• Hurricane Katrina: What It Means for Farmers, and How RAFI Is Responding
• Farmers Find New Use for Tobacco Equipment
• Case Appeals to Watch: Gatlin v. Sanderson Farms
• NC Choices Encourages Sound Farming Practices
• New Guide Weighs Pros and Cons of Poultry Contracts

Announcements:
• RAFI Board Member Tom Trantham Highlighted in Gourmet Magazine and Delta Sky
• Southern Mutual Help: Call for Hurricane Relief Donations

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Hurricane Katrina: What It Means for Farmers, and How RAFI Is Responding

As flood waters recede, officials are learning more about Katrina’s and Rita’s impact on the agricultural sector. Initial USDA crop reports noted a 4% production loss in cotton for Mississippi and Alabama, a 9% loss in Louisiana’s sugar cane production and a $30 million loss in livestock for Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana combined. Louisiana State University Agriculture Center (LSU AgCenter) has been assessing the damage done to the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries and current estimate is now at $1.010 billion. In Mississippi, 2400 of the total 9000 poultry houses are damaged, and government agencies are creating programs to assist growers in disposing their mounds of poultry carcasses. The long-term costs of rising fuel, the inability of farmers to get their product to market and the financial loss for farm workers and related farm businesses have not yet been tallied.

Over the next months, RAFI-USA will be partnering with the Farmers’ Legal Action Group (FLAG) to ensure that farmers and the surrounding agricultural community have the information they need to recover. For immediate assistance, RAFI-USA and FLAG are conducting a public awareness campaign on disaster assistance. While disaster program information dissemination has to take place after Congress has acted on the current disaster, farmers need to be aware of the steps they should take to maximize their eligibility for assistance. These press releases will be drawn from a combination of the Farmer’s Guide to Disaster Assistance, a FLAG publication that gives complete information on disaster assistance programs in user-friendly language, and the experience of FLAG attorneys and RAFI-USA advocates in working with previous disasters. Through the press releases specific programs will be targeted such as the Disaster Un-employment Program, as well as more general disaster topics such as documenting losses and the phases of disaster recovery.

RAFI-USA plans to work on the ground-level in conjunction with regional partners. In areas affected by the hurricanes, staff will provide assistance to farmers and fishers, while also training personnel on disaster assistance programs. This two tier system will provide immediate relief, while increasing the pool of trained personnel in the region. The first training will be held by the Federation of Southern Cooperatives in Epes, Alabama on October 20, 21st, and staff is currently planning other trainings in Louisiana.
RAFI-USA and FLAG have worked repeatedly in the last few years to provide this training, including Farm Aid-sponsored disaster trainings in 2002, and training for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in 2004. In the last seven years, RAFI-USA has been active in disaster recovery in most of the 21 federally declared disasters in North Carolina. Anyone wishing to help fund these on-the-ground trainings can contribute directly to the RAFI-USA office.

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Farmers Find New Use for Tobacco Equipment

By Jason Roehrig

Since we started the program in 1997, RAFI Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund participants have come up with some creative applications for old tobacco equipment. Farmers have used transplanters for strawberry production, bulk barns to house livestock, and tobacco greenhouses for a number of different crops in an effort to keep start-up costs low and improve the chances of success for their new enterprises. However, few of the past Reinvestment Fund participants have matched the enthusiasm of Ray and David Allen, a father and son farming team from Bladen County, for adapting old equipment to new uses.

The skeleton of an old tobacco harvester sits next to the Allen’s’ shop. “We just took a torch and started cutting,” said David. “We’re going to move the pilot station up top, narrow the conveyors, and give it about another foot in height,” he continued, explaining how he and his father are going to make this tool designed to take the leaves off of tobacco plants harvest muscadine grapes.

With RAFI support, the Allen’s planted 12 acres of muscadine grapes in 2004 and have plans for 3 additional acres this fall. About half of their plants will be ready for commercial harvest next fall. That’s when the harvester needs to be ready. David explains that he could buy a commercial grape harvester, but he and his father will save about $18,000 by converting the tobacco equipment they have on hand. For right now, David plans on hand picking the few muscadines produced this season and selling them locally as table grapes.

The muscadines are well suited to the North Carolina coastal plain and are thriving under the Allen’s’ care. According to North Carolina Cooperative Extension, muscadine grapes are native to the southeastern United States. Indigenous inhabitants of the region collected and dried wild muscadines and Spanish settlers of Florida produced muscadine wine more than 400 years ago. Even in the extreme August heat, the vines are growing rapidly and appear quite healthy. For the most part, insects have left the plants alone. Ray indicates some leaves that have been chewed on by Japanese beetles and points out that the little bit of damage doesn’t even warrant spraying. The real work has been keeping up with the rapid growth of the vines, training and pruning the two-year old plants to get them to conform to the trellis.

Despite the suitability of muscadines to North Carolina’s coastal plain, there weren’t a lot of muscadines planted in North Carolina until recently. Growing consumer interest in North Carolina produced wine and the expansion of several local wineries created an opportunity to grow muscadines for innovative farmers like the Allen’s.

The recent tobacco buyout has meant the end of tobacco production for Ray and David, and they are hoping that muscadines will be part of the answer. Even though everything is going well, they haven’t taken it to the bank just yet. “It will be a year from now until we really know if this going to pay,” said David.

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Cases to Watch: Gatlin v. Sanderson Farms

An appeal headed to the Mississippi Supreme Court has important implications for all contract farmers-poultry and otherwise. The issue at the heart of Gatlin v. Sanderson Farms is whether companies contracting with the individual farmers have the power to upsurp the authority of regulatory agencies, by pronouncing farmers out of compliance with state and federal regulations. Such action on the part of a contracting company denies farmers their rights to a fair administrative process. The loss of procedural safeguards and the inappropriate empowerment of the contracting company create an environment ripe for unfair contract terminations and farmer intimidation and discrimination.

Case History:
Sanderson Farms terminated Roy Gatlin’s contract, stating he was in violation of state regulatory laws regarding poultry disposal. The company did not file a complaint with the Board of Animal Health, or cite Gatlin with a farm management deficiency as laid out in its contract. Gatlin was fired without any administrative review of the charges.

Gatlin was only in the first year of his second-fifteen year contract with Sanderson Farms and had taken out a $250,000 loan to expand his broiler capacity. In danger of losing his house and farm, Gatlin contacted the Board of Animal Health asking them to investigate the company’s accusation. The Board of Animal Health found Gatlin in compliance with the Mississippi Board of Animal Health regulations.

After an unsuccessful attempt to bring the dispute to arbitration as called for in his contract, Roy Gatlin filed suit with the Circuit Court of Jones County, Mississippi. He stated the company had refused to pay its required half of arbitration fees and had wrongfully terminated his contract. The court upheld Gatlin’s claim that Sanderson forfeited the ability to force arbitration since it had failed to follow procedures laid out in the contract. However, the lower court decided against Gatlin concerning the unfair contract termination. Gatlin is appealing that decision. The basis of Gatlin’s case is that Sanderson Farms did not have the authority to determine Gatlin non-compliance with regulations concerning chicken disposal.

In Mississippi, the Board of Animal Health has the exclusive authority to determine noncompliance as well as establish fair and orderly procedures for handling complaints. The Mississippi Supreme Court re-enforced this point in Everitt v. Lovitt by ruling that administrative agencies have exclusive, original jurisdiction of matters the agency was created to regulate. Under these guidelines Sanderson could only legally terminate Gatlin’s contract after the Animal Health Board fully investigated the violations. The contract farmer would be given a chance to defend him or herself through the board’s administrative law procedures.

Hurricane Katrina has delayed the Mississippi Supreme Court’s schedule. RAFI will provide updates as this case proceeds. For more information on the case contact Laura Klauke at laura@rafiusa.org.

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NC Choices Encourages Sound Farming Practices

NC Choices is a statewide program designed to encourage and support ecologically sound farming practices and promote valued food choices. RAFI-USA’s Director of On-Farm Research and Farm Preservation Programs, Scott Marlow, has been working with NC Choices for several years. The program's early stages identified and solicited North Carolina hog farmers interested in sustainable farming practices. Participating farmers raise pigs, including heritage and pasture-raised that are free of antibiotics. Eleven farms, located across the state, are participating in the program.

"We raise our pigs using three production models," said Jamie Ager of Springhouse Meats. "During the summer months, we fence wooded areas that need clearing and turn the pigs out to follow their instincts. In the winter, we keep the pigs warm and dry in the barn where the pigs coexist with cows and turn the barn bedding into compost to be used later as fertilizer. Thirdly, we raise pigs on pasture, rotating them through a paddock system and planting annuals behind them to eat the next time around."

NC Choices also continues to foster its partnerships with statewide and community-based organizations – Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, the NC Sierra Club, RAFI and others - to fuel consumer demand for locally produced, antibiotic-free pork.

Over time, NC Choices will broaden its scope and support other farmers - dairy, poultry, etc. - using or interested in using alternative production methods. For the immediate future, the program will continue to focus on supporting small-scale, independent hog farms.

Visit the website, www.ncchoices.com, to get more information on how to participate or to find a farmer near you whose alternative farming practices protect the environment, promote healthy foods and bring economic development to our communities.

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New Guide Weighs Pros and Cons of Poultry Contract Farming

The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI-USA) released the newly revised Questions to Ask Before Signing a Poultry Contract to help farmers assess the true risks and benefits associated with contract poultry production.

“Anyone thinking of getting into the poultry business should read this publication very carefully,” said Kay Doby, long time poultry grower and President of the North Carolina Contract Poultry Growers Association. “After you have borrowed a half a million dollars to build houses it’s too late if you don’t like the terms in the contract.”

Typically, farmers entering a poultry contract must take out several hundred thousand to a million dollars in loans for single-use buildings and equipment. The modern poultry equipment and houses are not convertible for other farm uses, greatly reducing the farmer’s options once they accrue the debt required. Farmers using their land, house, or savings as loan collateral become completely reliant on their contract for their family’s financial stability.

Questions to Ask Before Signing a Poultry Contract is a checklist farmers can use to see if their contract guarantees a minimum income per flock per year, provides any pay adjustments related to inflation and increasing production costs, or offers a fair and affordable dispute resolution process. Farmers are encouraged not to make any financial investments until they receive a written contract. Likewise, they are reminded that anything outside the contract, such as promises from company personnel, or estimated cash flow charts, is not part of the farmer’s, legally-enforceable agreement.

RAFI-USA’s Contract Agriculture Reform Program compiled the questions outlined in the booklet based on the problems most frequently reported by poultry growers over the last twenty years. The booklet includes sections on debt and length of contract, net income, pay and performance, equipment upgrades, and dispute resolution. Each section contains footnotes and references useful for both potential poultry farmers and those who have been in the business for several years.

With shifts in production and company expansions, poultry companies are recruiting potential new farmers in several states across the Southeast US. “What we found over the years is that many farmers are getting into the business with unrealistic assumptions of just what that contract guarantees. We want those making that initial decision to have a full picture of the obligations and risks entailed,” said Laura Klauke, Director of the Contract Agriculture Reform Program at RAFI USA. Questions to Ask Before Signing a Poultry Contract is available at http://www.rafiusa.org.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

RAFI Board Member, Tom Trantham Highlighted in Gourmet Magazine and Delta Sky

Tom Trantham is quoted in the September issue of Gourmet Magazine. In the article on Farm Aid, Trantham recalls the 1986 drought that stretched from Maryland to Alabama and how farmers throughout the country shared their hay with southeast farmers, saving them from foreclosure.

The Delta Sky’s May 2005 issue featured Tom Trantham’s dairy farm Happy Cow Creamery. The article provides an in-depth look at Trantham’s pasture based dairying, his milk bottling plant, and farm store.

Southern Mutual Help Association: Call for Hurricane Relief Donations

RAFI’s board president Helen Vinton knows firsthand the power and devastation of Hurricane Katrina. As Assistant Executive Director of the Southern Mutual Help Association she and her staff stood directly in Hurricane Katrina’s path. In response to their on-the-ground knowledge, Southern Mutual Help Association has created a hands-on Rural Recovery Task Force and is working to build a $30 million Rural Recovery Fund to help rebuild Louisiana better than it was before.

SMHA's Rural Recovery Response will proceed in three phases:

Phase 1: Targeted direct relief aimed at jump-starting recovery.

Phase 2: Recovery and rebuilding.

Phase 3: Long-term development.

In Phase 1, Southern Mutual, working with partners, will provide targeted direct relief in rural areas of the five coastal Louisiana parishes most directly affected by Hurricane Katrina:

St. Bernard

Plaquemines (south of Belle Chase)

Lower Terrebonne

Lower Lafourche

Lower Jefferson

Many people living in these rural areas, like the family farmers, fishers and small mom-and-pop businesses, have not only lost their homes, but the very means of creating a livelihood to recover. The crops in many areas are gone - cane, citrus, soybeans. The fisheries are destroyed in large areas of Louisiana's coast. Many small businesses are also destroyed.

In Phase 2, SMHA will spearhead a recovery and rebuilding effort, including:

• Training people to get all the federal dollars to which they are entitled through various programs and agencies.
• Looking for gaps that need to be filled.
• Evaluating public policies and providing leadership to bring about needed changes.
• Training people to get their message out about their needs and teaching them how to advocate in the public policy arena at the local, state and federal levels
• Possibly developing special categories of loans.

SMHA knows from their lengthy recovery from Hurricane Andrew, that rural areas are last to receive, and often receive the least. SMHA needs money to make this recovery happen.

Please alert your network to their appeal, and direct any financial gifts to:

Lorna Bourg, Executive Director
Southern Mutual Help Association
337-367-3277
smha@SouthernMutualHelp.org
http://www.SouthernMutualHelp.org