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Happy
Thanksgiving! No e-newsletter Next
Week!
We will not be sending an e-newsletter next Monday, Nov.
26. Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your
family and friends, and you will hear from us again in
December! |
Farm Bill Debate
Delayed Until December
Senate Cloture Vote Does Not
Allow Senate to Move Forward
On Friday morning, Nov. 16, before Congress recessed
for the Thanksgiving holiday, Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid held a cloture vote to decide the 2007 Farm
Bill's fate. The Senate voted
55 - 42 in favor of restarting debate on the bill,
but was unable to reach the 60 votes necessary to invoke
cloture.
Immediately following the vote, NFU participated in a
press conference with several Senators and others expressing
disappointment in the lack of Senate action on the farm bill.
NFU President Tom Buis spoke along with Senate Agriculture
Committee Chairman Tom
Harkin, D-Iowa, and Sens. Debbie
Stabenow, D-Mich., Ken
Salazar, D-Colo., Sherrod
Brown, D-Ohio, and Amy
Klobuchar, D-Minn.
"The bill unanimously approved by the Senate Agriculture
Committee is a good, fiscally responsible bill that includes
record investments in conservation, nutrition, renewable
energy development and specialty crop programs."
Harkin was hopeful that the Senate would act on the bill
following the Thanksgiving recess. If Congress fails to pass a
new farm bill, the investments in conservation, nutrition and
other programs would disappear, the farm bill budget would be
further reduced and consumers would again be denied
country-of-origin labeling.
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Be Thankful for
Farmers This Thanksgiving
Only 20 Cents of Every Food Dollar
Goes to Farmers
This Thursday, Americans from across the country will
come together to give thanks and enjoy a high quality, safe
and affordable meal with their loved ones. It's important to
remember, as you sit down to dine, where that food comes from
and the family farmers and ranchers who provide such a
bountiful harvest.
Here's a snapshot of the farmer's share for a traditional
Thanksgiving meal:
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NFU Poll of the Week
What is your favorite part of
Thanksgiving dinner?
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| NFU Testifies
for Small Businesses in Rural
America
USDA and Small Business Administration Collaboration
Necessary
Ziegler relayed the importance of establishing a
permanent disaster program for agricultural producers, and
encouraged the committee to work with other members of
Congress to ensure all federal incentive programs used for
renewable energy development give a competitive advantage to
farmer-owned and locally-owned efforts.
"An exciting economic opportunity for producers is the
consumer demand for fresh, source verified, direct from the
farm food," Ziegler said. "This is an opportunity for USDA and
SBA to evaluate how each could work more closely together to
foster further development of this movement."
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Farm Broadcasters
Hold Annual Convention
NFU Attends Trade Talk, Discusses
Farm Bill
Carlson gave broadcasters NFU's perspective on the 2007
Farm Bill and gave an update on the bill's status in the
Senate. Other topics included country of origin labeling
(COOL), permanent disaster assistance, the Farmers Union
Carbon Credit Program, dairy issues and the growing 'buy
fresh, buy local' food trend.
Many broadcasters report live from the convention, while
others use the interviews as part of a broader package,
possibly at a later date.
NFU Communications Director Liz Friedlander and
Communications Coordinator Amber Birtcher also attended the
event. |
Media Gallery
Updates: Audio, Video and Pictures
Click on Pictures to View
Audio:
11-16-07 NFU President Tom Buis reacts to
today's failed cloture vote in the Senate. The vote would have
allowed for the Senate to consider the farm bill, which
expired the end of September.
 11-14-07 NFU President Tom
Buis appeared on Charleston, South Carolina's
NBC 2 Nightly News as they discussed the price of
turkeys, Thanksgiving meals and a farmer's share of this
year's Thanksgiving dinner. You can read the transcript or
watch video by clicking on Tom's picture.
Photos from Iowa's Presidential Summit:
Photos from NAFB's Convention Trade
Talk:
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Members'
Corner: Kale Van Bruggen, NDSU Collegiate
Chapter
Highlighting Outstanding Members in Our
States
 Some college
students live in dorms, some live in luxurious apartments and
some live in dirty, messy, "Animal House" houses. Kale Van
Bruggen, along with his two roommates Josh and Jason, live in
what has been nicknamed, the "Co-op House."
Kale is a junior at North Dakota State University and is
the President of NDSU's Farmers Union Collegiate Chapter. Kale
helped organize the group's third Annual Charity Dodgeball
Tournament last year, which raised more than $1,300 for Farm
Rescue, a regional organization committed to helping farmers
in times of need. Kale also enjoys attending NDFU's summer
camp, where he has been a counselor for the past two
years.
"Serving as a summer staffer was a great opportunity for
me to give back to the youth of Farmers Union what I was given
as a child," Kale said. "It's an entirely new perspective,
being on the opposite side of the fence. It was great to give
back to Farmers Union by helping the youth of your state
grow."
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**Each week, our members get to hear about NFU's
work on Capitol Hill and around the United States.
Now, we are going to show you what our members are
doing across the country. This is part of a series
of Member Profiles that will appear each week in the
e-newsletter. Check back to get to know your fellow Farmers
Union members!
Read our previous profiles:
Do you know someone you would like to
feature from your state? Contact Amber
Birtcher. | |
Students Attend
Agriculture Future of America Opportunity
Fair
NFU Hosts Booth, Attracts Youth Interested in
Involvement
 Approximately 100
students with agriculture and related majors visited the
National Farmers Union booth at the Agriculture Future of America
Opportunity Fair in Kansas City on Nov. 9.
"We had great response at the booth," Meyer said.
"National Farmers Union was the only farm organization
participating in the AFA Opportunity Fair, and the young
people loved that we are a grassroots membership organization
that offers unique education and leadership opportunities
compared to the other agribusinesses present."
Many of the young adults were interested in the National
Farmers Union internship program. 2007 NFU Intern
Jennifer Wellnitz, center, of Kansas State University
stopped by the booth for about an hour to share her NFU
internship experiences with other students. Wellnitz
learned of the NFU internship program during the AFA
Opportunity Fair in 2006. |
State News
 Montana: Montana
Farmers Union, with the financial support from CHS, had a tremendous turnout for
this year's MFU Young Producers Seminar at Fairmont Hot
Springs, Nov. 9 - 11.
With 72 farmers and ranchers in attendance, the seminar
was a fun-filled, informational gathering for young producers
around the state. The event started with a message
from MFU President Alan Merrill who discussed the
importance of MFU, and offered an update on the Farm
Bill.
The Young Producers Seminar is a weekend family affair
with a focus on Farmers Union policies and the importance of
supporting cooperatives. CHS board member, Rich Owen, gave a
fantastic presentation of the history and the future of
cooperatives in the state of Montana and the impact
cooperatives have on world economics. He emphasized getting
involved with community projects and cooperative
development.
"This was such a successful, fun, and educational
weekend," said Jim Sargent, MFU membership director/event
chairman. "I am eager to begin the planning a similar
event for 2008."
Ohio: The Ohio
Farmers Union Family Farm
Center and the OFU Cooperative Development Center has
started the Ohio Farmers Renewable Energy Cooperative. The
cooperative had its first meeting and a temporary board chosen
at the OFU board meeting in July, completing the incorporation
process.
The purpose of the cooperative is to provide farmers,
rural residents and rural businesses access to renewable
energy technology appropriate for farms, homes and small
businesses. The cooperative was set up so all OFU members are
eligible for membership.
Currently, the Ohio Farmers Renewable Energy Cooperative
has an agreement with Solar Usage Now to distribute, install
and service Apricus Solar-Thermal systems for heating water
and radiant heat for buildings. The cooperative started with
solar-thermal because it's a proven and established product
that is ready to go. It will be including technology for
small-scale wind turbines and on farm biodiesel processing in
the future and is developing relationships with Ohio
manufacturers for those technologies.
Have NFU news you want to share? Send
any info about meetings, conventions, state fairs, individual
members' success, state government news, or anything else
relevant to NFU and its members to Amber
Birtcher. |
| Join Us in Las
Vegas!
 NFU's
2008 Convention will be held March 2 - 4 at Bally's
in Las Vegas. Guaranteed to be an exciting mix of top-notch
speakers, policy makers and Farmers Union members from across
the country, the 2008 NFU Convention is a can't miss
event.
Last year we were privileged to have House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi provide the keynote address and we are looking forward
to another successful event in 2008. See you in Las
Vegas!
Additional Las Vegas Information:
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Farmer's Share of Retail Food
Dollar
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Farm Price
Barometer
October 2007
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On Nov. 14, NFU
Vice President of Government Relations Katy Ziegler appeared
before the 
National Farmers
Union participated in the 
