GLICKMAN RECEIVES NATIONAL STRATEGY TO ASSIST SMALL FARMS

                                                               
                                            Release No. 0026.98
                                                               
                                      Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623
                                               tamontree@usda.gov
                                     Jim Brownlee  (202) 720-2091
                                               jbrownlee@usda.gov

GLICKMAN RECEIVES NATIONAL STRATEGY TO ASSIST SMALL FARMS         
Pledges Rapid Response To Recommendations

     WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 1998--Today, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman received
"A Time To Act," a report by the National Commission on Small Farms which Glickman
appointed in July of 1997.  The report contains a comprehensive set of 146  recommendations
to improve USDA's service to small and beginning farmers, including credit, risk management,
research, education, rural development, marketing, and outreach. 
     
     As part of his continuing efforts to expand opportunities for small and limited resource
farmers, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman named a Small Farm Action Team, led by Deputy
Secretary Richard Rominger, to develop an integrated strategy to assist small farmers in
response to the recommendations of the National Commission on Small Farms.

     Glickman said, "USDA is poised to act quickly and decisively on this report, which
highlights the many serious challenges that face our nation's small farmers.  This
Administration will not stand by and watch hard working family farmers relegated to a footnote
in a history book. 

     "With its comprehensive nature, the report makes clear that small farmers have a variety
of needs that must be addressed for them to be successful, ranging from conservation assistance
or risk management, to business planning for a farmers market or farmer owned cooperative or
market development for new crops or products.  The fundamental challenge, then, is to deliver
a comprehensive package of information and assistance to help small farmers not only survive,
but expand," Glickman said.   
               
     "I am pleased that USDA is already implementing some of the recommendations of the
Commission," Glickman said, noting that the Administration's Fiscal Year 1999 budget will
seek full funding for USDA's direct farm ownership and operating loan programs as well as full
funding for USDA's outreach program.  "But there is more work to be done, and I am
committed to continuing our efforts to help America's small family farmers thrive into the 21st
century.

     "We must right the wrong of the 1996 Farm Bill which categorically declared that every
farmer who has ever had a debt right-down is ineligible for USDA loans.  That's a stricter
standard than private lenders use.  It's wrong. And, the longer we take to fix it, the more good
people lose their land.  I will expeditiously send to Congress emergency legislation to address
this problem," added Glickman.

     The 30-member commission was formed by Glickman in July, 1997, in response to
recommendations made by the USDA Civil Rights Action Team (CRAT).  Former
Congressman Harold Volkmer led the commission's efforts to study means of assuring the
survival of America's small farms.  It is the first time USDA has undertaken an in-depth
examination of the needs of America's small farmers. 

     Highlights from the commission report include recommendations to:

     Initiate a new Beginning Farmer Development Program which creates training and
     assistance centers for beginning farmers in partnership with community-based
     nonprofits, land-grant universities, and the private sector.  This program will provide
     farm management training and long-term support through mentoring programs;

     Develop a small farm research initiative which focuses on promoting less capital
     intensive technologies and practices to improve the competitiveness and profitability of
     small farmers;

     Create an interagency initiative to promote and expand local and regional food
     marketing opportunities for the benefit of small farmers, rural communities, and low-income families in rural and urban areas, including expanding the use of cooperatives as
     a business vehicle for small farmers; and

     Launch a Small Farm Entrepreneurial Development Initiative to provide small and
     beginning farmers with entrepreneurial training, technical assistance, and priority
     program funding for the purpose of developing farmer owned and operated marketing
     enterprises.

          Volkmer said, "Our nation's economic foundation is built on the backs of America's
small farmers.  Their survival and success is not only important to their families, but to
consumers,  rural communities, the environment, and the global economy."

          For a copy of the National Commission on Small Farms report to the Secretary, check
the USDA Web site at: www.usda.gov/news/news.htm, or contact commission staff director
Jennifer Yezak Molen at: smallfarm@usda.gov; telephone (202) 720-0122; or write to National
Commission on Small Farms, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C.  20013.

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