agree more.  I have a special interest in today's hearing because I am a family farmer.  I understand the agricultural needs of my state.  However, I also know that the needs of California and Vermont, for example, are different from Iowa.  Even though our industries are not identical, our interests and goals are the same.  We must be able to meet the needs of agriculture.  We must look for solutions that serve the industry and our country in the long-run.

America's agricultural industry depends, in part, on the ability of farmers and ranchers to recruit and hire workers.  Unfortunately, more than half of today's U.S. agricultural workforce is undocumented.  Some employers claim it's because Americans will not perform the hard work that is required.  Some are using undocumented labor to cut costs.  Regardless of the reason, we find ourselves in a situation where employers are hiring illegal workers, allowing them to undercut their competition and to ignore the legal avenues we have in place to bring in foreign workers

I am well aware of the legislative proposals that would put millions of agricultural workers on a path to citizenship.  I was here in 1986 when we legalized more than one million workers in the Special Agricultural Worker program, known as SAW.  We underestimated how many people would come forward and take advantage of it.  We weren't prepared to root out the fraud, and there was plenty of it.  More importantly, in 1986 we said it would be a one-time fix.  It's obvious we were wrong.  We certainly cannot go down that road again.

Instead, we must consider a long-term solution to the industry's needs.  The answer is to reform our current agricultural guestworker program known as the H-2A visa program.

Senator Chambliss has a bill, S. 1384, or the Harvest Act, that would make significant improvements to the H2A visa program.  I agree with many aspects of Senator Chambliss' proposal, including making sure we streamline the process for employers and reducing the red tape that comes with using the program.  I am a proponent for expanding the program to include various agricultural industries in the program, such as dairy, animal agriculture and agricultural processing.  Many employers in my home state say they're unable to use the program because it's restricted to seasonal or temporary work.  We must make the program work better for those who desperately need the workers.  I hope to hear some constructive suggestions today to that end.

While I am a champion of the ag industry, I do have concerns that many agricultural employers are convinced that they won't survive if they are required to electronically verify their workers.  E-Verify is a useful tool that's accessible to anyone with a computer.  It's reliable.  It's free.  It's web-based and easy to use.  More importantly, it's helpful for employers who want to abide by the law and employ a legal workforce.

Opponents of E-Verify, I'm afraid, are using agriculture to argue against mandatory E-Verify participation.  I have long said that E-Verify must be a staple in every workplace, and that includes the agricultural sector.  I'm not in favor of carving out exemptions for certain industries, and I am willing to do what I can for small businesses and industries that need help to fully comply with potential requirements.

I thank the Chairman for holding this hearing today, and I'm glad we have a well-rounded group of witnesses to discuss the labor needs surrounding agriculture.  I'm also glad to be a part of the discussion on how to improve the current immigration system to ensure that they have access to the workers they truly need.  I hope my colleagues will join me in this effort to help the farmers and ranchers that feed America.

WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - Sept. 23, 2011 - Gary Hoefling turned his passion for tractor mechanics into a thriving business and earned the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation's (IFBF) Renew Rural Iowa Entrepreneur of the Month award. As owner of The Motor Works and G.H. Repair in Spencer, Hoefling specializes in repairing and rebuilding John Deere tractors. He not only refurbishes the outside of the 30 and 40 series John Deere tractors, but produces parts (carburetors, in particular) and produces and sells them in the United States and around the world to customers in France, Germany and South Africa.

His attraction to tractors started at a young age on the family's farm. "I wanted to be the mechanic on the farm," explains Hoefling. In the last decade, he and his staff of five full-time and three part-time employees have repaired 10,000 tractor carburetors.

The Motor Works and G.H. Repair were started in 1993. The Motor Works was started as part of a northwest Iowa John Deere dealership, specializing in complete drop-in replacement and repowering for engines. In 2002, The Motor Works was acquired by G.H. Repair and moved to Spencer.

Today, Hoefling isn't simply fixing the green machines, but helping them be more "green," or environmentally friendly. He's making the machines use gasoline more efficiently by making them compatible with ethanol. His business strives to be greener, as well, using rain gardens, geothermal heating and cooling, permeable pavement and natural grasses and prairie areas.

The Clay County Farm Bureau nominated Hoefling's business for the award. County president Barry Anderson praises Hoefling for his contribution to the community's economy. "This business is huge for our rural area, as well as cities surrounding us," says Anderson.

Renew Rural Iowa (RRI) is an IFBF initiative supporting new and existing businesses through education, mentoring and financial resources. Registration is open for the Nov. 2 "Business Success" seminar, featuring Curt Nelson, president of the Entrepreneurial Development Center. The seminar will be held at the Iowa Farm Bureau in West Des Moines. To register, go to www.renewruraliowa.com.

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