Hill Briefings

Improving Healthy Food Access in Underserved Communities Through the 2007 Farm Bill (December 6, 2007)

How the 2007 Farm Bill Can Support Local Agriculture and Public Health (May 21, 2007)

Farmers Markets & Public Markets: Advancing their Role in Urban & Rural Communities (May 3, 2007)

Farm Bill 101 - Overview Briefing of the Farm Bill (January 16, 2007)

Farmers Markets & Public Markets:  Small Investments, Big Results (June 27, 2006)

Leveraging Local Food Systems for Healthy Farms and Healthy Communities (June 13, 2006)

Performance-Based Conservation (May 15, 2006)

Meeting of the Northeast House and Senate Agricultural Caucuses (February 17, 2006)

Conservation Security Program: Status and Outlook (February 27, 2004)

Reforming US Agriculture Policy: Why Simply Eliminating Farm Subsidies Is Not the Answer (October 23, 2003)

Federal Agriculture Policy and Farm Viability in the Northeast (June 9-10, 2003)

Expanding the USDA Conservation Toolbox: Conservation Security Program and Grassland Reserve Program (March 14, 2003)

Will There Be Adequate Resources to Implement the Farm Bill's Conservation Title? (March 7, 2003)

Growing Healthy Children: How American Farms Can Feed American Kids More Effectively (February 21, 2003)

Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic State Departments of Agriculture Workshop (Sep. 24, 2002)

Hill Briefing Archives

Improving Healthy Food Access in Underserved Communities through the 2007 Farm Bill

Thursday, December 6th 2:00pm-3:00pm
1300 Longworth House Office Building
(Agriculture Committee Hearing Room)

Sponsors: American Public Health Association ? Community Food Security Coalition ? Northeast Midwest Institute ? National Urban League ? PolicyLink

Coordinated with the Offices of Representatives Bobby Rush (IL), Barbara Lee (CA), and Mike Honda (CA)

Over 50 people attended the briefing, with at least half from Congressional offices. NGOs in attendance included representatives from public health associations, specialty crops sector, nutrition and anti-hunger organizations, investors and private foundations.

The briefing highlighted four Farm Bill provisions related to improving the quality and affordability of food available in low-income rural and urban communities. These include:

• the Healthy Food Urban Enterprise Development Center, to provide technical assistance and planning grants for enterprises which improve food distribution and access in low-income communities
• a no-cost priority in the Rural Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program to imrpvoe the distribution and market reach of products from local farmers to consumers in underserved communities;
• the Community Food Projects Grants which support grassroots solutions connecting residents of low-income communities with healthy, affordable foods
• an inter-agency Food Access Study, lead by USDA, to identify factors contributing to lack of access to healthy foods and recommend ways to address these issues through existing government programs as well as private sector solutions.

Congressman Bobby Rush's office and Congressman Bennie Thompson's office are leading on a letter to the Farm Bill conferees highlighting these four provisions, and idnetfying diferences between the House and Senate version to the Farm Bill Conferees.

Panelists:
Suzanne Bergeron, Director of Legislative Affairs, National Urban League.
Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PolicyLink.
LaDonna Redmond, Chicago State University, Department of Geography, Anthropology, Sociology and Economics Neighborhood Assistance Center Food Systems Specialist, Chicago, IL.
Daniel Ross, Executive Director of Nuestras Raices ("Our Roots"), Holyoke, MA.
Gina Villani, MD, Vice President of Health and Quality of Life, National Urban League.

Contact: Alan Hunt

How the 2007 Farm Bill Can Support Local Agriculture and Public Health

Monday, May 21, 2:00-3:00 pm
304 Cannon

The reauthorization of 2007 Farm Bill offers tremendous opportunities for expanding economic opportunities for farmers and ranchers through the reinvigoration of local and regional agricultural markets. These markets provide opportunities for a new generation of entrepreneurial farmers and can help improve access to healthier foods, particularly in lower-income and underserved communities.

H.R. 2364, introduced last week by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) and cosponsored by Representatives Nancy Boyda (D-KS), Steve Kagen (D-WI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Tom Allen (D-ME), seeks to:

" Increase the availability of fruits and vegetables in school meals and remove barriers which prevent local farmers selling products to local schools
" Ensure the affordability of healthy and fresh foods for low-income families and seniors through purchases of fresh foods directly from farmers and ranchers
" Foster community-led approaches to improve consumer access to healthy and fresh foods in low income neighborhoods
" Provide grants and loans for value-added agriculture and to develop the small and mid-sized processing and distribution systems needed to get products from family farmers into local and regional markets

This briefing provided an overview of the provisions of the bill and explained how the 2007 Farm Bill can create new markets for local agricultural producers and improve public health.

Speakers:

Mark Toigo, farmer, Toigo Orchards, Shippensburg, PA
Anthony Flaccavento, farmer and director, Appalachian Sustainable Development, Abingden, VA
Tazuer Smith, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Washington, DC
Roni Neff, Ph.D., Research Director, Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins School
of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Steph Larson, Community Food Security Coalition, Washington, DC

Allen Hance, Farm and Food Policy Project (moderator)

Farmers Markets & Public Markets:
Advancing their Role in Urban & Rural Communities

Thursday, May 3, 2007 5:00 – 7:00pm
Longworth 1300 & 1302

Hosted by: Project for Public Spaces, Northeast-Midwest Institute, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Community Food Security
Coalition, and the Farmers Market Coalition.

Overview:

Over forty Hill staff attended the briefing which highlighted the role of farmers' markets in low-income urban communities and the farm income potential from markets. Speakers included Linda Boclair of the Camden, NJ farmers' markets, Elaine Brown of Michigan Food and Farming Systems, and Tazuer Smith of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Also mentioned were Farm Bill programs which support the development of farmers' markets and farmers' market vendors.

More infromation is available at the Project for Public Spaces website.

Farm Bill 101 - Overview Briefing of the Farm Bill

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 -- 2:00-4:00 pm, 2168 Rayburn House Office Building (Gold Room)

Hosted by: The Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition and Representatives Meehan (D-MA), LaTourette (R-OH), Gilchrest (R-MD), and Holden (D-PA).

Congressional Research Service Presenters:

" Jasper Womach - Overview and History
" Jim Monke - Commodity Support and Credit
" Jeff Zinn -Conservation
" Charles Hanrahan - Trade and Food Aid
" Randy Schnepf - Energy
" Geoff Becker - Animal Agriculture
" Jean Rawson - Research and Specialty Crops
" Ralph Chite - Crop Insurance and Disaster Aid
" Tadlock Cowan - Rural Development
" Joe Richardson - Food and Nutrition

Overview:

Over 140 Congressional Staff, many new to agriculture and farm bill issues, attended a briefing covering background information for the reauthorization of the farm bill and current agricultural trends and issues.

Prior to the set of agricultural and food policies in the current farm bill, which originated in the Depression and Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, agricultural support focused on education, training, research, and extension. Today, agricultural and food policies, in terms of USDA spending, focus on two areas: 1) nutrition assistance, including Food Stamps (but not WIC, which is authorized in the Child Nutrition Act), and 2) commodity support and the Farm Services Agency. CRS staff indicated that relatively few commodities are included in the support programs, relatively few farmers (in number) being supported, and that the benefits generally flow to the largest farms, as they are production-linked benefits. Staff also indicated that as these forms of support affect production and can distort trade, they are also costly programs, which with budget constraints create ever more pressure on maintaining existing program structures and may discourage new initiatives.

The farm bill also provides assistance for farmers to adopt conservation measures and retire marginally productive lands; ensures access to capital and loans for producers; offers international food assistance and export support; incentivizes renewable energy and on-farm energy efficiency; regulates inspection and certification services for livestock products; funds research and extension support to farmers through universities; facilitates rural infrastructure and non-farm businesses development; and supports food purchase assistance and emergency food for low-income Americans.

Drivers that may shape the outcomes of the upcoming farm bill include the domestic production of agriculture-based energy and specialty crop production. However, while agricultural products can yield energy, CRS staff illustrated that the agriculture sector is also a heavy energy user. The sum of direct energy inputs (e.g. tractor fuel, heat) and indirect energy inputs (e.g. fertilizer, chemicals) represent one-fifth of production costs on average. Another potential driver is the relatively under-served but increasingly organized specialty crop producers, who grow fruits, vegetables, nursery products, and even nuts producing over half of the nation's value of agricultural output.

Congressional Research Service staff is available for consultation on these issues, and others related to food and agricultural policy.

This event was organized by the Northeast Midwest Congressional Coalition and the Congressional Research Service.

The next overview farm bill briefing will be February 26th and presented by agricultural committee staff. Briefings are also planned in the Senate and are to be announced.

Contact: Alan Hunt (202) 464-4016

Farmers Markets & Public Markets:  Small Investments, Big Results 

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 -- 5:00 - 6:00 pm, Briefing and Q&A, 1302 Longworth Building
Local Foods Reception, 6:00 - 7:00 pm, 1301 Longworth Building

Hosted by: The Honorable Robert Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee (R-VA) 

Speakers:

• The Honorable Robert Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee (R-VA)
• Steve Davies, Senior Vice President, Project for Public Spaces
• Errol Bragg, Associate Deputy Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Charles M. Kuperus, Secretary of Agriculture, State of New Jersey
• August Schumacher, Consultant, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Overview:

Despite the torrential rains in Washington, a standing room crowd turned out Tuesday, June 27th, for the third and best-attended Annual Public Markets Briefing and Reception at the House Agriculture Committee.  Over 90 people attended including fifteen congressional offices, members of local and national agriculture and health organizations, and representatives from the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services, as well as farmers, market managers and ranchers from Wisconsin, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Alabama, South Dakota, and Wyoming.  The Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Bob Goodlatte (R, VA-6th) hosted the briefing.  The Chairman, speaking at the briefing and later at the reception, praised the grassroots efforts of farmers’ markets and their ability to return benefits to their communities. 

Farmers’ markets are perhaps one of the most visible expressions of a national trend that incorporates food access, health, and urban rural linkages into community and economic development.  Speakers, including the New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus, addressed the role that farmers’ markets can play in urban communities with limited access to supermarkets and fresh foods.  An example of the national trend to increase urban food access through farmers’ markets, is Camden, New Jersey a city of 80,000, with only one supermarket, which incorporated five farmers’ markets as a strategy to increase the availability of fresh foods at affordable prices.  The Secretary also indicated the importance of farmers’ markets as part of a diversity of marketing options needed to keep farming viable nationally, and indicated their need for support in the upcoming 2007 Farm Bill.

Steve Davies, Vice President of the Project for Public Spaces, and Roy Priest a Project for Public Spaces board member, illustrated how the markets they had partnered with addressed multiple community needs including support for town economic redevelopment projects, creating places that draw in the community, providing farmers with a high-value retail outlet, and providing foods that can contribute to the public’s health.  These successes were developed through targeted business, marketing, and outreach plans.  Errol Bragg of the Market Services Branch of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service indicated the high demand for their new Farmers Market Promotion Program which assists farmers and community organizations with the promotion of local foods, market planning, and marketing.  This program, funded for the first time for FY 2006, received nearly $20million in funding requests for $1million in available funding.  This interest in marketing assistance is part of a growing trend of interest in farmers’ markets, both from farmers and consumers, with markets numbering over 3,700 in 2004—up 111% from 1994.

The Project for Public Spaces, Northeast-Midwest Institute, and Sustainable Agriculture Coalition were co-sponsors of this event.

Contact: Alan Hunt (202) 464-4016

Performance-Based Conservation

Monday, May 15, 2006 - 2:00–3:00pm in Senate Agriculture Hearing Room SR-328A Russell Senate Office Building

Speakers:

• George Boody, Land Stewardship Project
• Jeff Zinn, Congressional Research Service
• Craig Cox, Soil and Water Conservation Society (unable to attend)
• Ferd Hoefner, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
• Jon Winsten, Winrock International
• Frank Casey, Defenders of Wildlife
• Allen Hance, Northeast-Midwest Institute

 Overview:

The panel presented on-the-ground approaches and models used to identify the benefits and increase the cost-effectiveness of federal conservation programs.  The Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), a USDA-led effort, was a focus of the briefing, as were several other monitoring, assessment, and evaluation efforts.

Farm-level assessments of conservation practices can be beneficial to farmers by providing information on economic savings, such as from a reduced need for phosphorous or nitrogen application.  This level of information can also serve as a component of a more comprehensive monitoring system at a regional scale for water and other resources. 

Panelists argued that that the next farm bill should invest in increased monitoring and evaluation for the purpose of improving benefits from conservation programs. 

Contact: Allen Hance (202) 464-4015

Meeting of the Northeast House and Senate Agricultural Caucuses

Friday, February 17, 2006 - 1:00-2:30 pm in Senate Agriculture Hearing Room SR-328A Russell Senate Office Building

Speakers:

• Dennis Wolff, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Chair of the Northeast Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA)
• Douglas Gillespie, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
• Steve Kerry, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
• Rick Zimmerman, Deputy Commissioner, and Tim Pezzolesi, New York Department of Agriculture and Markets
• Ned Porter, Acting Commissioner, Maine Department of Agriculture
• Marge Kikelly, Northeast States Association of Agricultural Stewardship, Council of State Governments

Overview:

A joint meeting of the House Northeast Agriculture Caucus, the Senate Eggplant Caucus, and agriculture commissioners and deputies from five Northeast was attended by over 50 House and Senate staffers representing all the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic statesWest Virginia.  The agriculture commissioners and their deputies called for agricultural polices which promote overall farm viability, increased domestic market development, and for the targeting of national agricultural programs, notably conservation, to the farming and geographic characteristics of the Northeast.  including

The session was introduced by the staff of Senator Leahy (VT) and Representative Holden (PA 17th) as part of the bi-partisan and bi-cameral effort to support agriculture in the Northeast.  The Northeast Ag Works!—a collaboration of American Farmland Trust, the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, The Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship, and the Northeast Midwest Institute—was introduced as regional partnership designed to highlight the contributions and needs of Northeast agriculture.  Which, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolf indicated as a very diverse farm sector, with many smaller farm operations (130 acres on average) and diverse mix of crops, livestock, and specialty products—of which he noted that mushrooms are a top selling product for Pennsylvania.

These observations were continued by Steve Kerr, Agriculture Secretary of Vermont who identified the Farm Bill as an opportunity to look at old problems in new ways and to suggest creative options to improve farm viability.  He linked wellness, and programs that link direct markets with health, such as the Farmers Market Nutrition Programs and Farm-to-Cafeteria projects as key to the region’s agricultural sustainability and the health of its children.  Promoting market development and ensuring that farmers have the technical assistance and programs they need to be more viable economically and environmentally are key to maintaining agriculture in the Northeast.  While such programs, like the dairy support program MILC are needed to assist existing styles of agricultural production, Secretary Kerr identified the growing number of young, entrepreneurial farmers with emerging policy needs. 

Support for marketing, specialty crops, farmland preservation, practices that reduce energy costs, management of production and market risk, and research geared to the Northeast’s diverse and highly specialized growers were addressed by all of the commissioners and their representatives.

This event was cosponsored by American Farmland Trust, the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, The Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship, and the Northeast Midwest Institute.

Contact: Allen Hance (202) 464-4015 

Conservation Security Program: Status and Outlook

Friday, February 27, 2004, 1300 LHOB 9:30-10:30 am

The Northeast-Midwest Institute invites you to a briefing on the Conservation Security Program (CSP) by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Congressional Research Service, and agriculture organizations.

CSP is a new voluntary conservation program authorized by the 2002 farm bill and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The program, slated to begin enrolling producers later this year, will assist producers to implement conservation practices and pay them for various agriculture-related environmental services provided by their operations.

NRCS and CRS will provide an overview of the legislation and the proposed rule, which has a comment period that closes on March 2. Additional speakers representing diverse sectors of the agriculture community will discuss the program’s potential as well as concerns about the proposed rule and implementation process.

Introduction and Overview

• Bruce Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Barbara Johnson, Analyst, Congressional Research Service

Discussion

• Ben Noble, Vice President for Government Affairs, U.S.A. Rice Federation
• Keira Franz, Director of Legislative Affairs, United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association
• Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director, Sustainable Agriuclture Coalition

Dave Salmonsen, Director, Congressional Relations/Legislative Counsel, American Farm Bureau Federation

Contact: Allen Hance, (202) 464-4015

Reforming US Agriculture Policy: Why Simply Eliminating Farm Subsidies Is Not the Answer

Thursday, October 23, 2003, 1539 LHOB, 1:00-2:15 pm

Contentious debates over the costs and impacts of farm subsidies, the recent collapse of WTO trade negotiations in Cancún, and the deepening crisis in the farm and rural sector at home and abroad have prompted a new round of deliberations among policy experts about the future of US agriculture policy.

The Northeast-Midwest Institute sponsored a briefing on a study by the Agriculture Policy Analysis Center (APAC) at the University of Tennessee, entitled Rethinking U.S. Agriculture Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide (www.agpolicy.org). The APAC study examines current farm policies and presents evidence that eliminating U.S. farm subsidies without real price-enhancing reforms would cripple the farm and rural economy, and would perpetuate rather than alleviate many of the problems facing farmers in developing counties. The study also outlines an alternative “farmer-friendly” policy blueprint, which their research suggests would boost prices for major commodities, increase net farm income, and do so at roughly half the cost of current commodity programs.

Speakers:

• Lorette Picciano, Executive Director, Rural Coalition
• Daryll E. Ray, Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy and Director, Agriculture Policy Analysis Center, the University of Tennessee
• George Naylor, President, National Family Farm Coalition

Contact: Allen Hance, (202) 464-4015

Federal Agriculture Policy and Farm Viability in the Northeast
Northeast Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA) Annual Meeting

June 9-10, 2003, Dover Downs, Delaware

The Northeast-Midwest Institute sponsored a two-day workshop in June 2003 at the annual meeting of the Northeast Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA). The workshop provided an opportunity for state agriculture officials to review federal agriculture policies on risk management, rural development, marketing, farm viability, and conservation. Participants from Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont shared information, identified issues and concerns, and developed preliminary recommendations about regional policy priorities.

Each workshop session began with brief presentations by federal and state program managers and non-governmental organization representatives, followed by discussions among small groups.

Risk Management and Rural Economic Development

• Gene Ganz, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
• James (Jay) Gallons, USDA-Risk Management Agency
• Jim Waters, USDA-Rural Development

Expanding Markets -- Local, Regional, and Beyond

• Mark Bailey, USDA-Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
• Gus Schumacher, Consultant and former USDA Under Secretary
• Marge Kilkelly, Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship

Conservation and Farm Viability

• Dave Gagner, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Suzy Friedman, Environmental Defense
• Cris Coffin, American Farmland Trust
• Marge Kilkelly, Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship

Contact: Allen Hance, Northeast-Midwest Institute, 202-544-5200.

Expanding the USDA Conservation Toolbox: Conservation Security Program and Grassland Reserve Program

March 14, 2003 (10:00-11:00, 122 CHOB; 2:00-3:00, SR-328A)
Sponsored by the Northeast-Midwest Institute and Northeast-Midwest Coalitions

The Northeast-Midwest Institute and Northeast-Midwest Congressional and House Coalitions brought together representatives of the Congressional Research Service, conservation organizations, and the farm and ranch community to discuss two new conservation programs that will provide ranchers and farmers with additional income sources and assist them in meeting conservation objectives. The session provided an overview of the new authorities, implementation activities at USDA, and ongoing budget and appropriations issues.

The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance for the conservation, protection, and improvement of soil, water, air, energy, plant and animal resources on Tribal and private lands. The program will provide payments to producers who practice good stewardship on their agricultural lands and incentives for those who want to do more.

The Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP) builds on the models of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), which have proved highly successful in protecting valuable wildlife habitat and improving environmental quality. The GRP will focus on restoring and protecting remaining grassland and prairie ecosystems from agricultural conversion and development pressures.

Overview:

• Jeffery Zinn, Congressional Research Service, Resources, Science, and Industry Division
• Ferd Hoefner, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

Conservation Security Program:

• Michael Heller, Clagett Farm/Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
• Joe Logan, farmer, Kinsman, Ohio; President, Ohio Farmers Union; Member, Innovative Farmers of Ohio

Grassland Reserve Program:

• Dan Limmer, producer and Director, South Dakota Audubon Society
• Scott Stephens, Ph.D., research biologist, Ducks Unlimited, Great Plains Regional Office, Bismarck, North Dakota

Contact: Allen Hance, Northeast-Midwest Institute, 202-544-5200.

Will There Be Adequate Resources to Implement the Farm Bill's Conservation Title?

March 7, 2003 (10:00-11:00, 2456 RHOB)
Sponsored by the Northeast-Midwest Institute and Northeast-Midwest Coalitions

The 2002 Farm Bill provided historic increases to the conservation title, boosting funding for existing programs and creating important new conservation programs. There is growing concern, however, about how these programs will be delivered to the farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers that demand them. This informational briefing included staff from the House Agriculture Committee and USDA, and representatives from the conservation and environmental community.

• Ryan Weston, Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Rural Development and Research, U.S. House of Representatives
• Dave Gagner, Ducks Unlimited
• Scott Faber, Environmental Defense
• Rich Duesterhaus, National Association of Conservation Districts

Contact: Dan Wrinn, Northeast-Midwest Institute, 202-544-5200.

Growing Healthy Children: How American Farms Can Feed American Kids More Effectively

February 21, 2003 (9:15-10:30, HC-8)
Sponsored by Northeast-Midwest Institute

The reauthorization of Child Nutrition Programs presents opportunities for strengthening bonds between agricultural producers and school districts. This Northeast-Midwest Institute briefing reviewed innovative pilots and policy proposals designed to bring fresh farm products into school cafeterias and to foster nutrition education that links healthy eating to local agriculture.

• Marion Kalb, National Farm to School Program, Sacramento, California
• Pam Roy, Farm to Table, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Jennifer Wilkens, Farm to School Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
• Mark Winne, Hartford Food System, Hartford, Connecticut

Contact: Allen Hance, Northeast-Midwest Institute, 202-544-5200.

• Allen Hance, Northeast-Midwest Institute, Moderator
• Gus Schumacher, former Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, USDA
• Kenneth Ayars, Chief, Division of Agriculture, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and President, Northeastern Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA)
• Michael Scuse, Secretary, Delaware Department of Agriculture
• Marge Kilkelly, State Senator (ME) and Chair, Council of State Government's Northeast States Association for Agricultural Stewardship