This is the chilliest first day of June in my recent recollection. The sun has been in and out all day and luckily it has not rained a drop. We started our hay baleage on Saturday. John and Michelle Reid, whose maple syrup we help to distribute, come to the farm with their 3 tractors, a mowing machine called a diskbine, a round baler that makes bigger bales than ours and a bale wrapper that seals the hay inside a white plastic wrap that ferments the hay like sauerkraut and keeps more nutrients in it than dry hay. We end up making half our hay in baleage, which look like great big marshmallows along the edge of the fields and half in dry big round bales we store in the barn shed at the Waite Farm. That way the cows have a mix of the two kinds to eat all winter and seem generally healthier and happier looking than all dry hay years. The baleage just seems more luscious and they come running when you open up a bale to carry it out to the fields in the winter. So with their snazzy new tractors and fancy equipment, they make half our hay in 4 days!! Thee is no waiting and drying for this type of hay and you can mow it down, rake in into windrows and bale it and wrap it all in one day. They are doing 7 fields in the time it takes us to do 2!! Weather permitting! There are also 3 people operating all at once in circles around the fields, they just need a small head start on each other and it's amazing how fast it all goes. The quickness is a real boon to the cows too who get to eat in these fields the rest of the year. When our haying would take a month between rainstorms and other activities, these fields had to be limits until all finished. Only then could the cows go in and eat all around the edges where the tractors do not reach. Once the field was finished it could go back into the rotational path they follow all summer. More paddocks of eating means each one has a longer recovery and regrowth period to be lush again.
In the midst of all this activity, the NOFA-NY inspector for our organic certification came today to visit, look around, and check up on our activities and record keeping compliance. Dave was from Brattleboro VT and is actually a full time inspector for 3 different certification groups in NY, VT and MA. He says the number of organic farms is growing and so inpsectors are in demand to keep up with the once per year visits to each farm to check on their methods of operation. our farm is quite easy to be organic since we are really just certifying our pastures, hayfields and forests. Once we filled out all the forms for each of our fields we realized just how "safe" we are from close proximity to any conventional farming. We are more surrounded by forest than any other ecology which provides a perfect buffer zone from fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides used conventionally. Being at the top of the hill as we are, even all our water from the mountain does not run through any other area but forest. So after an hour of question and answer describing what we do and filling out the inspection forms we took Dave for a driving tour of the farm and the off farm fields that we hay in our neighborhood. Luckily we have the 4 wheel drive Subaru to go cruising around some of the farm lanes and it was a lot less muddy since the 2.5 inches of rain we had last week. But with the size of the farm it takes about 45 minutes to do a decent job of a tour. Then he was off to the Slack Hollow Farm nearby where they grow vegetables and who'll probably have a lot more questions to answer.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
We are jumping right in to summer - from a frost just last night to a possible high of 87 degrees this afternoon. I hope we can take the heat! We have been working steadily on the landscaping around the house this spring and are spreading mulch and moving perennials and shrubs as fast as we can to get done by Memorial Day weekend. We are working toward reducing maintenance around the house as the fruits and garden need time and the farm chores and packing and farmers markets consume us in the summer months. The plants that seem to weed themselves are the most welcome to stay or be grouped together in a larger patch. The blueberrries are blooming, the raspberries are all leafed out and the grapevines are just starting to leaf and have small flower buds.
Tonight is a special occasion: Aaron Gabriel of Cornell Cooperative Extension is giving a Pasture Walk to talk about forages, growing grasses and feed crops. He is the grazing specialist of the extension agents and has a few beef cattle himself at home. We were proud he asked us to be the hosts of the event. So we'll be walking around identifying plants and seeing which ones the cows are eating and which ones they leave behind. The Soil and Water group brought the no-till seeder equipment that they rent to farmers around the area to show at the event. The seeds are tucked in the soil in many crevices made by a set of spinning discs that do not tear up the sod but just make a series of cuts through it to sow. The seeds for grasses that are spread in a field generally must touch the soil to germinate and grow so this seeder is a low impact way to incorporate other grasses into your pastures. Our tractors are so old that they are not powerful enough to pull the new newer equipment! Oh well, maybe we'll rent someone to seed for us someday. We never did do the frost seeding of the clover this spring!
Happy Memorial Day, Nan
Tonight is a special occasion: Aaron Gabriel of Cornell Cooperative Extension is giving a Pasture Walk to talk about forages, growing grasses and feed crops. He is the grazing specialist of the extension agents and has a few beef cattle himself at home. We were proud he asked us to be the hosts of the event. So we'll be walking around identifying plants and seeing which ones the cows are eating and which ones they leave behind. The Soil and Water group brought the no-till seeder equipment that they rent to farmers around the area to show at the event. The seeds are tucked in the soil in many crevices made by a set of spinning discs that do not tear up the sod but just make a series of cuts through it to sow. The seeds for grasses that are spread in a field generally must touch the soil to germinate and grow so this seeder is a low impact way to incorporate other grasses into your pastures. Our tractors are so old that they are not powerful enough to pull the new newer equipment! Oh well, maybe we'll rent someone to seed for us someday. We never did do the frost seeding of the clover this spring!
Happy Memorial Day, Nan
Monday, April 13, 2009
Cool and Breezy spring
April has been a tease of beautiful days and chilly temperatures. I guess it keep the bugs away and the early spring transplanting season extended. One of the hardest things we did recently was to rip up an established but way overgrown raspberry patch. With nowhere to put a hundred old bushes, it was tough to pull them (they are very shallow rooted) and pile them in the truck to take down the road to the brush pile. The lucky part of the day was when a customer came for some beef on Saturday, and we were in the midst of pulling plants I asked them if they wanted some and they did!! Luckily again, they had a pickup truck and we filled the back with plants and off they went, all excited about their new berry patch! Last year we offered everyone we saw some plants and no one wanted to come and get them. This year, after agonizing all year long about having to throw the plants away, they are gone. We thanked them for the delicious summer and fall berries and said good-bye! Next to go - the blackberry sprouts! The original 6 foot square plot is expanding around the edges and since the canes on the bush grow to be 6 to 12 feet long, they end up in your face when you are mowing the lawn around them. The sprouts will surely find homes too since the berries are as big as your thumb. Now the empty space can be begin to be the herb and perma-culture garden. Bring on the rhubarb and we hope to find a white or black currant too.
We are making a big mess in the front of the house too; digging up the stone walk which is half buried in sod and moving the stones to the pathway being worn in the grass. The shrub garden beside the walk had been growing and forcing you to walk farther out from the stone path. These stones were a real find for Alan years ago. When the road crews were tearing up the old stone sidewalks in the village and preparing to replace them with concrete, Alan was on hand with a truck to happily take them right on home for his walkways. He made steps, walks, and used them to top the stone walls in front of the house. Then again last year, we heard that the village of Ft Edward was ripping up their stones too and giving them to the homeowners along the route. A couple of friends did not want theirs, so off Alan went with a trailer and the crew to load them. The projects with these stones are still on the drawing board. They are large, 48" x 36" and are only an inch or so thick but they are very heavy. We will be landscaping a whole lot this spring!
In the midst of all this, we co mingled the pigs yesterday accidentally. There are three generations now; 8 big ones, 10 teenagers, and 6 little ones. The smaller ones were in the barn stalls getting used to us and the routine here, so they were mixed with the teens in the barnyard area so they could all learn about the electric fences. When I opened the door in the upstairs of the barn to feed them some treats, the black pig got spooked and bolted through the gate into the pasture and let all the other pigs out too. So for the second day now they are running around chasing each other, sniffing each other and otherwise getting to know each other. They have 3 separate places to sleep until they begin mixing and with their different sizes, it is actually easier for them as the pecking order is fairly obvious. They are still pretty tired at night!
The best news of the week is that Alan's favorite tractor's engine block returned home today from the machinist. It was supposed to be there for a couple of days and come back, put back together and run again. but a couple days turned into a couple of weeks. So now Colin and Joe and Alan will have dirty greasy hands for a few days until it is running smoothly. The beauty of the older John Deere tractors is their simplicity. They are easy to work on and repair and hence there are many old 1940 and 1950 tractors still doing farm work around here. We have nine of them; most working and some in various states of repair or used for parts. The old ones have a distinctive put-put from their 2 cycle engines and have a top speed of 12 miles an hour. Haying takes a long time around here!
Well, back to work while the rain has quit temporarily - to the shovels and stones.
We are making a big mess in the front of the house too; digging up the stone walk which is half buried in sod and moving the stones to the pathway being worn in the grass. The shrub garden beside the walk had been growing and forcing you to walk farther out from the stone path. These stones were a real find for Alan years ago. When the road crews were tearing up the old stone sidewalks in the village and preparing to replace them with concrete, Alan was on hand with a truck to happily take them right on home for his walkways. He made steps, walks, and used them to top the stone walls in front of the house. Then again last year, we heard that the village of Ft Edward was ripping up their stones too and giving them to the homeowners along the route. A couple of friends did not want theirs, so off Alan went with a trailer and the crew to load them. The projects with these stones are still on the drawing board. They are large, 48" x 36" and are only an inch or so thick but they are very heavy. We will be landscaping a whole lot this spring!
In the midst of all this, we co mingled the pigs yesterday accidentally. There are three generations now; 8 big ones, 10 teenagers, and 6 little ones. The smaller ones were in the barn stalls getting used to us and the routine here, so they were mixed with the teens in the barnyard area so they could all learn about the electric fences. When I opened the door in the upstairs of the barn to feed them some treats, the black pig got spooked and bolted through the gate into the pasture and let all the other pigs out too. So for the second day now they are running around chasing each other, sniffing each other and otherwise getting to know each other. They have 3 separate places to sleep until they begin mixing and with their different sizes, it is actually easier for them as the pecking order is fairly obvious. They are still pretty tired at night!
The best news of the week is that Alan's favorite tractor's engine block returned home today from the machinist. It was supposed to be there for a couple of days and come back, put back together and run again. but a couple days turned into a couple of weeks. So now Colin and Joe and Alan will have dirty greasy hands for a few days until it is running smoothly. The beauty of the older John Deere tractors is their simplicity. They are easy to work on and repair and hence there are many old 1940 and 1950 tractors still doing farm work around here. We have nine of them; most working and some in various states of repair or used for parts. The old ones have a distinctive put-put from their 2 cycle engines and have a top speed of 12 miles an hour. Haying takes a long time around here!
Well, back to work while the rain has quit temporarily - to the shovels and stones.
Monday, April 6, 2009
the mid April when will winter end blues
It is flurrying snowflakes again today. On Sunday I took pictures of the daffodils in the snow because no one would believe me if I didn't. Looking into the valley, no one else had snow and our fields on the top of the hill were totally white again. luckily Sunday afternoon, after we both finished our books, the sun came out and it was a glorious day. The garden is starting to look planted and neat again. The kale, arugula and lettuce are sown. The weeds are slowly being removed from the bottom of the garden to the top section. The weeds all go into the whellbarrow and head down to the pigpen for the new weanlings and the piglet recovering from her bout with some kind of bronchitis. I swear it was the chicken soup that finally cured her and now the greens are doing their part. The flats in the greenhouse are planted weekly with a few things to help spread out the harvest as last year I was a bit amibitous in anticipating the volume we could eat. I am sworn to small successive planmtings this year.
Our perennial gardens are in need of a big facelift this year. That is always a daunting task when you begin with a mature patch of plants and stand beside it with your shovel. Which ones to keep and which are too wild, weedy or invasive? Where to move them? But the earlier you get this accomplished the better off you are. I'd like to incorporate some permaculture features too but don't have a plan yet.
Our perennial gardens are in need of a big facelift this year. That is always a daunting task when you begin with a mature patch of plants and stand beside it with your shovel. Which ones to keep and which are too wild, weedy or invasive? Where to move them? But the earlier you get this accomplished the better off you are. I'd like to incorporate some permaculture features too but don't have a plan yet.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Is the Vacation over already?
The blitz all started on March 11, a few days after our March 7 delivery. We got up early to drive to the Albany airport and get on an airplane heading south (after removing our shoes, belts, hats, and putting them all on again). The weather was great, the flights wonderfully uneventful and the landings smooth into West Palm Beach. It feels great to be 75 degrees! This was our first flight in a long time. This was also our first week long vacation away from the farm in two years. Yippee!
The southern east coast of Florida is very built up with many high rises right on the beach. I got an email the other day showing pictures of earth and that highlighted North America at night from the space shuttle and I was amazed at how “ablaze” the whole coast of Florida is. The town we were headed for had an ordinance about lights at night to help the nesting turtles and their hatchlings from walking the wrong way toward the lights and not heading for the ocean where the moon would be shining. But to see these pictures makes you wonder how daunting task it must be to uphold the law!
Some friends had recommended a very small (8 rooms 2 stories) Courtyard Villas which was right on the beach in Lauderdale by the Sea. The small courtyard had a big hot tub and a fountain that made us think we were in Italy! The beach was 300 yards away and the Gulf Stream sweeps by this area to help warm up the water. The Goodyear blimp flew up and down the beach daily along with a few helicopters, corporate jets, and the beach patrol guys in their buggies. One patroller was riding a Segway on the beach! That section of the coast is certainly built up and crowded but the high rises all stopped at the town line of Lauderdale by the Sea and the heights of all the buildings in town were much reduced in height. We read books and lolled around the beach and splashed and body surfed in the waves. That was the best part! The river taxi in the inland waterway took us on a tour of the many canals and waterfront homes with docks and boat houses and tie ups right outside. Ft Lauderdale is a maze of canals – although not quite like Venice.
We had a few days to visit my sister Judy and Taylor, her husband, in Jacksonville where it was a bit colder so our swimming excursions were over. They were on vacation from Oldfields School in Maryland where Taylor is the headmaster. Jacksonville is a very large city in population and activity as well as area. The city seems to surrounded by water and marshes everywhere. There are great marshes for kayaking as well as all sized waterways for fishing, ferries, cargo and cruise ships. The large national seashore there is quite lovely with natural dunes and sea and low grassy, shrubby salt tolerant plant life.
The morning we flew home was an order deadline day and we were right back in action, although much refreshed and renewed with new sites, topics and our short family reunion. One detail we never did find out was whether or not the palm trees (and I thought maybe it was just the coconut palms) were native to the area or not. Now they seem like clover; so integrated into the landscape that they look right but you don’t see them in the more remote, natural areas. Even the state is planting palms with the fan fronds along the highways and overpasses. Oh well, a google topic for another day.
When we came back to reviewing all my email I had a shock to see this headline:
FEDS TO BAN BACKYARD GARDENS?New Regulations to Shut Down Small Organic Farms$1 Million Fines: Lose Your Property for Growing Food
Small farms and backyard gardeners could be placed under direct supervision of the federal government under new legislation making its way through Congress.
The Feds are working on a plan that could ban organic farms and backyard gardens! The sponsors of House Resolution 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, are lurking in the shadows of Congress to quietly pass a diabolical scheme that levies up to $1 Million in fines to those food ‘rebels’ who dare to use organic fertilizer and now bow to big brother’s nasty chemicals and pesticides from the likes of Monsanto, etc. (See article below.)
So I wrote to Martha Goodsell and Bob Comis who both participate and are very knowledgeable on AG related topics to see if the hype was really true! I thought – oh, no, not another National Animal Identification System (NAIS) idea!!!
This reply was sent to me by Martha Goodsell who I believe was involved in the creation of NYFARMS! And she always seems to be on top of news topics.
NY Farms! publishes News to Share to provide information about food and farming to a wide range of interested individuals, organizations and businesses. It is a compilation from a variety of sources. Articles do not necessarily represent official positions of NY Farms! For more about NY Farms!
Visit www.nyfarms.info
Quote from Martha:
“Yes I've researched HR 845, but no, not all of what you're reading is true. Here's some research I've done on the food bills. I'm most concerned with Senate bill 510 and House bill 1332. Watch themvery closely. The bills are very similar though not conferenced at this point. They are broad sweeping reform bills, just as vague as HR 875 and could be just as, if not more, detrimental to small scale farmers and processors. Unlike HR 875 which exempts some activities which fall under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Acts and specifically excludes in section 3.14 any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation, there are no such express exceptions in these other two bills. The record keeping, product testing and HACCP requirements (all electronically of course) would be, in my opinion, overwhelming for most small scale operations. Look what HACCP did to our slaughterhouses-- gone! Any bill that will require one-size rules must be watched intently. These two bills( S510 and HR 1332) have bi-partisan support so don't let them off your radar by any means.
In the meantime, here's my submission to the Broader View Weekly, a small hometown paper, I write for.
Food Safety Bills of 2009
By Martha Goodsell
Internet users are up in arms regarding House Bill 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act, but much of what is circulating over the network is hype and inflated fears. However, that’s not to say that HR 875 is not a threat to both small scale and organic farmers and those consumers who support such farms. In its present form, it is a very real- though not a highly probable- threat. HR 875 is not the only food safety bill recently proposed following the peanut butter contamination. There are six other bills that must be monitored.
There are two federal agencies charged with food safety. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for wholesome meat and poultry under the guidelines of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the other hand, has the responsibility for oversight of manufactured food products, and all those products not under USDA jurisdiction. Unlike the USDA who inspects products and ensures Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) compliance in slaughterhouses and in meat and poultry product processing facilities, the FDA is charged with the annual inspection of manufacturing facilities. Only a few products monitored by the FDA are required to have and follow HACCP plans.
Thanks to Upton Sinclair, and his book The Jungle, the USDA oversight on meat and poultry is much stricter than for other food products currently. Many of these bills are looking to change that, by requiring food manufacturers to have and follow HACCP plans, which includes strict record keeping requirements. Unfortunately HACCP implementation poses a greater obstacle to small plants compared to larger facilities. Thus, the single greatest problem with all of these newly proposed food safety bills are that they are not designed with small and large operations in mind. Rather, they are written with a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Knowing that many small operations will chose to close their doors, rather than comply with testing, record keeping, and all sorts of other requirements, these bills indirectly interfere with the rights of individuals to choose their foods. This threat of losing small farms – and thus one’s food choice- is feeding the current hysteria.
To read more about the bills visit http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd. Please contact your Washington representatives to express your support or opposition to the bills.
Read them here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-510http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1332
Here is a summary of what’s pending:
HR 875 - The Food Safety Modernization Act, sponsored by Rosa Delauro (D- CT) (whose husband works for Monsanto) has 30 co-sponsors at this time. This bill splits the FDA into two units: one which would monitor food and the other to monitor medicinal drugs and medical devices. (The FDA is charged with monitoring both food and drugs so this is only a new approach, not a new duty.) The bill would increase the number - or frequency - of inspections. HR 875 would require HACCP plans. It would also require imports to meet US standards. (Currently as long as a foreign country has an “equivalent” inspection system, product is accepted with little or no further questions or testing.) HR 875 would establish a national traceability system that would require tracking “the history, use, and location of an item of food”. Section 3.13A specifically exempts those operations currently under USDA inspection under the FMIA or PPIA acts and section 3.14 exempts any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.
S425 - Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act, sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has no co-sponsors. This senate bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for the establishment of a traceability system so that each article of food shipped in interstate commerce would require a full record keeping system. An audit system would provide for compliance. Premise registration would be mandatory. S425 amends the FMIA so that any person that has reason to believe that any carcass, part of a carcass, meat, or meat food product is inappropriately transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise mis-handled resulting in adulteration or misbranding shall serve notice to the secretary who shall then call on industry to withdraw the product. The PPIA and the Egg Product Inspection Act (EPIA) would be amended in the same fashion.
HR 814 - Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act, sponsored by Diana DeGette (D-CO) has five co-sponsors. HR 814 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a traceability system for all stages of manufacturing, processing, packaging, and distribution of food. HR 814 would amend the FMIA by requiring identification and traceability for all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses, mules, and other equines presented for slaughter. Without an identification number, farm records, and the ability to trace an animal’s movement, such an animal can not be presented for slaughter. The PPIA and the EPIA would be amended to establish similar provisions for poultry and poultry products and for eggs and egg products. It is interesting to note that nothing contained in HR 814 supports Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements.
HR 759- The Food And Drug Administration Globalization Act, sponsored by John Dingell (D- MI) with eight co-sponsors, would require every food facility that manufactures, processes, packs, transports, or holds food for consumption in the United States to develop and implement a HACCP and food safety plan. HR 759 would require that all food facilities use standard lot numbers and that all facilities including food processors, farms and restaurants, keep electronic records. Food facilities must earn an accreditation status. This bill instructs the FDA to establish production standards for fruits and vegetables and to establish Good Agricultural Practices for produce and requiring those that grow and sell fresh fruits and vegetables to have a HACCP plan. COOL would be required. Only certified laboratories could conduct sampling and testing of food to ensure compliance.
S 429 - Ending Agricultural Threats: Safeguarding America's Food for Everyone (EAT SAFE) Act of 2009, sponsored by Senator Robert Casey (D- PA) with only one co-sponsor, focuses on imported and smuggled foods. This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish food safety and agroterrorism training programs. Notification of recalled food products would be provided to the public while notice of smuggled food products would be reported to the public and to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This bill amends the FMIA and the PPIA to establish civil penalties for failure to present imported meat and poultry products for inspection and requires the use of federally certified food safety labs for product testing. A food-borne illness education and outreach grant program would be established.
S 510 - A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply sponsored by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) has 8 co-sponsors currently. This bill addresses the concerns of government to the use of or exposure to certain foods. If the Secretary of Agriculture believes that there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to an article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, each person who manufactures, processes, packs, distributes, receives, holds, or imports such article shall provide access to that food article and to all records relating to such article. HACCP and preventive controls would be required for all manufacturers, processors, packers, distributors, receivers, holders, or importers. Safety standards would be established for production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables. All premises would be required to be registered and pay annual inspection fees. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, would facilitate public-private partnerships to help unify and enhance the protection of the agriculture and food system of the United States; including the sharing of information and intelligence relating to agriculture and the food system. The three agencies would identify best practices and methods for improving the coordination among Federal, State, local, and private sector preparedness and response plans for agriculture and food defense and would recommend methods to protect the economy and the public health of the United States from the effects of animal or plant disease outbreaks, food contamination and natural disasters affecting agriculture and food.
HR 1332 - Safe FEAST Act of 2009, sponsored by Jim Costa (D-CA) with 19 cosponsors. This is very similar to the senate bill S 510. All food manufacturers, processes, packers, or those who hold food for sale would be required to be registered. If the Secretary determines that food manufactured, processed, packed, or held by a facility has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, the Secretary may suspend the registration of the facility. In addition to having access to records and the product, the Secretary may direct the facility to order a recall. In addition to HACCP plans and record keeping requirements facilities would be required to: follow sanitation procedures, establish hygiene training, establish monitoring programs for environmental pathogen controls, implement an allergen control program, develop a recall contingency plan; follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs); and verify source suppliers. HR 1332 would encourage the building of domestic capacity through coordinated councils which would in part identify potential threats to the food supply and would establish surveillance systems through integrated networks. “
End quote of Martha Goodsell
If you have made it this far in your reading or skimming, congratulations!
If you have any activism trends in your bones, here are some food related items to comment on and pass your comments on to your representatives in NY, NY AG & Markets and your representatives in Washington, the USDA, and the FDA and the individual bills sponsors. The big issue is the rules will apply to all – the Campbells soup factory and Charles making Jam in his certified kitchen or our farm and the big feedlots of the west!! They all, at the very least, need clarification and adjustment of the rules for farms and processors of different sizes.
So as far as vacations go, these issues and topics brought us right back home!
We haven't been home long but we already seem far away from the ocean! Nancy
The southern east coast of Florida is very built up with many high rises right on the beach. I got an email the other day showing pictures of earth and that highlighted North America at night from the space shuttle and I was amazed at how “ablaze” the whole coast of Florida is. The town we were headed for had an ordinance about lights at night to help the nesting turtles and their hatchlings from walking the wrong way toward the lights and not heading for the ocean where the moon would be shining. But to see these pictures makes you wonder how daunting task it must be to uphold the law!
Some friends had recommended a very small (8 rooms 2 stories) Courtyard Villas which was right on the beach in Lauderdale by the Sea. The small courtyard had a big hot tub and a fountain that made us think we were in Italy! The beach was 300 yards away and the Gulf Stream sweeps by this area to help warm up the water. The Goodyear blimp flew up and down the beach daily along with a few helicopters, corporate jets, and the beach patrol guys in their buggies. One patroller was riding a Segway on the beach! That section of the coast is certainly built up and crowded but the high rises all stopped at the town line of Lauderdale by the Sea and the heights of all the buildings in town were much reduced in height. We read books and lolled around the beach and splashed and body surfed in the waves. That was the best part! The river taxi in the inland waterway took us on a tour of the many canals and waterfront homes with docks and boat houses and tie ups right outside. Ft Lauderdale is a maze of canals – although not quite like Venice.
We had a few days to visit my sister Judy and Taylor, her husband, in Jacksonville where it was a bit colder so our swimming excursions were over. They were on vacation from Oldfields School in Maryland where Taylor is the headmaster. Jacksonville is a very large city in population and activity as well as area. The city seems to surrounded by water and marshes everywhere. There are great marshes for kayaking as well as all sized waterways for fishing, ferries, cargo and cruise ships. The large national seashore there is quite lovely with natural dunes and sea and low grassy, shrubby salt tolerant plant life.
The morning we flew home was an order deadline day and we were right back in action, although much refreshed and renewed with new sites, topics and our short family reunion. One detail we never did find out was whether or not the palm trees (and I thought maybe it was just the coconut palms) were native to the area or not. Now they seem like clover; so integrated into the landscape that they look right but you don’t see them in the more remote, natural areas. Even the state is planting palms with the fan fronds along the highways and overpasses. Oh well, a google topic for another day.
When we came back to reviewing all my email I had a shock to see this headline:
FEDS TO BAN BACKYARD GARDENS?New Regulations to Shut Down Small Organic Farms$1 Million Fines: Lose Your Property for Growing Food
Small farms and backyard gardeners could be placed under direct supervision of the federal government under new legislation making its way through Congress.
The Feds are working on a plan that could ban organic farms and backyard gardens! The sponsors of House Resolution 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, are lurking in the shadows of Congress to quietly pass a diabolical scheme that levies up to $1 Million in fines to those food ‘rebels’ who dare to use organic fertilizer and now bow to big brother’s nasty chemicals and pesticides from the likes of Monsanto, etc. (See article below.)
So I wrote to Martha Goodsell and Bob Comis who both participate and are very knowledgeable on AG related topics to see if the hype was really true! I thought – oh, no, not another National Animal Identification System (NAIS) idea!!!
This reply was sent to me by Martha Goodsell who I believe was involved in the creation of NYFARMS! And she always seems to be on top of news topics.
NY Farms! publishes News to Share to provide information about food and farming to a wide range of interested individuals, organizations and businesses. It is a compilation from a variety of sources. Articles do not necessarily represent official positions of NY Farms! For more about NY Farms!
Visit www.nyfarms.info
Quote from Martha:
“Yes I've researched HR 845, but no, not all of what you're reading is true. Here's some research I've done on the food bills. I'm most concerned with Senate bill 510 and House bill 1332. Watch themvery closely. The bills are very similar though not conferenced at this point. They are broad sweeping reform bills, just as vague as HR 875 and could be just as, if not more, detrimental to small scale farmers and processors. Unlike HR 875 which exempts some activities which fall under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Acts and specifically excludes in section 3.14 any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation, there are no such express exceptions in these other two bills. The record keeping, product testing and HACCP requirements (all electronically of course) would be, in my opinion, overwhelming for most small scale operations. Look what HACCP did to our slaughterhouses-- gone! Any bill that will require one-size rules must be watched intently. These two bills( S510 and HR 1332) have bi-partisan support so don't let them off your radar by any means.
In the meantime, here's my submission to the Broader View Weekly, a small hometown paper, I write for.
Food Safety Bills of 2009
By Martha Goodsell
Internet users are up in arms regarding House Bill 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act, but much of what is circulating over the network is hype and inflated fears. However, that’s not to say that HR 875 is not a threat to both small scale and organic farmers and those consumers who support such farms. In its present form, it is a very real- though not a highly probable- threat. HR 875 is not the only food safety bill recently proposed following the peanut butter contamination. There are six other bills that must be monitored.
There are two federal agencies charged with food safety. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for wholesome meat and poultry under the guidelines of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the other hand, has the responsibility for oversight of manufactured food products, and all those products not under USDA jurisdiction. Unlike the USDA who inspects products and ensures Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) compliance in slaughterhouses and in meat and poultry product processing facilities, the FDA is charged with the annual inspection of manufacturing facilities. Only a few products monitored by the FDA are required to have and follow HACCP plans.
Thanks to Upton Sinclair, and his book The Jungle, the USDA oversight on meat and poultry is much stricter than for other food products currently. Many of these bills are looking to change that, by requiring food manufacturers to have and follow HACCP plans, which includes strict record keeping requirements. Unfortunately HACCP implementation poses a greater obstacle to small plants compared to larger facilities. Thus, the single greatest problem with all of these newly proposed food safety bills are that they are not designed with small and large operations in mind. Rather, they are written with a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Knowing that many small operations will chose to close their doors, rather than comply with testing, record keeping, and all sorts of other requirements, these bills indirectly interfere with the rights of individuals to choose their foods. This threat of losing small farms – and thus one’s food choice- is feeding the current hysteria.
To read more about the bills visit http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd. Please contact your Washington representatives to express your support or opposition to the bills.
Read them here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-510http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1332
Here is a summary of what’s pending:
HR 875 - The Food Safety Modernization Act, sponsored by Rosa Delauro (D- CT) (whose husband works for Monsanto) has 30 co-sponsors at this time. This bill splits the FDA into two units: one which would monitor food and the other to monitor medicinal drugs and medical devices. (The FDA is charged with monitoring both food and drugs so this is only a new approach, not a new duty.) The bill would increase the number - or frequency - of inspections. HR 875 would require HACCP plans. It would also require imports to meet US standards. (Currently as long as a foreign country has an “equivalent” inspection system, product is accepted with little or no further questions or testing.) HR 875 would establish a national traceability system that would require tracking “the history, use, and location of an item of food”. Section 3.13A specifically exempts those operations currently under USDA inspection under the FMIA or PPIA acts and section 3.14 exempts any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.
S425 - Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act, sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has no co-sponsors. This senate bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for the establishment of a traceability system so that each article of food shipped in interstate commerce would require a full record keeping system. An audit system would provide for compliance. Premise registration would be mandatory. S425 amends the FMIA so that any person that has reason to believe that any carcass, part of a carcass, meat, or meat food product is inappropriately transported, stored, distributed, or otherwise mis-handled resulting in adulteration or misbranding shall serve notice to the secretary who shall then call on industry to withdraw the product. The PPIA and the Egg Product Inspection Act (EPIA) would be amended in the same fashion.
HR 814 - Tracing and Recalling Agricultural Contamination Everywhere Act, sponsored by Diana DeGette (D-CO) has five co-sponsors. HR 814 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a traceability system for all stages of manufacturing, processing, packaging, and distribution of food. HR 814 would amend the FMIA by requiring identification and traceability for all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and horses, mules, and other equines presented for slaughter. Without an identification number, farm records, and the ability to trace an animal’s movement, such an animal can not be presented for slaughter. The PPIA and the EPIA would be amended to establish similar provisions for poultry and poultry products and for eggs and egg products. It is interesting to note that nothing contained in HR 814 supports Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements.
HR 759- The Food And Drug Administration Globalization Act, sponsored by John Dingell (D- MI) with eight co-sponsors, would require every food facility that manufactures, processes, packs, transports, or holds food for consumption in the United States to develop and implement a HACCP and food safety plan. HR 759 would require that all food facilities use standard lot numbers and that all facilities including food processors, farms and restaurants, keep electronic records. Food facilities must earn an accreditation status. This bill instructs the FDA to establish production standards for fruits and vegetables and to establish Good Agricultural Practices for produce and requiring those that grow and sell fresh fruits and vegetables to have a HACCP plan. COOL would be required. Only certified laboratories could conduct sampling and testing of food to ensure compliance.
S 429 - Ending Agricultural Threats: Safeguarding America's Food for Everyone (EAT SAFE) Act of 2009, sponsored by Senator Robert Casey (D- PA) with only one co-sponsor, focuses on imported and smuggled foods. This bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish food safety and agroterrorism training programs. Notification of recalled food products would be provided to the public while notice of smuggled food products would be reported to the public and to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This bill amends the FMIA and the PPIA to establish civil penalties for failure to present imported meat and poultry products for inspection and requires the use of federally certified food safety labs for product testing. A food-borne illness education and outreach grant program would be established.
S 510 - A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of the food supply sponsored by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) has 8 co-sponsors currently. This bill addresses the concerns of government to the use of or exposure to certain foods. If the Secretary of Agriculture believes that there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to an article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, each person who manufactures, processes, packs, distributes, receives, holds, or imports such article shall provide access to that food article and to all records relating to such article. HACCP and preventive controls would be required for all manufacturers, processors, packers, distributors, receivers, holders, or importers. Safety standards would be established for production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables. All premises would be required to be registered and pay annual inspection fees. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, would facilitate public-private partnerships to help unify and enhance the protection of the agriculture and food system of the United States; including the sharing of information and intelligence relating to agriculture and the food system. The three agencies would identify best practices and methods for improving the coordination among Federal, State, local, and private sector preparedness and response plans for agriculture and food defense and would recommend methods to protect the economy and the public health of the United States from the effects of animal or plant disease outbreaks, food contamination and natural disasters affecting agriculture and food.
HR 1332 - Safe FEAST Act of 2009, sponsored by Jim Costa (D-CA) with 19 cosponsors. This is very similar to the senate bill S 510. All food manufacturers, processes, packers, or those who hold food for sale would be required to be registered. If the Secretary determines that food manufactured, processed, packed, or held by a facility has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, the Secretary may suspend the registration of the facility. In addition to having access to records and the product, the Secretary may direct the facility to order a recall. In addition to HACCP plans and record keeping requirements facilities would be required to: follow sanitation procedures, establish hygiene training, establish monitoring programs for environmental pathogen controls, implement an allergen control program, develop a recall contingency plan; follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs); and verify source suppliers. HR 1332 would encourage the building of domestic capacity through coordinated councils which would in part identify potential threats to the food supply and would establish surveillance systems through integrated networks. “
End quote of Martha Goodsell
If you have made it this far in your reading or skimming, congratulations!
If you have any activism trends in your bones, here are some food related items to comment on and pass your comments on to your representatives in NY, NY AG & Markets and your representatives in Washington, the USDA, and the FDA and the individual bills sponsors. The big issue is the rules will apply to all – the Campbells soup factory and Charles making Jam in his certified kitchen or our farm and the big feedlots of the west!! They all, at the very least, need clarification and adjustment of the rules for farms and processors of different sizes.
So as far as vacations go, these issues and topics brought us right back home!
We haven't been home long but we already seem far away from the ocean! Nancy
Monday, February 23, 2009
The End of Winter?
This week was just another shift in the weather and our mindsets that this winter has had in store for us. We all were beginning to feel as if the trend had begun from coldest, to colder to sunny to warmer. The snow on the southern pastures had melted. We were taking walks to the top of the hill without getting our feet wet and then it snowed all over again (twice) and is quite cold and windy. Last week, once we got the delivery out the door, was a great time here. My sister Bev and niece Laura came to the farm for the whole school vacation week. They got me out each day to take a walk and the sunshine felt very good and full of vitamin D. The snow was still crusty in the woods and the northern exposures. We found an area of pine trees where there were about 5 woodcocks sitting in the boughs above our heads. As we got close to each one (without our seeing them), they exploded from the branches with beating wings and flew off. We found mostly deer tracks and in places they really have some highways through the woods to the streams and springs. Each day Laura would help to tame the barn cats and by the end of the week she was almost able to touch the Mystery Girl cat. The photo above shows Circles and Goldy. We took the pigs for a walk in the woods; they are very happy to follow along to see where you are going. The little stream in the uppermost point of their pastures was running freely and the snow was up to their bellies. When they first saw us walking, they were digging in the dirt around the hedgerow where the snow had melted and their noses were all muddy. By the time they investigated the stream and the snow around the bases of all trees nearby, the noses were a shiny bright pink.
Midweek we went skiing at Bromley Mtn and had a great time. The snow was groomed and not icy and the crowds in the liftlines were quite small. We were pretty tired out by the time it started snowing. We were almost glad to quit a bit early as we had some trouble seeing where we were going. This snow covered all the bare ground over again and took us back to feeling like mid-winter. It snowed again most of the day Sunday while we were at the farmers market and today is cold and quite windy. We even let the cows use the barn shed to try to stay dry and be out of the wind. The shed also warms up a bit when there are 80 animals in there. I'll bet they are ready for spring.
Bev and Laura even helped me get started in the greenhouse without seedlings. The first things planted were 2 varieties of kale and two varieties of arugula. I hope this cold snap does not stop them from sprouting! The greenhouse seemed a warm and cozy space last week - at least when the sun is out. By early April or maybe even late March, I could set these in the garden with row cover or a cold frame and hope for the best of the early greens. In the next few weeks I'll start spinach, cabbage and leeks too. We are looking forward to eating out of the garden again even though the root cellar still has potatoes, beets, leeks, garlic and the freezer still has tomatoes, blueberries and currants.
By the weekend, the girls had gone back to Wellesley and my nephew Chris from Philadelphia had arrived. He came for a winter get away drive as the poor guy spent as much time in the car as he got to spend visiting. We did however have a great farm meal and even opened the first bottle of the rhubarb wine. It was pretty good! We'll have to try that recipe again. It was great to catch up on the family news all week long and now it's back to business and the routine of the season. Hope you all are staying warm.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Warming up in the Pig Pile
The cold days seem to be much brighter and warmer as long as the sun is out. The animals are all feeling the difference as they are eating less, soaking up the sun and seem to be getting sick of eating hay and dreaming of green grass. Jack and Pedro, the horse and donkey, seek the highest point in the pasture in the morning to catch the first rays of the sun coming up over the hill on our eastern side. During this cold weather, the farm is protected by the worst cold simply by being up on the hill. There was not alot of biting wind and the temperatures seem to rise as you get higher because the colder air sinks into the valleys by the rivers and streams. So when the river valley was below zero, we were in the single digits. The Vermont weather man said this morning that was the longest stretch of cold air in several decades. The lovely day Saturday was the warmest since late December. That one day has gotten us all thinking of spring, planting and growing things again. Today is another beauty with glorious sunshine with temperatures in the 30's.
The greatest thing for the pigs in cold weather is climbing into the pig piles! The base level is a row of cuddly piggies all lined up like sardines in the hay nest. The next pig to climb in thries to get in the middle by starting to climb on the hips of the resting pigs. There is a bit of groaning to fit and growling when it hurts until the new addition is cozily nestled in the bunch. The next few new bodies make a bigger disturbance and sometimes the whole pile is moving, groaning, and adjusting to make room for each other. If you have two bodies beside you and one partially on top of you, you are in the warmest position. Every so often, an outside pig moves and tries to get back in the middle to warm up his cold back. It makes for entertaining animal behavior watching while fussing around the pigs bedroom during chores.
Hopefully the winds will warm up consistently, and we'll all be shedding our layers.
The greatest thing for the pigs in cold weather is climbing into the pig piles! The base level is a row of cuddly piggies all lined up like sardines in the hay nest. The next pig to climb in thries to get in the middle by starting to climb on the hips of the resting pigs. There is a bit of groaning to fit and growling when it hurts until the new addition is cozily nestled in the bunch. The next few new bodies make a bigger disturbance and sometimes the whole pile is moving, groaning, and adjusting to make room for each other. If you have two bodies beside you and one partially on top of you, you are in the warmest position. Every so often, an outside pig moves and tries to get back in the middle to warm up his cold back. It makes for entertaining animal behavior watching while fussing around the pigs bedroom during chores.
Hopefully the winds will warm up consistently, and we'll all be shedding our layers.
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