Remind Your Candidate:The Farm Bill Top Priority

Colorado Launches HealthInsurance Co-op

Agriculture & Small Towns NeedNew & Beginning Farmers

Land Link Sneak Peek

Reflections from My Internship

Elimination of Income Tax WouldBurden Rural Towns, Farmers

Across the Nation

Survey Gauges Needs of Small Business Owners in Nebraska

Thinking of the Next Generation

Inside This Issue

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2

3

3

4

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Center for Rural AffairsYour Rural News for 39 Years | Lyons, NE | Population 851 | October 2012

Paul Willis Wins Award for Contributions to Food SystemBy Traci Bruckner, tracib@cfra.org

We were happy to read that Paul Willis, founder and manager of Niman Ranch Pork Company

in Thornton, Iowa, received one of the 2012 Sustainability Awards from Chefs Collaborative. Paul was recognized with the Pathfinder award, given to a “visionary work-ing in the greater food community who has been a catalyst for posi-tive change within the food system through efforts that go beyond the kitchen.”

Paul Willis is a perfect fit for this award. Paul has worked to revital-ize sustainable hog farming meth-ods in the Midwest for many years. In 1995, Paul was introduced to Niman Ranch and formed a rela-tionship to create a network for hog producers interested in raising their hogs according to Niman’s sustainable methods.

While the consolidation of conventional livestock markets forced many family farmers out of conventional hog production, Paul created opportunity in a sustainable system that offered a higher value for farmers and pork connoisseurs alike.

Additionally, while the average age of farmers nationally is 57, the average age of the Niman Ranch hog farmer is 47. The Niman Ranch Pork Network is also creating opportunity for new and beginning farmers. And it is a great representation of this coun-try’s small and mid-scale family farmers and ranchers.

Congratulations, Paul, on your Pathfinder award. You are a true Pathfinder, and we are lucky to call you our friend!

Paul Willis is the founder and manager of Niman Ranch Pork Company in Thornton, Iowa. Niman Ranch works with the largest network of sustainable U.S. family farmers and ranchers. Find out more by visiting NimanRanch.com.

This newsletter is available both electronically and in print. To receive it online, sign up at the Center’s website, cfra.org, or email us at info@cfra.org.

You may also correct your mailing address and fax the back page to 402.687.2200, or call Kim Kaup at the Center for Rural Affairs, 402.687.2100.

Editor: Marie PowellLayout: Casey FrancisPrinted at

West Point News, West Point, NE.The Center for Rural Affairs was

incorporated as a private nonprofit organization on Sep. 5, 1973.

Paper & E-News

Want to support the Center? cfra.org/give

22 Center for Rural Affairs October 2012

Rural Leaders, Read Up!

With the election just around the corner and the Farm Bill not yet done, you still have op-

portunity to ensure those seeking your vote understand your priori-ties.

In rural states and communi-ties, there’s been a good deal of media attention and talk about the Farm Bill, with a big push for getting it done this year. We agree that Congress should get its act together, start governing, and pass a farm bill. But we also think it’s important they get it right, not just get it done.

So, as the campaigns march towards the November election, and candidates are asking for your vote in this final stretch, let’s not only remind them what the Farm Bill must do, let’s also ask them to take up these ideas as campaign talking points.

1 The Farm Bill must include

strong support for programs that create opportunity for rural small business, the economic backbone of our rural communities.

2 It must also protect fund-ing for the Conservation Stewardship Program.

A modern, fiscally responsible farm safety net would not just pay farmers for a loss and subsidize risk management tools. It would help them reduce future risk by practic-ing state-of-the-art conservation.

3 Support for the many new and beginning farmer and rancher

provisions is critical. The Begin-ning Farmer and Rancher Devel-opment Program should be fully funded to provide training and mentoring for new farmers and ranchers.

4 At the end of the day, the final Farm Bill should include a cap

on the amount the largest farms can reap through the commodity program, as well as through crop insurance premium subsidies.

When you meet or visit with a candidate, ask them to make these priorities their priorities.

Remind Your Candidate: The Farm Bill is Top PriorityBy Traci Bruckner, tracib@cfra.org

If you are a farmer or ranch-er or live in a small town, chances are you’ve used a co-op to get a better deal or better service. Imagine if this model could be applied

to your health insurance provider. Starting in 2014, Colorado resi-dents can purchase health insur-ance through the Colorado Health Insurance Co-op, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.

Planning for the co-op began this summer with a $69 million federal startup loan. Policy holders will own the insurer. Any profits made from premiums will be invested into lowered premiums or gaining better services. Most of the federal startup loan will be used for a $57 million fund to fill initial member claims.

As premiums are gathered, the co-op will use its own income to pay back the loan. The remaining funds will be used to set up offices and equipment to run the insur-ance plan. Advertising for the co-op will begin next year. Coverage will begin in 2014, after most parts of the Affordable Care Act kick in.

The Affordable Care Act au-thorized the creation of health insurance co-ops in all 50 states as a way to encourage competition among insurers and add a consum-er-owned health insurance plan to the new health care marketplaces, launched in 2014. The Colorado co-op will provide a health insurance option for rural Coloradans who currently have little choice in their health insurance provider.

Colorado Launches Health Insurance Co-opBy Virginia Wolking, virginiaw@cfra.org

Rural Leaders, Read Up!

Sandyston Township, Sussex County, New Jersey | Source: Nicholas A. Tonelli via Flickr

3October 2012 Center for Rural Affairs 3

Rural Leaders, Read Up!

When you think back 20-30 years, what’s changed about your town? How many

young families do you have now compared to then? How many of them farm or ranch?

I’m asking these questions to get you to think about how you and your town might begin to change things.

We don’t lack for a desire to farm. The beginning farmer web pages on the Center for Rural Affairs’ website receive over12,000 visits a month.

Most of these online visitors are looking for information on how to get started or how to do it better. They are also looking for land and financing. Our Land Link program that matches retiring farmers to

beginners has over 300 beginners, willing to move most anywhere as long as they can reach their dream of farming.

That’s where you come in. What can you and your commu-nity do to help these beginners reach their dreams? A lot is in it for your town. Drawing new folks back helps fill those schools and brings in new leaders and new ideas.

Weldon Sleight, Dean of the University of Nebraska’s College of Technical Agriculture, has said that most people who got into farming did so through some sort of “sweetheart deal.” I know that was true for my Dad. He had no money, but he had a wife and two kids and could think of no bet-ter way to provide for that family than farming.

He found a farmer and built a relationship. That relationship resulted in a land contract on 40 acres. He eventually owned it, fixed up a falling down house, and made a decent living for our fami-ly. A “sweetheart deal.”

Agriculture has changed. Small towns have taken a hit. As one

farmer explained it, “It used to be I’d look out at night and see a light coming from two or three other farms. Now it’s just my yard light that’s shining. The other farms have grown into one big one.”

Think about how your town might work together to find some land for a beginner. Can you speak to farmers who are planning on retiring soon about the importance of building your town in this way?

It’s time to have these important conversations. Wouldn’t it be great if the coffee shop talk was “brag-ging rights” because someone had brought a new farm family to town?

Agriculture & Small Towns Need New & Beginning FarmersBy Kathie Starkweather, kathies@cfra.org

Grow Veggies in MarylandImagine yourself tending a bumper crop

of organic vegetables. You’re located “in a beautiful setting” on 15 prime acres of Maryland farmland. You’d have the secu-rity of a long-term lease, and a landowner who is open to various rental agreements.

But where would you live? No problem! The landowner would provide a trailer or apartment on the farm. Right now the land is in hay, and there’s a barn. Contact me to learn about this great opportunity!

Aspiring, Experienced RanchersSeek Location

Not one, but two young ranchers are dreaming of “putting down roots” for their young family. This couple brings some outstanding traits.

Both were raised on cow/calf opera-tions. Both have bachelor’s degrees in agriculture. And both have experience in hay production and cattle and horse hus-bandry.

They’re inquisitive too. They want to learn more about organic/sustainable agriculture, intensive grazing, fall calving, and artificial insemination. Let me know how you can help these future ranchers!

Land Link Sneak PeekBy Virginia Wolking, virginiaw@cfra.org

It’s time to have these important conversations. Wouldn’t it be great if the coffee shop talk was “bragging rights” because someone had brought a new farm family to town?

Inga Haugen is a librarian and a farmer. She interned with us last year and appeared several times in the newsletter. Inga’s work was di-vided between policy and organiz-ing our archives. She has departed to study in Tennessee, but left us with her “worm’s eye view” of the Center’s past and present. Enjoy!

At times I felt like a little worm wriggling my way through the Center. A teeny little bookworm, I sipped and supped my way

through heady ideas and rapid-fire conversations about people and politics. I’ve had a blast working in the archives and learning the history of the Center, its programs, and campaigns. I like the fact I’ll leave something that really will be helpful for all the folks in the office.

When I came to Lyons, I had no idea how I was going to be able to live and be happy and engaged with work off the farm. It’s easy to feel I’ve done a good job when I see the calves happy, watered, and fed. But I quickly found ways to be engaged in the Center’s work. And

finding a program that allows me to combine my library skills and agriculture is more than a dream come true. I hadn’t even thought to dream something so fantastic.

Over the course of seven months, I spent a lot of time with the Center’s past achievements. It made me think about the na-ture of service. To use another analogy related to worms, service is like planting a garden. A gar-den’s bounty can come from a sprinkling of seeds and some good luck. But it may also come from years of planning and design. This purposeful path is evident in the Center’s past work. By working the same ground, over and over for years, the Center has become an expert in its field.

It also made me realize the importance of policy work. As a farmer, I made a difference for those downstream, upwind, and over the counter from me as a sus-tainable producer. As a librarian,

I can assist hundreds with finding accurate information in direct service work. But working in policy, it is possible to have an

even bigger impact. I can help the librarians, the

farmers, and all the folks down-stream, upwind, and across the counter.

With some skills to offer the policy realm, this little bookworm is now off to taste new bookshelves down in Tennessee. This intern-ship has been exactly the kind of introduction that internships should be. I started out as a little worm, but I’m a big fat caterpillar now – fat with insight and inspi-ration. A few years cocooned up in Tennessee, and who knows where (and what!) I’ll be.

A most heartfelt thank you.

Har det bra(goodbye & take care),

Inga

4 Center for Rural Affairs October 2012

Worm’s Eye View:Reflections from My InternshipBy Inga Haugen

Welcome Center Interns!By Steph Larsen, StephL@cfra.org

The Center would like to welcome four new interns!

Matt Gunther and Evan Pollitt will be working from our

new Montana office. Matt most recently managed a community gardening project, and his work will focus on health care.

Evan recently graduated from law school and will work on farm

and rural development policy.Kat Shiffler and Sadid Carillo

will be joining the Center’s team in Nebraska. You may get a call from Kat asking to document your personal rural story. Sadid is a business and finance stu-dent at the University of Nebras-ka, and he will focus on working with Latino farmers.

Welcome Matt, Evan, Kat and Sadid!

Do You Have Sweet Skills?Yes! Well, read on then:We love interns, especially their fresh ideas and enthusiasm. The Center accepts interns throughout the year and as opportunities, funding sources and good matches between applicants and projects arise. Interns can work on policy, organizing, communications or direct service projects. If interested, please submit a resume and short cover letter about what sort of work you are interested in pursuing. Send resumes or any questions to Brian Depew, at briand@cfra.org. Check out our new internship postings at cfra.org/intern.

October 2012 Center for Rural Affairs 5

In an Aug. 29, 2012, article in the Lincoln Journal Star, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman was asked about reports that he is consid-ering a plan to eliminate

the state income tax and replace the revenue with elimination of an array of sales tax exemptions. Governor Heineman responded, “Every option I can think of is on the table now,” and “We’re at the idea stage now.”

We disagree. Elimination of the income tax should be off the table. It would impose heavy costs on most Nebraskans to benefit a small percentage of the richest Nebraskans. This radical idea has the potential to inflict serious economic damage to the state, especially to rural Nebraska. Such a plan would immediately cut 56 percent of Nebraska’s general fund revenues. Basic services like ed-ucation, public safety, and health care would be nearly impossible to fund in any effective manner, even with inevitable increases in other taxes that would be necessary.

This plan would also further strain middle class and low-in-come families. Eliminating the income tax puts a greater burden on regressive sales and property taxes. These burden middle class

and working families more heavily. That is particularly true in rural Nebraska, where property taxes are higher and rural communities depend more on property taxes to fund basic services. Eliminating the income tax will simply lead to higher property taxes for farmers, ranchers, and other rural resi-dents.

Eliminating the income tax will also lead to higher costs in other areas. Replacing lost income tax revenue by eliminating sales tax exemptions may lead to things like groceries being taxed. Many Ne-braska families struggle to afford food and other basic needs without additional sales taxes. More than one in seven Nebraskans struggles to put food on the table and one in eight lives below the poverty line. Higher sales taxes would place a greater burden on those Nebras-

kans and their families.Ending the income tax is not

the path to prosperity. Nebraska already has lower unemployment than all nine states with no in-come tax. We have stronger per capita personal income growth over the last decade than six out of the nine states. Far more import-ant to economic development is a healthy and educated workforce, public safety, and transporta-tion infrastructure – all of which require investments made possible by the income tax.

Similar measures were intro-duced in Kansas and Oklahoma this year. Oklahoma was suc-cessful in defeating those efforts. Kansas was not, and is now facing a $2.5 billion budget deficit. This is a bad idea for Nebraska and should be taken off the table.

Elimination of Income Tax Would BurdenMiddle Class, Rural Towns, FarmersBy Jon Bailey, jonb@cfra.org

Eliminating the income tax puts a greater burden on regressive sales and property taxes. These burden middle class and working families more heavily. That is particularly true in rural Nebraska, where property taxes are higher and rural communities depend more on property taxes to fund basic services.

hot temperatures covered just a fraction of 1 percent of the globe from 1951 to 1980, but now cover 10 percent.

We can cost effectively begin replacing coal power plants, one of the biggest contributors. Wind is less expensive than coal and creates good rural jobs. The cost of producing electricity from solar is higher but falling rapidly. It’s already competitive in some mar-

kets. Natural gas is cheaper than coal, with half the greenhouse gas emissions. Its low capital cost and capacity to ramp up and down quickly make natural gas a strong complement to wind and solar.

Gasoline use can be reduced by raising federal fuel efficiency stan-dards, driving development of new technology to improve gas mileage. In the long term, technological breakthroughs can make electric

cars cost competitive, enabling wind to replace much gasoline. Farmers can contribute to green-house gas reduction by capturing more carbon in the soil as organic matter. And with the right policies, they will be paid for it.

We have the opportunity and responsibility to take corrective ac-tion. We owe it to the next genera-tion to leave the land as well as we received it. Let’s not fail them.

Stewardship, continued from page 8.

66 Center for Rural Affairs October 2012

Across the Nation

Washington: “Volunteer Forces Harder to Maintain” By Casey Francis, caseyf@cfra.org

NPR station KUOW 94.9 in Washington state reports that “changes in rural America are conspiring to make volunteer forces harder to maintain.” This means communities have a harder time taking care of emergencies.

These changes in rural America include the large number of hours worked per week, a declining sense of communi-ty, and expanded training requirements. Volunteer fire and rescue departments have to be as well prepared for emergencies as career firefighters and EMTs. This means making time for a wide breadth of training beyond firefighting, like EMT classes, hazmat training, and counterterrorism.

New Mexico: Harsh Economics & Weather Wreak Havoc on Horses By Casey Francis, caseyf@cfra.org

A combi-nation of extreme drought and eco-nomic

realities has resulted in a crisis for horses. Fernanda Santos of The New York Times writes of Aztec, New Mexico, where water resources have dwindled, the price of grain and hay has risen, and horses have been left to fend for themselves.

Equine rescue farms struggle to meet the needs of abandoned horses. Santos ex-plains this crisis is far reaching: “[Abandoned

horses] have been found stumbling through state parks in Missouri, in backyards and along country roads in Illinois, and among ranch herds in Texas where they do not belong.”

To help, contact your local equine rescue group or the Unwanted Horse Coalition.

Nation: Rural “Baby Boomers” Struggle for Health Care AccessBy Casey Francis, caseyf@cfra.org

Many challenges confront rural “baby boomers” set to soon retire. The Washington Post ex-plains Medicare in rural areas is sometimes handicapped by the many primary care doctors

preferring urban areas.The Post adds “Medicare pays rural doctors less

per procedure than urban physicians because their operating costs are supposedly less. That makes rural doctors less likely to accept Medicare patients.”

An overall shortage of primary care doctors compounds these problems too. The Post writes that “According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, rural areas need about 20,000 primary care doctors to make up for the short-ages, but only about 16,500 medical doctors and 3,500 doctors of osteopathy graduate yearly.”

7October 2012 Center for Rural Affairs 7

10 You get a call from an angry constituent about a county worker

driving 20 miles under the speed limit.

9 You are late for your meet-ing because every place you stop you see friends and

need to stop a minute to visit.

8 Your job as a city council member includes feeding the ducks in the park pond.

7 A local family is visited by a tragic death and the entire town sets aside its business

to be there for them.

6 A controversy over whether to allow a steel barn to be built on the edge of town

becomes known in the local lore as “Cattlegate.”

5 County and municipal estimates for repairing flood damage are cut in half after

farmers from all around bring in their equipment to help out.

4 A constituent complains that snow was removed from your road before the

road to the abandoned cemetery.

3 There are reports from the Northeastern part of the county that a bridge is

threatened by rain so hard, it’s like a cow relieving herself on a flat rock.

2 Your phone starts ringing 10 minutes after the bars close.

1 A constituent thanks you for voting as he requested on an issue and sums it

up by saying, “Even a blind hog finds an ear of corn once in a while.”

Top 10 SignsYou Are a Rural Elected Official

Since 2008, the Cen-ter’s small business development program (REAP) has surveyed Nebraska business-es every other year

about their concerns, needs, and training desires. Questions on business performance, technology use, health insurance coverage, and other areas are included.

The results of the 2012 Small Business Needs Assessment are being shared across the state. In the next few newsletters, we’ll bring you snippets we gathered. Here’s a look at what’s on the minds of Nebraska small business-es when it comes to training.

As the table shows, for those under 30, perhaps just starting out, bookkeeping was the top

need. From 30 up, how to adver-tise and market their businesses was the predominant training need. Topics identified as the second highest need varied by age. From 20-40, information on taxes was most desired. In the middle years, entrepreneurs wanted to learn more about social network-ing. From 50 and up, as you might expect, succession planning rose

in importance.We’ll share more insights next

month. If you want to bring a program outlining the results to your community or organiza-tion, please contact me, Dena, at 308.528.0060 or denab@cfra.org.

You’ll find the complete 2012 Small Business Needs Assessment at cfra.org/reports.

Survey Gauges Needs of SmallBusiness Owners in NebraskaBy Dena Beck, denab@cfra.org

Top Training Needs of Nebraska Entrepreneurs by AgeAge Range Top Training Need #2 Training Need20-29 years Basic Bookkeeping Taxation

30-39 years Marketing/Advertising Taxation40-49 years Marketing/Advertising Social Networking50-59 years Marketing/Advertising Succession Planning60 years & older Marketing/Advertising Succession Planning

South DakotaMarketPlace October 9-10, 2012For more informat ion v is i t : sdfu.org/rural-development/marketplace.php

MarketPlace: Opening Doors to Success business conference is a comprehensive two-day event focused on energi z ing small businesses and rural communi t ies , support ing potent ial or exist ing entrepreneurs and helping communi ty and economic development leaders bui ld their communi t ies.

145 Main Street, PO Box 136 • Lyons, NE 68038-0136cfra.org | info@cfra.org

Address Service Requested 10/12

From

the Desk

of the Execu

tive Director

Th

inkin

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:

Stew

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By C

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pace S

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Who is this agricultural pioneer? Read about his contributions on page 1.}{