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See story mentioned below in the Hagstrom Report on the future of farming. This is Newsweek’s COVER story this issue. Remarkable that a publication like Newsweek would do such a story. Relates to everything we do.

Written by Betsy Isaacson, Walter Isaacson”s (Aspen) daughter.

From: The Hagstrom Report [mailto:info@hagstromreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 5:07 PM
To: Glickman, Dan
Subject: The Hagstrom Report | Thursday 10.22.15


The Hagstrom Report Thursday, October 22, 2015 | Volume 5, Number 185 ▪ ▪ Vilsack concerned about process to establish trade undersecretary ▪ ▪ Vils

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The Hagstrom Report<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-778b47a0118f05b255048e704915c33f-300df97?pa=34031797990>

Thursday, October 22, 2015 | Volume 5, Number 185

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▪ Vilsack concerned about process to establish trade undersecretary
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▪ Vilsack announces $2.3 billion in rural electricity loans
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▪ Keepseagle files appeal in USDA discrimination case
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▪ Baccam new deputy undersecretary for farm & foreign agricultural services
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▪ Vilsack to appear on RFD TV tonight
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▪ Newsweek publishes cover story on future of farming
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▪ USDA IG wins four awards for excellence
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▪ Thousands tour White House garden
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▪ A clarification


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Vilsack concerned about process
to establish trade undersecretary

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack signaled today that he has reservations about completing the job of establishing a new Agriculture undersecretary of trade and moving divisions within USDA before the administration leaves office in January 2017.


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Tom Vilsack


Asked by The Hagstrom Report during a telephone press call on another subject for his views on a National Academy of Public Administration study that proposed a different reorganization than what agriculture groups want, Vilsack noted that Congress told USDA to commission two studies and that the department has not received the second study.

Vilsack then noted that creating a new undersecretary for trade and moving divisions within USDA “is not a simple matter. It is rather complex because trade involves a number of different mission areas.”

Shuffling mission areas within USDA would take a considerable amount of time to implement, Vilsack noted, and raises the question of whether it is the Obama administration’s responsibility “to set the table for the next administration” to finish the job or to complete the process within the 15 months the administration still has left in office.

“I haven’t made that decision,” Vilsack said. “I haven’t seen the second report.”

He added that he is concerned about whether it is “appropriate or fair” for an administration to do something so “significant” without the next administration “having any involvement” in the decision-making.

All the options NAPA examined involve eliminating the position of undersecretary for marketing and regulatory services and moving that mission area’s divisions around, but the panel disagreed with the agriculture and food industry over where those agencies should go and what the full title of the new undersecretary should be.

Under an option popular with the agriculture and food industry, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration would be moved under an undersecretary for farm services, marketing, and regulatory programs, while the Foreign Agricultural Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the U.S. Codex Alimentarius Office would be under a new undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

But the NAPA panel recommended that only the Farm Service Agency and the Risk Management Agency remain under an undersecretary for farm services and risk management.

The panel said that APHIS should be placed along with the Food Safety and Inspection Service under an undersecretary for health and safety, and that FAS, Agricultural Marketing Service and the Federal Grain Inspection Services be placed under an undersecretary for trade and market development.

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Vilsack announces $2.3 billion in rural electricity loans

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today that the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service is making nearly $2.3 billion in loans to build and improve rural electric infrastructure in 31 states.

“Improving our rural electric utility systems will help us continue to provide reliable and affordable electricity to rural customers,” Vilsack said. “By financing these improvements, USDA helps increase efficiencies, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the quality of life in rural areas.”

USDA is awarding loans to 77 utilities and cooperatives in 31 states. The funding includes more than $108 million for smart-grid technology, $41 million for renewable energy improvements and $9 million for storm damage repairs. These loans will help build or improve 12,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines.

Since 2009, when President Barack Obama took office, USDA has funded $34 billion in electric loans and more than $1 billion for smart-grid technologies, Vilsack noted. This assistance has helped build more than 185,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines serving approximately 8.5 million rural customers, he added.
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▪ USDA – Electric Infrastructure Loan & Loan Guarantee Program<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-627e7e8b561f27918675340a1c365cb1-300df97?pa=34031797990>
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▪ USDA Electric Loans awarded today<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-d87993cfbf03bde48efaf8303f5aebb1-300df97?pa=34031797990>

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Keepseagle files appeal in USDA discrimination case

Marilyn Keepseagle, a lead defendant in Keepseagle v. Vilsack, an Indian farmer discrimination case, filed an appeal today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of a decision that Judge Emmet Sullivan issued in July denying her request to distribute unclaimed settlement funds to the class.

“This action was necessary to preserve her rights, as required by court rules. She and others are engaged in discussions with the [Obama] administration, however, that could resolve their differences over how these funds should be distributed. Mrs. Keepseagle remains very hopeful that this matter will be resolved without review by the Court of Appeals,” Marshall Matz, her attorney, said in an email.

The Obama administration settled the case, with a provision that leftover funds would go to a group of charities that serve American Indian farmers and ranchers. But the number of farmers who filed for claims was smaller than expected, leaving a larger amount of leftover funds than anticipated. Keepseagle objects to the plan to distribute the money to charities.
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▪ Keepseagle v. Vilsack memorandum opinion<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-409fc832634d0d7402ab0672e80836de-300df97?pa=34031797990>

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Baccam named new deputy undersecretary
for farm and foreign agricultural services

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Lanon Baccam


Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday appointed Lanon Baccam as the Agriculture deputy undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services, overseeing the Farm Service Agency, the Risk Management Agency, and the department’s Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison.

Baccam succeeds Karis Gutter, who left for a position with DuPont.

Baccam previously served as director of scheduling and advance in Vilsack’s office. Prior to serving in the secretary’s office, Baccam served as a special assistant in the Foreign Agricultural Service and as executive assistant to the secretary. Prior to joining USDA, Baccam worked in the Iowa state government and for several state and national political campaigns.

Baccam is a military veteran who spent eight years in the U.S. Army and Iowa National Guard, and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004-2005.

Baccam is a native of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.


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Vilsack to appear on RFD TV tonight

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will appear as a special guest tonight on RFD-TV’s “Rural Town Hall,” airing at 8 p.m. EDT on RFD-TV and Rural Radio on SiriusXM Channel 147.

The one-hour special features Vilsack’s comments in front of a live audience on a range of topics important to rural Americans, including the urban-rural connection, rural broadband and infrastructure investment, food security and nutrition, rural education, livestock production, and agricultural trade, among other topics, USDA said in a news release.

This segment will be replayed at 12 a.m. Eastern (9 p.m. Pacific) tonight.
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▪ RFD-TV – Clips of the interview<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-9874e34c64ecad479eb7533fdc8283c4-300df97?pa=34031797990>


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Newsweek publishes cover story on future of farming


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Newsweek’s current edition features a cover story on the future of farming, including everything from skyscraper gardens to meat produced in a laboratory.
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▪ Newsweek – To Feed Humankind, We Need the Farms of the Future Today<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-006da6397dbe61c3cb073e3ed3fffef8-300df97?pa=34031797990>

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USDA IG wins four awards for excellence

The Agriculture Department’s Office of the Inspector General won four awards today from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, an independent entity within the executive branch that honors offices of inspector general for achievements each year.

The USDA’s Office of Inspector General won the following awards:

The Gaston L. Gianni Jr. Better Government Award went to the Wright County Egg Investigative Team “in recognition of the extraordinary investigative efforts and interagency cooperation to prosecute violators of food safety standards and practices that resulted in a nationwide outbreak of salmonellosis that led to a recall of millions of eggs.”

Wright County Egg, based in Galt, Iowa, was formerly known as DeCoster Egg Farms.

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The Barry R. Snyder Joint Award went to multiple offices of inspector general, with the Agriculture Department as the project lead “in recognition of outstanding achievements in improving the integrity, efficiency, and effectiveness of executive branch agencies’ operations in the critical realm of cloud computing.”

The Investigations Award for Excellence went to the North Dakota Crop Insurance Fraud Investigative Team “in recognition of outstanding efforts to bring to justice brothers who committed fraud against USDA’s crop insurance program.”

The council highlighted the North Dakota crop insurance case in its news release, noting that "the brothers carried out a fraudulent scheme over several years that involved intentionally destroying and damaging their potato crops, so that they could collect federal crop insurance indemnities and disaster benefits totaling over $4.3 million. The brothers were sentenced to a combined 6.5 years in prison and were ordered to pay almost $1 million in restitution. This successful case was based on innovative and arduous investigative work by the OIG team.”

The Law and Legislation Award for Excellence went to the USDA Inspector General’s Office of Counsel “in recognition of the Office of Counsel’s significant contributions to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency through the provision of legal counsel and services for six years.”

An Audit Award for Excellence went to the USDA Outreach Audit Team “in recognition for outstanding efforts to ensure that U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance improves the viability of small and beginning farmers and ranchers, and access to USDA programs for historically underserved communities.”

The awards were presented at the Justice Department, with Attorney General Loretta Lynch as keynote speaker.

The names of individuals on the USDA Inspector General’s staff who received the awards can be found in the awards program.

Reports on the audits and investigations can be found on the USDA Inspector General’s website.
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▪ USDA Office of Inspector General<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-d49080d6b0a0f8f078b4bb12d50f6732-300df97?pa=34031797990>
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▪ Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-5209560d1b1c51f135ed77f66c2e63f2-300df97?pa=34031797990>
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▪ CIGIE Awards program<https://go.madmimi.com/redirects/1445547974-1397970d73824351b45726a07ced5d9f-300df97?pa=34031797990>


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Thousands tour White House garden

Thousands of people turned out to tour the White House grounds – including First Lady Michelle Obama’s kitchen garden – last weekend. Pictured are Swedish visitors Elin and Henrik Nilsson and their son, Carl, of Stockholm. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

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A clarification

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., has not declined to co-sponsor a biotech labeling bill being developed by Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., contrary to a story in yesterday’s report.

A spokeswoman for Heitkamp noted that Hoeven has not introduced that bill. Heitkamp told The Hagstrom Report on June 11 that she would take a look at her colleague’s bill, but “my first inclination is always to avoid pre-emption” of state government policy.

The food industry has urged Hoeven to propose a bill similar to the House bill that would ban state labeling laws and establish a federal label only if the government found some health or food safety problem with the genetically modified food.

Heitkamp added that she believes American consumers would not react negatively to foods labeled as genetically modified.


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