Congressman Delahunt, McGovern, Frank and
Senator Kennedy and Kerry. from Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association Massachusetts and Wisconsin Cranberry Farm Planning Program USDA, Natural Resource Conservation Service We urge the subcommittee to support $200,000 for a USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Farm Planning Program to be split equally between the cranberry growing regions of Massachusetts and Wisconsin. In Massachusetts this program expands on a pilot project conducted by state and federal partners that has provided plans for more than 22,000 acres of land, including 6,100 acres of cranberry bogs. In Wisconsin this program will create a pilot project for conservation farm planning. Wisconsin cranberry growers own 185,000 acres of land including 17,000 acres of cranberries. Massachusetts and Wisconsin represent 82 percent of the cranberry production in the United States totaling over 30,000 acres of cranberries. The program will provide technical assistance to agricultural businesses throughout five counties in Massachusetts and initially 5 counties in Wisconsin, to keep them in compliance with federal, state and local agricultural laws; to keep them economically viable; and to implement practices that protect water quality, prevent soil erosion, manage nutrient and pesticide use, enhance wetland and upland wildlife habitat and enhance woodland management. Currently there are over 450 cranberry growers in Massachusetts and Wisconsin that will need conservation farm plans as a result of the Federal Clean Water Act and the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers’ Association and Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association have worked with the state and federal environmental agencies in their respective states to develop this program. These funds will provide the staffing needed to help meet the growing demand for this service. Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington Section 32 Purchase of Cranberry Products USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service We urge the subcommittee to support an emergency $60,000,000 purchase of surplus cranberry products through the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service Section 32 program. This purchase will help starve off immediate financial disaster in this industry. The price that cranberry growers can expect to receive for raw fruit has declined by over 60 percent over the past two years. This decline already places the sale price below the cost of production. Without additional action by the USDA, AMS there could be irreparable economic harm to cranberry growers across the country. Purchases shall include the commercially available cranberry products with the highest possible cranberry content including but limited to; cranberry juice cocktail, cranberry sauce, or sweetened dried cranberries in order to have any impact on projected 7 million barrel surplus of cranberries. USDA AMS purchased $15,000,000 of products containing 20 percent ot less of cranberry between August 1999 and December 1999 having an impact on 35,000 barrels of cranberries. Massachusetts Farm Viability Enhancement Program USDA, Farm Service Agency We urge the subcommittee to support $3,000,000 for a USDA, Farm Services Agency, Farm Viability Enhancement Program in the State of Massachusetts. This program expands on the highly successful pilot program being implemented by the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture. The funding would serve as a match for $3,000,000 already invested into the program by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This program is designed to improve the economic bottom line and environmental integrity of participating farms through the development and implementation of farm viability plans developed by teams of agricultural, economic and environmental consultants, plus protect open space by requiring agricultural use covenant on the farm. One hundred and ten farms representing over 12,000 acres have participated in the pilot program. The program sparked an additional $1,000,000 of investment from financial institutions and the farmers to implement the plans. The Farm Viability Enhancement Program provides economic cost/benefit assessments and mentoring that lending institutions require. Massachusetts Agriculture had cash receipts totaling $530 million on over 565,000 acres on land in 1997. Farm Viability is the driving force that will continue to help Massachusetts farmers compete in the 21st Century. Massachusetts Cranberry Research Program USDA, Agricultural Research Service We urge the subcommittee to support $350,000 in the USDA, Agricultural Research Service for weed and pest control research program for cranberries in Massachusetts. Such research shall be conducted at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and University of Massachusetts Cranberry Experiment Station. Massachusetts’s growers are at an economic disadvantage because of higher cost of production and state average yields below the national average. The current dire economic condition of the industry nationwide is exasperated in Massachusetts because of these conditions. The research conducted at the University of Massachusetts will be used to assist growers in improving their efficiencies and reducing their cost of production giving them the ability to compete in a global market place. UMass/Dartmouth. In conjunction with UMass/Amherst and the UMass/Cranberry Experiment Station have developed an interdisciplinary research initiative involving the chemistry, biology and engineering departments. With continued federal support, they believe this initiative could increase cranberry crop yields by 25% through improved weed and pest management. The University system has committed $225,000 annually toward this research with historic industry support including another $125,000 towards this type of research, totally $350,000. We seek a federal match of this amount to complement and expand the school’s efforts. The federal funding will attract additional researchers to pursue work in this important field.
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