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Learning Through Listening: Convening with the Navajo Nation

Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Sam Rikkers, Utah State Director Dave Conine and New Mexico State Director Terry Brunner

(From right) Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Sam Rikkers, Utah State Director Dave Conine and New Mexico State Director Terry Brunner discuss economic development with members of Navajo Nation.

“We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”—Navajo proverb

Last month, Rural Development and the Navajo Nation convened an economic development workshop involving an array of leaders and stakeholders from across the Navajo Nation and 14 Federal partners in Crownpoint, N.M. The convening gave me a chance to meet with Navajo Nation officials, university representatives, private business owners and nonprofit administrators. All were focused on improving the economy and quality of life throughout the Navajo Nation.

Federal participants were invited to Navajo Technical University to listen to current challenges, understand existing goals, and brainstorm avenues for continued collaboration. I was struck by the organization, focus, pride and enthusiasm of all those involved as project champions presented a variety of innovative ideas to spur economic development and create jobs. After each listening session, we engaged in open discussions to identify opportunities for meaningful partnerships.

For example, a solar project in the former Bennett Freeze area, a region without electricity or running water, would fit well with our Rural Energy for America Program. We also discovered that a community and regional planning project is eligible for a Rural Business Development Grant. Throughout the day, we connected water, housing, technical assistance and training, education, and community facility projects to programs across Rural Development and the Federal government.

While the complex challenges that face the Navajo Nation will not be solved in a single gathering, this event laid the groundwork for important long-term relationships. Initial ideas were developed into concrete plans – along with clear opportunities for new and ongoing partnerships. As these plans move toward applications for funding, and subsequently toward implementation, USDA will strive to maintain a strong and supportive relationship between the Navajo Nation and the Federal government.

As we drove back to Albuquerque that evening, I was awed by the allure of the New Mexico desert. I marveled at the blanket of stars hanging above silhouettes of majestic plateaus. I can think of no place more fitting for such a beautiful people.

Sunrise at Navajo Nation

Taking Action for School Nutrition Success

Calhoun and Orangeburg food service staff show off school menu items during their hands-on Salt-Free Seasonings Training Class.

Developing a school menu of healthy, student-approved meals is challenging, make no mistake about it. But it is achievable with the right support and resources. That’s why the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) have partnered to create the Team Up for School Nutrition Success (Team Up) initiative.

Team Up provides school nutrition professionals the opportunity to network and learn best practices from their peers. Those who have developed tips and tricks to create delicious school menus, increase participation, practice food safety and manage financially-sound program budgets. And with the help and guidance of peer mentors, Team Up attendees can turn their ideas into goals by creating focused action plans for their district.

USDA followed up with three school nutrition directors who participated in a 2014 Team Up training to check on their progress. Let’s take a look at the goals and strategies these Team Up graduates used in their path to school nutrition success.

Student Feedback Increases Program Participation

Angela Rodriguez, Child Nutrition Director of Currituck County Schools in North Carolina, left the Team Up training with a vision to improve her school nutrition program’s financial health. She achieved this by increasing student participation and decreasing plate waste. Her strategies included taste-testing and incorporated student feedback in menu planning, to ensure their food preferences were reflected in school menus. Breakfast participation increased from 2015 to 2016, despite the free- and reduced-lunch participation rate decreasing in 2015 by 1.8 percent. Thanks to these efforts, more students were eating breakfast, providing a healthy start to the day to support learning!

Increasing Program Participation for Financial Health

Chef Whittaker Williams, Child Nutrition Director for Calhoun County Schools in South Carolina, focused on menu planning and increasing program participation. His aim was to move the school nutrition program budget into the black by school year’s end. To collect valuable student input for menu planning, Chef Williams regularly ate lunch with the students to obtain feedback. He also discussed menu changes and cafeteria promotions with parents to gain support. He also implemented Breakfast in the Classroom, which serves breakfast to students in the classroom after the first morning bell. As a result, the student participation rate increased 30 percent, while plate waste decreased by 25 percent!

Creating Student-Approved Menus to Increase Program Participation

Finding food products that appeal to students and align with the updated nutrition standards for school meals was a challenge for Ms. Glover, the Child Nutrition Director for Clay County Schools in Florida. Several best practices were shared during Team Up for increasing participation, and using that knowledge, she engaged high school students in focus groups to obtain meal and customer service preferences. Clay County also implemented scratch-cooking techniques to minimize processed food on school menus. Following trends in local restaurants and duplicating popular food items in schools, has increased student-appeal of the menus. Meanwhile, program finances have benefited from less food waste and increased student participation, as a result of the marketing and promotion of menus.

USDA is committed to providing support and resources to school nutrition professionals so they can operate successful child nutrition programs. Team Up trainings have occurred all over the country in 2016, with 39 trainings completed in 44 states and two territories. And this month, two more trainings will be held in San Juan, P.R. – our first Team Up trainings conducted entirely in Spanish!

For more information about the Team Up for School Nutrition Success initiative, check out the Team Up Web site and these guest blogs from former participants.

A serving line in Calhoun County Schools

A colorful serving line in Calhoun County Schools, where students can choose whether they want their apples whole or conveniently sliced and packaged for grab-n-go.

Home for the Holidays: The Ocelot and the Lower Rio Grande Valley

December 13th, 2016|Tags: End-of-Year Campaign 2016, wildlife|0 Comments

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By Doyle Irvin, American Forests

There were once hundreds of thousands of ocelots all across Louisiana, Arizona, Arkansas and Texas, but now they are nearly entirely extinct in the United States. Scientists studying the species estimate that no more than 100 live today, but some estimates put that number as low as 50. They solely exist (in the United States) in two separate populations in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

What happened to the ocelot?

In recent years, the most frequent danger to the ocelot has been vehicles. But this impact, though large in proportion to the currently existing population, is nothing compared to the effect that loss of habitat has had on wild ocelots. Roughly 95 percent of their original habitat is now used for agriculture or urban sprawl. On top of this, prior to protective laws, hundreds of thousands of the beautiful cats were hunted for their furs.

Ocelots were classified as endangered in the 1970s under the Endangered Species Act, and since then restoration efforts have been steadily working to create the kind of habitat where they can thrive. Progress is slow, however: although the restoration effort has been in the works for four decades, as of 2014, only one-tenth of the original land requirement estimate made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had been purchased.

These endangered animals thrive in densely thick vegetation. In Texas, this means Talmaulipan thornscrub, which is a thick combination of trees and bush. Once fully grown, this vegetation is essentially incompatible with humans, as it becomes too dense for us to walk through. But, this makes it perfect for wildlife. The thornscrub is one part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, one of the most diverse areas of natural habitat in the United States, with more than 500 different species of birds, 300 different butterflies, 900 types of beetles and 1,200 different species of plants. Eighteen of these different animals are already recognized as endangered species, including the peregrine falcon, the jaguarundi and, of course, the remarkable ocelot.

Recognizing the significant importance of this wildlife refuge, American Forests began working in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in 1997. Since then, we have planted more than 2 million trees in the region! That may sound like a lot, but you have to keep in mind the realities of this ecosystem: thornscrub is so incredibly dense that 2 million trees only covers the breeding grounds for roughly 10 ocelots. The project is nowhere near finished. Agricultural encroachment has reduced the wild areas of the Lower Rio Grande Valley to just 5 percent of what they once were, so that wildlife exists only in packets and strips of unconnected area — meaning that the ocelot, when it roams as it needs to, has to pass over roads and highways that constitute up to half of current ocelot fatalities.

This winter, American Forests is recommitting itself to protecting the Lower Rio Grande Valley and its graceful ocelot with our Home for the Holidays initiative. We are working with our corporate partners and individuals, just like you, to reestablish the Talmaulipan thornscrub that is vital to the survival of countless different species. Help us protect this incredible part of the American wild with a contribution today!

The post Home for the Holidays: The Ocelot and the Lower Rio Grande Valley appeared first on American Forests.

What has science done for us?

Where would we be without science? Today, we live longer than ever before according to the Royal Geographical Society, thanks to pharmaceutical, medical, and health science. Vaccines saves many lives. Physics and electronics have given us satellites, telecommunications, and the Internet. You would not read this blog without them. Chemistry and biology have provided use with all sorts of products, food, and enabled the agricultural (“green”) revolution enhancing our crop yields. The science of evolution and natural selection explains the character of ecosystems, and modern meteorology saves lives and help us safeguard our properties.

So what is science? It’s more than just a body of knowledge. It’s a mindset and strategy to build an understanding of our world. This understanding is extremely valuable for our society, especially when it comes to establishing where we stand and what the likely outcomes will be from perceived future actions.

The scientific method is perfect for resolving uncertainties such as controversial claims about facts. It builds on the principles of transparency, testing, and independent replication. Every scientifically trained scholar should get similar results when the analysis is repeated for a finding that is universally true.

Scientific testing and replicating scientific facts are usually based on data analysis and require an understanding of statistical reasoning and what the data really represent. The data analysis is often the point where differences arise. Climate science is no different to other science, and I have myself contributed to the process of checking the findings in a number of controversial papers (Benestad et al., 2016).

There is always a story behind each conclusion that goes back to its roots. The difference between science on the one hand, and dogma and propaganda on the other, is that the latter is not traceable. In other words, you should be more confident about scientific results and sceptical when it comes to intransparent or undocumented claims.

The scientific community has a well-established system for taking care of scientific findings, mainly through publication of papers in the scientific literature. A scientific paper should provide sufficient information for others to replicate the work done and reproduce results. Scientific results are also presented and discussed at conferences, such as the present American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting. The science presented in conferences, however, is not readily broadcasted to the wider society, partly because of difficult language and partly because of limited media presence.

I strongly believe we need a public voice of scientists and historians (see Defending Climate Science), but there is a concern for the future of Earth and space science. It is not just a potential problem for the science community. This is also a genuine worry that affects the wider society and its right to scientific facts and objective information. It is also an issue when it comes to education.

Science benefits everyone and is part of the fabric of our civilisation. It is therefore unwise to dismiss or twist for short-term benefits. The concept “science denial” has been discussed in the magazine called Physics World (September 2016), Nature, blogs, videos, as well as books, just to mention some examples. One of my favoutites is nevertheless the book with the title ‘Agnotology: the Making and Unmaking of Ignorance‘ by Proctor and Schiebinger

History of science can explain how absurd the notion is regarding global warming being a hoax from China. We only need to search for scientific publications from the past, as I did when I wrote a review about the greenhouse effect, based on a paper from 1931 by the American physicist Edward Olson Hulburt (Benestad, 2016)). There is an excellent historical account of modern climate science American Institute of Physics written by Spencer Weart.

It is also a disservice to our society to close down faculties, such as earth observations and climate science. We need both observations and updated analysis more than ever in the times of unprecedented global warming. They are essential inputs to fact-based decision-making concerning our global environment on which we all depend. Our society has progressed and become great much thanks to science, and it would be a sad story for everyone if we were to undo that.

References

R.E. Benestad, D. Nuccitelli, S. Lewandowsky, K. Hayhoe, H.O. Hygen, R. van Dorland, and J. Cook, “Learning from mistakes in climate research”, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, vol. 126, pp. 699-703, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1597-5
R.E. Benestad, “A mental picture of the greenhouse effect”, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00704-016-1732-y

Taking Charge: How Rural Residents Are Switching from Employees to Business Owners

This hardware store in Maine recently transitioned from private ownership to a worker-owned co-op, with the full support of the long-time business owners. To help in cases where the retiring owners may need some additional incentives to sell to workers, USDA’s B&I program now has added flexibility to support such transitions.

The retirement of the baby boom generation of business proprietors is predicted to result in a major turnover in ownership. Developing an ownership succession plan is especially challenging in rural areas where many small businesses are at risk of closing from the lack of locally available financing to keep them in operation. Rural Development’s Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program now has new capabilities as of this August that specifically accommodate the needs of financing ownership succession.

B&I guarantee borrowers can now apply to loans for financing the transfer of business ownership within a family, usually involving a sale from parents to children. Prior to recent changes in the rules it was assumed that within families the transfer of ownership was always a seller-financed transaction. Yet, some retiring business owners may need to immediately take the sales revenue out to finance their retirement.

In some cases, the children of rural small business owners are either not available or not interested in taking over the family business. In such cases another group that might be interested in sustaining the business and its legacy are the employees. Under the previous B&I rules, loans for purchasing businesses with a B&I guarantee required complete ownership transfer so that the selling owner retains no financial or ownership interest. This requirement made it difficult for the employees to take on such large loans and did not permit the selling owners to stay involved for transferring the know-how for running the business.

The new B&I rules provide for staged financing and support succession planning when selling to employees. If a business converts to a worker cooperative or forms an employee stock ownership plan for the purpose of transferring 100 percent of the ownership to employees, a series of B&I guarantees can be applied over a 5-year period. During this period, selling owners may stay involved with the business as they receive payments in exchange for their ownership shares.

The B&I program also provides loan guarantees for purchasing preferred stock that is issued by a cooperative. This feature can be used to help the conversion of businesses to worker cooperatives. Residents of a rural community may want to purchase preferred shares to help strengthen the financial structure of a cooperative, as well as local businesses that could obtain loans with B&I guarantees to buy large blocks of such stock. Another feature is that the selling owners may continue their membership in the worker cooperative so long as their governance rights are equal with all other members. Many owners want to sell their small business but also stay active to ensure continued success for the enterprise and its service to the community.

Ultimately, this is one more tool in the toolbox to help rural businesses not only survive, but thrive. These important employers then can remain productive, contributing members of the local economy not just as a source of jobs, but often as a part of the identity of the community they call home.

AGU 2016

It’s that time of year again. Fall AGU is the biggest gathering of geophysical scientists in the world (~24,000 attendees) and while it includes planetary science, seismology and magnetophysics, it is swamped by earth scientists, whose work covers the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, climate, natural hazards and paleoclimate.

As in previous years, many sessions and most of the keynotes will be available On-Demand (which is free but you do need to register) and there is a E-poster facility that lets non-attendees view some of the posters.

Some interesting sessions related to discussions at RealClimate will be the “Betting on Climate Change” (Mon, posters), “El Niño: Global Anomalies and Societal Impacts at Regional Scale” (Wed, Union Channel On-demand), and “The Up‐Goer Five Challenge: A Fun and Radical Way to Distill Your Science” (Fri). Of course, there are always the usual paleo-climate (e.g. Climate of the Common Era), model evaluation, and observational sessions to follow.

Keynotes from Isaac Held, Christine Hulbe, Nathalie Cabrol, Daniel Jacob and Bette Otto-Bleisner all sound promising, covering tropical cyclones, the last glacial maximum, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, air quality and astrobiology (though probably not all at once).

If there are any other specific sessions or talks, you’d like to advertise or comment on, put them in the comments. Discussion on Twitter is using the #AGU16 hashtag. If anyone wants to write up some sessions or highlights, send them along and we’ll post them.

Defending Climate Science

Guest commentary from Lauren Kurtz

The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) was founded in September 2011 to defend climate scientists from harassing and invasive attacks via the legal system. Five years in, we’re expanding our efforts to reflect the new challenges scientists face, including increasing education and outreach work. Now more than ever, it’s important that scientists prepare themselves for how best to deal with political harassment or legal intimidation. Below are 10 things that every scientist should consider.

In addition, for those in San Francisco next week for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, please consider attending one of our events. We’re hosting a symposium on how open records laws have been used to attack scientists on the morning of Wednesday, December 14, which includes a talk from Michael Mann. Our booth in the Exhibit Hall (booth 1523) will also have free legal education materials, including our new Pocket Guide to Handling Political Harassment & Legal Intimidation. And as in years past, email lawyer@climatesciencedefensefund.org to schedule a free in-person consultation with a lawyer at AGU.

1 – Take a deep breath & remember other scientists have gone through this before

First remember that other scientists have been through this before and come out the other side. And while being the target of an attack is frustrating and intimidating, you are not alone. Groups like CSLDF exist to help defend, connect scientists under attack to other researchers who have been through this before, and ensure that scientists can keep their focus on their work.

2 – Call a lawyer if in doubt

If you’re worried that you’re becoming the target of harassment or intimidation, including receiving a request that seems politically motivated, seek counsel before you respond. Your institution likely retains legal counsel that you can contact, but it is important to remember that your institution’s counsel represents the institution’s legal interests, which may differ from your own.

You can always contact CSLDF, where our mission is to provide free legal counsel to climate scientists facing attacks as a result of their work. Call (646) 801-0853 or email lawyer@climatesciencedefensefund.org

3 – Understand whether state and/and federal open records laws may apply to you

One common legal attack on scientists has been through open records laws—the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or state equivalents. Intended (and mostly used) to promote transparency by allowing citizens to request copies of government records, these laws have also become a tool used to harass scientists. Publicly funded scientists have received open records requests for reams of documents, including emails, peer review correspondence, and preliminary drafts. Scientists employed by the government or by public universities, or who have received government grants—including National Science Foundation (NSF) grants—should recognize that open records laws may apply to them.

Understand whether state and/or federal open records laws are applicable to you. Reach out to your institutional counsel, the staff in your institutional records office, or a legal group like CSLDF who can help you understand the laws that may affect you.

4 – Separate personal and professional emails

Do not use professional email accounts for personal emails and vice versa. Separating personal and professional emails reduces the likelihood that personal correspondence will be affected by an open records request (which only applies to public records) or other legal action related to your work. Similarly, avoid any temptation to use your personal email account for professional correspondence. If it can be shown that your personal email contains professional records, this may result in you needing to turn over your personal email account to legal review. (Editor’s note: This is really important to minimizing time and effort that need to be devoted to dealing with requests or legal actions. Do it now.)

5 – Remember that emails are not always private

Emails may be disclosed due to open records requests or legal actions, or can be hacked. Be sure to conduct professional correspondence in a professional manner. If you are discussing a sensitive issue, consider having an in-person or telephone conversation instead of emailing.

6 – Understand record-keeping requirements

Employees and consultants at public institutions, including government scientists and public university researchers, should retain all public records. The precise definition will vary by state, but generally, these are documents relating to public business.

Be aware that grants may require that you follow specific record-keeping rules: for example, NSF grants stipulate that research data, including databases, must be shared.

Even if no strict document retention requirements apply to your situation, we recommend that you keep files for a few years, as anyone can be made to look bad when things are missing.

7 – Exercise discretion when talking to a journalist

Before agreeing to speak to a reporter or interviewer, research their work. Think carefully about how or whether to speak with a hostile journalist, as you are unlikely to change their opinions, and you may instead provide more fodder for an attack. (Also understand your institution’s rules for speaking to the press and otherwise communicating your research to the public, and when clearance requirements may apply.) If you do choose to speak to a reporter, come to the interview well prepared. Consider the questions you are likely to be asked and outline draft answers. For higher-profile situations, your institution’s public relations office or scientific society may be able to assist you with preparing your message. (Editor’s note: See also the UCS guide to talking to the media for scientists.)

8 – If you receive harassing messages, do not respond and do not delete

Do not respond to messages you feel were sent in bad faith – instead archive or save, in case you ever need evidence to prove that it happened, which is especially important if the situation escalates. Look for signs that the sender is wasting your time or seeking to provoke you, as a correspondent may be seeking to rattle you, use your response to malign you publicly, and/or use your response as a launchpad for further harassment. If you do respond to a seemingly valid inquiry, remember that any response you write may be forwarded or published online, and be cognizant of the time lost by caught up in endless back-and-forth arguments. (Editor’s note: See also the UCS guide to responding to criticism or personal attacks.)

9 – If you receive threatening messages, contact your employer / law enforcement

Report the threats to your institution (your supervisor and the human resources staff are probably the best starting points) as well as law enforcement. Contact a legal group such as CSLDF, especially if law enforcement becomes involved. A lawyer can help you navigate the situation.

10 – For more information on particular legal situations, check out our new Pocket Guide to Handling Political Harassment & Legal Intimidation

Our 16 page guide has more specific advice on how to protect yourself against and/or respond to political or legal attacks. As mentioned above, free copies will be available at our climate science & law symposium on the morning of Wednesday, December 14, and at our booth in the AGU Exhibit Hall (booth 1523). You can also join our email mailing list to be notified as soon as electronic copies are available on our website, as well as stay updated on other CSLDF developments.

Forest Digest — Week of December 5, 2016

December 9th, 2016|Tags: Forest Digest|0 Comments

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Credit: Wasim Muklashy.

Find out the latest in forest news in this week’s Forest Digest!

A California Startup Is Using Ashes to Protect Forests — Smithsonian Magazine
Looking for a more natural form of burial for the future? A new start-up is accepting reservations to have remains scattered throughout a redwood forest.
Spread by Trade and Climate, Bugs Butcher America’s Forests — ABC News
With the help of climate change, drought-stricken forests and global trade, invasive pests are wreaking havoc on, and taking claim as one of the greatest threats to, biodiversity and the health of our forests in the U.S.
Real or fake: What Christmas tree is best for the planet? — CNN
Christmas trees are a nostalgic tradition for many during the holiday season, but how does this tradition impact our environment? Learn how both real and artificial trees affect our planet.
Wind turbines disguised as trees and producing electricity from low wind speed are coming to the US — Electrek.co
Combining wind-powered energy with an aesthetically pleasing design, a French company has designed an artificial tree with wind turbines for leaves, and they are now testing the market here in the U.S.

The post Forest Digest — Week of December 5, 2016 appeared first on American Forests.

Common Past, Common Future: USDA & Gallaudet Create Opportunities for Students

Gallaudet University President Roberta J. Cordano, left, and USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Administrator Elanor Starmer sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, on Friday, December 2, 2016. USDA Photo by Ken Melton

I often wonder if the leaders who came before us recognized the pivotal things they set in motion, the far-reaching impact their actions would have, and how they helped shape America into a land of opportunity. President Lincoln’s legacy and impact is well-known and obvious, but he did so much more than lead this country during its most trying time. And it’s these smaller acts—those that are not typically taught in the history books—that I wonder about the most. Did he know what he was setting in motion?

In 1862, a year after the start of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the law creating the U.S. Department of Agriculture—a place he called “The People’s Department.” Two years later, and just five months after giving the Gettysburg Address, he signed the charter establishing Gallaudet University—an institution that has helped thousands of deaf and hard of hearing students achieve their educational goals and fulfill their dreams.

While more than 150 years have passed since these events, both institutions—USDA and Gallaudet—with their rich histories and impact on our nation, are now also committed to a shared future of opportunity and service. Through a memorandum of understanding signed with my agency last week, students at Gallaudet University will have access to information, advice, and assistance in applying for internships and employment opportunities at USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

This is also an incredible opportunity for USDA to share our mission with a talented group of candidates, and will help us hire future leaders who are committed to building on the legacy of both institutions. With over one-third of my agency’s workforce eligible to retire in the next few years, it is absolutely crucial that we are able to hire dedicated public servants to take their place.

The success of American agriculture is vital to the success of America. And it is vital that USDA—the People’s Department—cultivates a diverse and talented workforce that represents all of the people, communities, families, and farmers that it serves.

It’s not every day that you get to witness the next step in history, but I believe this agreement will add at least another chapter to the already rich legacy of both USDA and Gallaudet.

A student flashes the sign for “I love you” at Gallaudet University’s 2016 graduation ceremony. For more than 150 years, Gallaudet and USDA have been committed to serving those looking for support and opportunity. Now they will work together to open doors for future leaders. Photo courtesy Gallaudet University

New Tools Leading to Local Coexistence

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack signs copies of, “A Framework for Local Coexistence Discussions,” an important report from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21).

American agriculture today is a complex web of producers, processors, and marketers all working to produce a safe and nutritious food supply and serve the needs and wants of consumers here in the U.S. and all across the world. As people have become more interested in what they eat and where their food comes from, the wide range of consumer preferences has led to a highly diversified marketplace.

Some consumers shop based solely on price, and others are drawn to the latest products they find in their grocery stores. Some try to buy locally produced food, and others seek out organic products. Because our farmers grow crops to meet all preferences, they often need to take special precautions, such as keeping their crops separated from their neighbor’s production, and ensuring their harvest is diverted into the correct product stream. This can be a challenge for those that share the land, machinery, or shipping equipment with their neighbors. They need to find a way to produce crops with the specifications their markets require, while also coexisting with nearby farms growing products for other markets.

Today I received “A Framework for Local Coexistence Discussions,” an important report from USDA’s Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21^st Century Agriculture (AC21), which offers a framework for farmers and communities to convene discussions around farm management activities. The new framework established in this report extends beyond issues around GMO production to a wide range of topics that farmers can discuss with their neighbors. The report provides information and guides discussions to resolve local issues that may arise when neighboring farms produce different products. The report can also alert farmers of new production opportunities for particular markets that may come with specialized requirements.

The AC21 is USDA’s longstanding advisory committee that takes on big-picture issues around the long term implications of the use of biotechnology on agriculture and the work of USDA. I reconvened the committee and asked the members to focus on the challenges of farmers coexisting with one another to produce an increasingly broad range of products for consumers. Today’s report is the second one the committee has delivered to me on this subject and was endorsed by the majority of AC21 members.

Sections of the report can also be used as stand-alone documents, helping states and communities meet their coming production challenges. I strongly support their use, and USDA will begin distributing them to potential users and partners. The report also provides an update on some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for a rapidly diversifying and changing marketplace. These can drive changes in practices on farm and in food production chains.

I want to thank the AC21 Chair, Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, AC21 members, and USDA staff for their commitment and perseverance in tackling a complex issue. This report demonstrates that respectful dialogue offers the best path forward when challenges arise.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and members of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21) met to discuss the report, “A Framework for Local Coexistence Discussions” at the USDA.

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