Sen. Leahy and How Politics Works

Leahy nominated the new head of FSA in Vermont. Here's the language in the Burlington Free Press:

The job is one of four patronage appointments that change hands when a new president is elected. As the senior Democratic senator from Vermont, Leahy nominates candidates for farm post as well as for U.S. attorney, U.S. marshal and head of the Rural Development Office. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will make the USDA appointments.

And Leahy's press release.

What the Alice Waters of the world must realize is the importance of infiltrating their converts into the jobs of aides to Representatives and Senators, both so they can advocate to their bosses as bills go through Congress and cross over to the executive branch when their party wins the Presidency.

27 Billion for Good School Lunches

That's the prescription of Alice Waters and Katrina Heron in an op-ed in the NYTimes. That's about 3 times the current school lunch subsidy cost. That amount would allow: "Washington ... to give schools enough money to cook and serve unprocessed foods that are produced without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. When possible, these foods should be locally grown."

I've no comment on the political realism of their remedy.

Best Calvinist Sentence Today

From Kevin Drum:

"In fact, I'm basically on board with nearly any idea that's based on taking away the punch bowl in boom times and spiking it in bad times."

Norwegian Bachelor Farmers, CSAs and Goats

Piece in the Mankato Free Press on Minnesota farms, where the very small and very large both increased in number:

Minnesota’s growth in small farms is largely concentrated in the Twin Cities area and is beholden to the state’s strong organic product movement and its large immigrant populations in quest of ethnic meats and vegetables. For example, inventories of goats have quadrupled in the state during the past decade.-their "tiny" farms grew in number, as more farms grew through Community Support

This relates to a book I just finished, a good read: Hit by a Farm, by Catherine Friend which sort of encapsulates the trend, although the two women who owned the farm went with sheep, not goats. It was blurbed by Garrison Keillor, to whom I look for an update on his "Norwegian bachelor farmers" (an uncle was a German bachelor farmer) to include the Hmongs and women crunchies now popping up around Minneapolis/St. Paul.

WHIP and Payment Limitation, NRCS and FSA

NRCAS published an interim final rule updating the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) regulations for the 2008 farm bill changes and other input. (This is a program whereby NRCS pays part of the cost of improving habitat for wildlife.) It includes this:

Section 638.7

"(f) Payments made or attributed to a participant, directly or indirectly, may
not exceed, in the aggregate, $50,000 per year.
(g) Eligibility for payment in accordance with 7 CFR part 1400, subpart G, average adjusted gross income limitation, will be determined prior to cost-share agreement approval."

I find it interesting because, as the AGI regs are FSA's responsibility, it implies a sharing of information, possibly an exchange of paperwork between the two agencies.

Wikis and Facebook for FSA IT?

Here's a post at the Federal Computer Week discussing the possible use of Web 2.0 technologies by federal agencies. I note most of the examples cited seem to be on intranets, not accessible by the public. I think I don't like that, but am open to discussion.

It's true enough that the enthusiasm of a President and a Secretary can affect the bureaucracy, but in my experience unless the enthusiasm goes down the line, the effects die out. The cautionary lesson in this regard is the "tempos" on the Mall. When I first toured the Mall in 1965, there were these disgusting grey buildings, wood and metal, not stone, lining Constitution Avenue at the west end of the Mall. Turned out these were temporary buildings, or "tempos", occupied by the military. Oh, you say, being smart readers, they were erected in World War II as a stopgap before the Pentagon was finished.

Oh no, smart readers, you are wrong. They were erected in WWI, and were still there 50 years later. The military wasn't about to move out of them and away from their proximity to power. And no leader had the power to move the military bureaucrats. Finally, in his single greatest domestic achievement, President Nixon set his German on them (I think Erlichman, but it might have been Haldeman) and finally got them emptied and torn down. Constitution Gardens and the Vietnam Memorial occupy that area now.

The bottomline: unless the new administrator of FSA is a computer nerd, FSA won't be using Web 2.0 in the next 4 years.

[Updated--this piece in Government Executive is also relevant.]

Make Pay Limit Regs Tougher?

So says North Dakota's Agriculture Commissioner, according to this piece in Farm and Ranch, reporting on his comments on the interim rule submitted to FSA. Apparently there's no cotton grown in ND (see my previous post on the Cotton Council reaction to Vilsack). He even had some kind words for the FSA bureaucrats in DC!

Chris Clayton and Vilsack on Pay Limits

Chris Clayton at the DTN blog covers Secretary Vilsack's talk to the Cotton people. He seemed to indicate no change in pay limit regs for 2009. The cotton people will talk to their friends (Chambliss, R and Lincoln, D) to try to get a provision requiring USDA to revert to 2008 rules. That's the sort of lawmaking tailored to specific interests which gives Congress a bad name, but don't be surprised if it doesn't get added as a rider somewhere.

Interestingly, from a philosophical viewpoint (that is, in my humble opinion) farmers should not be changing their operations at all because of payment limitation rules. They should organize the way to be the most efficient operation possible, then the rules should apply. I know that's never going to happen, it's like saying someone shouldn't decide whether or not to buy versus renting a house based on the tax deductibility of the interest. Economists point to such changes and say the government is making the economy less efficient. And it is.

And All Our Employees Are Above Average--DOD

From Government Executive:

According to figures issued by the Pentagon on Wednesday, 98 percent of the more than 170,000 employees rated under the National Security Personnel System received performance-based payouts for 2009, meaning their supervisors graded their work as a 3 or better out of five possible points. The majority of those employees -- 55.4 percent -- earned a rating of 3, defining them as valued performers.

I'm overly cynical, since the best year I ever had, in terms of accomplishments, was the worst year according to my boss's evaluation. Designing a good pay system is hard, particularly when the bureaucracy being evaluated doesn't produce measurable outputs. Look at the pay system for investment bankers.

Claims by the Corn Growers--We're Crunchy

According to a piece via EWG:

"Specifically, corn has seen the following changes between 1987 and 2007, Dickey [President of National Corn Growers] noted.

1. Land use: The amount of land needed to produce one bushel has decreased 37 percent.

2. Soil loss: Manageable soil loss per bushel of corn has decreased by 69 percent.

3. Energy: The energy used to produce a bushel of corn has decreased by 37 percent.

4. Climate impact: Corn production has seen a 30 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions per bushel."