Childless Amish Farmer

There is no such term findable by Google (until now).

USDA Fails to Meet Deadline

From Government Executive:

"Agencies have had mixed success at meeting one of the first deadlines related to the massive economic stimulus package: the goal of selecting by Feb. 13 a high-level official to oversee spending.

A number of agencies contacted by Government Executive have placed someone in charge of economic recovery act activities, as requested by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag in a Feb. 9 memorandum. But at least several others missed the Feb. 13 deadline."

One of those missing is USDA, presumably because only Vilsack has been named.

Definitions Matter: What Is a Farm

A former employee of USDA's Economic Research Service elucidates the definition of a "farm" in the 2007 Ag Census. It's a reminder that statistics are usually tricky to use, because the users aren't familiar with how the data was obtained and massaged.

Elsewhere he hits more strongly on the fact that farm prices increased dramatically between 2002 and 2007, which would affect farm numbers.

Score One for Obama

One of the worst features of the Bush administration was its dishonesty in accounting--using only the 5-year window, fudging on AMT, keeping the Iraq/Afghan war off budget in supplementals. Obama is, at least for now, promising to correct those errors according to this NYTimes piece. The last paragraph breaks new ground:

He will also budget $273 billion in that [10-year] period for natural disasters. Every year the government pays billions for disaster relief, but presidents and lawmakers have long ignored budget reformers’ calls for a contingency account to reflect that certainty.

I wonder whether they'll split it between FEMA and USDA? We'll see, but it's a good first step. We should also budget for California to split off and fall into the Pacific, but this is progress.

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.]