New Web Link Quickly Connects Farmers With Application and Subsidy List
Media Contact: Gail Philbin,
gail.philbin@sierraclub.org,
312-493-2384
Lansing, Mich.— As part of its effort to help level the playing field for sustainable livestock farmers in Michigan, the
Less=More Coalition has made available information about taxpayer-funded Farm Bill conservation subsidies in one place online at
http://tinyurl.com/EQIPsubsidies.
“Farmers are busy folks, and sustainable farmers often lack the kind
of outreach and support for farm program applications that large-scale
industrial farm operators receive,” said Sandy Nordmark, vice president
of the Michigan Farmers Union, which is a member of Less=More. “We aim
to make it as easy as possible for them to access funding possibilities
for their conservation practices by putting all the information they
need in one cyber-location.”
Less=More is a sustainable agriculture coalition launched earlier
this year to address the inequity of Farm Bill subsidy distribution in
Michigan and how the system favors polluting factory farms over safe,
sustainable livestock farms at the expense of the environment and public
health
The
Less=More web link
connects farmers with basic information about 2013 Farm Bill subsidies
in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in Michigan. It
includes a listing of the more than 100 conservation practices funded by
EQIP and the amount of money available for each practice as well as the
most current EQIP application.
“This information is available on the USDA’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service Michigan website, but it can be tricky to find if
you don’t know where to look,” said Lynn Henning, a Water Sentinel for
the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, another Less=More coalition member.
“We make it as simple as possible. A farmer can sit down and get an
idea of what’s out there for him or her with a click or two of the
mouse.”
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the agency that
distributes taxpayer-funded subsidies through a State Conservationist in
Michigan, is mandated to distribute 60 percent of the EQIP funds to
livestock operations. Currently, most go to support Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operations (CAFOs), also known as factory farms, in Michigan.
Of the 104 EQIP subsidies available in 2013, 53 are practices
identified by the NRCS as being applicable to farmers with organic
certification, according to Henning. These include such activities as
brush management, grassed waterways, fencing and filter strips.
Although about half of the practices are listed as organic, the
reality is that the biggest EQIP subsidies go to support practices
dealing with waste -- handling, storage, separators, transfer systems
and biodigesters -- that are specific to large-scale operations with
thousands of animals that generate millions of gallons of manure. For
example, a factory farm can apply for and receive more than $43,000 for a
solid/liquid waste separation facility, and anaerobic digesters fetch
anywhere from roughly $300-$600 per animal unit, which translates to a
substantial sum for an operation with thousands of animals.
“Essentially, factory farms take a perfectly good natural material –
animal manure — and concentrate it until it becomes an environmental
issue and then they receive federal money to address the problem they’ve
created,” said Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter director.
“Meanwhile, sustainable farmers who work with nature and have
appropriate numbers of animals for the amount of land available have
little need for funds to address such problems, but they—and
consumers--would benefit greatly from receiving more support for their
sustainable practices.”
In addition, this taxpayer money doesn’t always solve an operation’s
underlying environmental problems, according to a recent report by
Less=More,
Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s Farming Landscape,
which demonstrates that many polluting factory farms have continued to
receive taxpayer money. The report found that 37 Michigan factory farms
cited for environmental violations and unpermitted discharges over the
15 years ending in 2011 were awarded nearly $27 million in various Farm
Bill subsidies between 1995 and 2011. Of these operations, 26 jointly
racked up fines and penalties of more than $1.3 million for their share
of these violations.
“Taxpayers are providing millions of dollars in government subsidies
to industrial mega-farms in Michigan that generate pollution and cause
health risks while undermining sustainable farms at the same time,” said
Woiwode. “This happens at a time when more and more Michigan consumers
are seeking safe, healthy, local sources of meat, dairy, poultry and
eggs at farmers markets, stores, restaurants and community supported
agriculture.”
Less=More is a coalition of organizations engaged in various aspects
of our food system that seek to level the playing field for sustainable
farmers by addressing the inequity of how taxpayer subsidies are
distributed in Michigan. It includes: Beery Farms of Michigan, LLC, the
Center for Food Safety, Crane Dance Farm, LLC, Environmentally Concerned
Citizens of South Central Michigan, Food & Water Watch, Greater
Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, Groundswell Farm, Humane Society of
the United States, Michigan Farmers Union, Michigan Voices for Good Food
Policy, Michigan Young Farmers Coalition, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter
and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.
Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s Farming Landscape and other information about Less=More is available at
www.MoreforMichigan.org.
