BISMARCK — The Board of Governors of North Dakota Farmers Union held its biannual meeting Jan. 12-13 at Bismarck’s Doublewood Inn, listening to several presentations and discussing a range of topics concerning the direction of the organization. Forty-six members of the board were present at the meeting.

 

The board heard from NDFU President Robert Carlson and Farmers Union Insurance General Manager Odean Olson regarding the state of the organization and getting some insight about how NDFU and Farmers Union Insurance work together.

 

National Farmers Union Vice President of Government Operations Chandler Goule addressed the meeting via teleconference from Washington, D.C., discussing the status of legislation pertinent to the organization and offering some insight into the coming months on Capitol Hill.

 

Carlson also gave his president’s report, discussing his participation in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

 

Other business included adopting the minutes from past board meetings, debating a proposed amendment to NDFU’s bylaws and recommending its passage to the bylaws committee, issuing a position paper on the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s policies, and selecting members of the 2010 Farm Family of the Year committee.

 

The next Board of Governors meeting will be held July 14-15.

Posted Dec. 18, 2009, at 7:49 a.m. CST 

 

GRAND FORKS — North Dakota Farmers Union District VI Director Ellen Linderman, Carrington, and NDFU member development specialist Josh Kramer were in Grand Forks on Dec. 14 to take part in “Why Health Care Reform Can’t Wait,” a panel discussion aimed at sharing perspectives from many different groups of North Dakotans. Sponsored by AARP, the AFL-CIO, NDFU, League of Women Voters and North Dakota Women’s Network, the event featured an array of speakers from all walks of life in the state.

“This discussion about an issue so vital to our nation — and certainly to North Dakota — is long overdue,” Linderman told the 30 audience members gathered in Grand Forks’ historic Fire Hall Theatre. “North Dakota Farmers Union members have long expressed the need for universal, accessible and affordable health care.”

To that point, Linderman discussed some of the hurdles that many family farmers face in procuring affordable insurance that provides adequate coverage. “Farmers face some unique challenges in our health care system,” she said. “We are independent producers and do not have access to group health insurance policies.”

Other issues, Linderman said, include the variance in a farm family’s income from year to year and from one time of the year to another, making it difficult to make monthly insurance premiums. Also, one or both spouses frequently have to find work off the farm just to attain a health insurance benefit.

The difficulties farmers face in getting adequate insurance, Linderman said, is nothing new. When she and her husband began farming near Carrington in 1976, they discovered firsthand just what faces the family farmer in the insurance market.

“When we started farming, buying health insurance on our own was an educational experience, to say the least,” she said. “We received less coverage and had more out-of-pocket costs, all while laying out more premium dollars.

“When we bought our own insurance, we had no advocate for us in the system to help us if we had a problem with a claim or other issues. We only had the phone number of the back of the insurance card.”

Like Linderman, Kramer understands the difficulties farm families face when it comes to health insurance. “I grew up on a family farm where we didn’t have health insurance,” he said, “and, thankfully, we didn’t have a medical emergency during that time. But we did forgo care for routine day-to-day things that most people seek care for.

“If we were to have one (a major medical emergency), everything my family owned and worked for would have been at risk.”

Speaking to critics of government-run health care, Kramer told of his experiences in the government-run Veterans Affairs program. After serving a 12-month deployment in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, he returned home to Jamestown. “While I was deployed overseas, one of the things I took comfort in was knowing that my family’s health care needs were being provided for, and when I came home, the quality of care I received through the VA was exceptional and efficient,” he said.

“One example I can give is a procedure done through the VA,” he said. “My pre-op appointment was done at the VA clinic in Jamestown, other preliminary work was done at the VA in Fargo, and the care was concluded at the VA in Minneapolis. All the different staff members from the different facilities worked in unison with one another, shared information, and the system was, in my opinion, extremely efficient and the staff was exceptional.

“I think this was a great example of how different health care facilities can work well together and how the government effectively manages such a system.”

Other panelists included Vel Rae Burkholder, an AARP volunteer who was an associate professor and director of the coordinated Program in Dietetics at North Dakota State University; Sally Jacobson, a former account executive who told of how a catastrophic medical condition derailed her family’s finances and retirement plans — even though they had health insurance; Melvin Morris, a member of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union at his job at American Crystal Sugar Co. in East Grand Forks, Minn.; Tim O’Keefe, founder and president of ComMark Inc. in Portland, N.D., and a professor of information systems at the University of North Dakota; Renee Stromme, executive director of the North Dakota Women’s Network; and Alexandra Townsend, representing the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The discussion was moderated by Brad Gibbens, interim co-director of the Center for Rural Health at UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

“Almost everyone would agree that our current health care system is broken and is becoming more unaffordable and inaccessible to more and more citizens,” Linderman said in conclusion. “While we may not agree with parts of the bills being proposed in Congress, doing nothing is not an option. We have lived with this option for the last 15 years — or even longer, when one considers all the attempts that have been made to reform our health care system over the years. Let’s face it: The system has only gotten worse.

“I think we are a better country than this and that we can figure out a fair and just solution to our unworkable health care system. ... Let’s be proactive, rather than waiting for the total disintegration of our present system before we finally take some action.”

Acting on behalf of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers, North Dakota Farmers Union President Robert Carlson, National Farmers Union Foundation board member Sue Carlson and South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke set foot on the global stage Dec. 7-14 in Copenhagen at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The gathering of about 15,000 participants from 192 nations was the 15th such conference put on by the United Nations, aimed at reaching accord on an “ambitious, global agreement ... that meets the challenge set by science.”

“Many earnest leaders are gathered at the conference to listen to ideas on how to curb the effects of climate change,” Carlson said from the conference Dec. 9. “While the agriculture contingency seems to be rather small at the event, many nations see the need to recognize agriculture’s role in negating the effects of climate change.”

During Agriculture Week — the first week of the conference — Carlson addressed the plenary session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technology Advice, urging the development of standards for agriculture mitigation of greenhouse gases. He stressed the importance of including various agricultural practices in sequestering greenhouse gases, including no-till farming, planting grass and trees, manure management, placement of nitrogen fertilizers, and the development of biofuels, which are all relatively inexpensive and can be implemented quickly.

On Dec. 11, Robert Carlson was joined by Sue Carlson at the European Federation of Food Agriculture and Tourism Trade Union Conference in Copenhagen. The focus of their presentation was demonstrating how job growth would result from an international climate change agreement, particularly within the agriculture industry.

On Agriculture Day, Dec. 12, Robert Carlson took part in a roundtable group at the University of Copenhagen. At the event, Carlson gave a presentation about how to unlock the emerging carbon market for producers. He cited as a working example the Carbon Credit Program started and currently managed by NDFU.

“The message of the day was demonstrating how agriculture offers innovative solutions to the climate change crisis by cleaning up the atmosphere of greenhouse gases,” Carlson said after the presentation. “The international community needs agriculture offsets to allow technology time to adopt clean energy around the globe.”

To drive home the importance of agriculture’s role in the global climate change crisis, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture gave the keynote address Dec. 12, delivering the message that food security and climate change are linked, and nothing affects the future of feeding the world’s population more than the issue of climate change. In addition to his Agriculture Day presentation, Carlson also took part in a Dec. 14 USDA panel discussing the NDFU Carbon Credit Program and how producers can benefit from climate change solutions.

Not all events at the conference too place within the convention center’s walls. Participants had opportunities to see some of the innovative agriculture solutions being developed in Denmark.

“Denmark ... is known as a nation that is probably more conscious of climate change and more committed to renewable energy than any other in the world, and it’s one of the reasons the conference is being held here,” Carlson said. “We were able to visit with some farmers who are members of co-ops who provide some of that renewable energy, and we were able to take a tour of a couple of those facilities that are very innovative and I think may give us some options for the future in our own country.”

Carlson said the cooperative operates a facility that turns hog manure into methane, which in turn is used to run engines that power electric generators. “Twenty-four farmers provide hog manure to this big plant that then mixes the hog manure with some vegetative material and puts it into a digester, turns it into a gas — methane — that can be used to power these engines,” he said. “It’s quite lucrative, and the farmers who invested in this and formed the co-op are very happy with it.

“It’s not a lot different than some of the digesters that you may see on some of the farms in the Midwest, although it’s quite a bit bigger.”

Another operation Carlson’s group toured was a cooperative that collects straw bales from 21 farmer-members and burns them, providing heat to a town of 5,000 people. The cooperative also sells straw to area coal-fired power plants, which co-fire their boilers with up to 15 percent biomass. Like the manure digester operation, the co-firing technology similar to some of the innovation taking place in the United States — but at a larger, more advanced level.

The conference concluded the week of Dec. 14 with a gathering of high-level government officials. Carlson noted that there might be some public misconception about the structure of the conference. “We are, in this meeting, called a non-government organization,” he said. “The government ministers are meeting, sometimes in closed sessions, and working out their negotiations to try to come up with an agreement that will lead to a climate change treaty.

“We are also there, excluded from their private meetings, but trying to influence them — in our case, as farmers, with the International Federation of Agricultural Producers — to include agriculture in their agreement.”

Established in 1946, the IFAP is an organization that advocates on the international level for member farm organizations like NDFU. It represents 600 million farm families, grouped in 120 national organizations in 79 countries.

Posted Dec. 18, 2009, at 7:48 a.m. CST  

 

The potential expiration of the $1 biodiesel tax credit on Dec. 31 and its economic impact on the domestic biodiesel industry was the subject of a study by economic analyst John M. Urbanchuk that was released Dec. 8 by the National Biodiesel Board. The study’s findings: Allowing the $1 per gallon tax incentive to expire would devastate the country’s biodiesel producers and bring production of the renewable biofuel to a virtual standstill.

“Since it was enacted in 2004, the biodiesel tax incentive has allowed the nation to reap the economic, energy security and environmental benefits associated with commercial-scale production and use of biodiesel,” said Manning Feraci, vice president of federal affairs for the NBB. “Allowing the credit to lapse will compound the already daunting challenges facing the industry and cost the nation another 23,000 jobs in addition to the 29,000 jobs that were shed in 2009.”

The original biodiesel tax credit was passed in 2004, and Congress has extended it twice, most recently as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, signed into law Oct. 3, 2008. The credit allows biodiesel to qualify for a $1 per gallon excise tax credit.

According to the study, this tax credit is essential for the profitability of producing biodiesel by allowing the biofuel to more easily compete with petroleum diesel.

Even with the tax credit in place, the study points to the fact that the biodiesel industry is having difficulty competing with petroleum biodiesel. In the 10-month period ending in October 2009, biodiesel production in the United States totaled 409 million gallons, down nearly 30 percent from the same period in 2008. The NBB estimates that the domestic biodiesel industry as a whole is currently operating at about 15 percent of its capacity.

While the current economic climate paints a bleak picture for the industry, the study points to an even dimmer future should Congress allow the tax credit to expire: “In 2008 alone, the U.S. biodiesel industry supported 51,893 jobs in all sectors of the economy,” the study says. “This added $4.287 billion to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generated $866.2 million in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments. Already, the decline in industry output described above has resulted in the loss of nearly 29,000 jobs throughout the entire economy in 2009. Elimination of the tax credit will essentially erase all profitability in the biodiesel industry, leading to a complete decline in output, expenditures and jobs.”

In a news release, the NBB responded to the study’s findings: “Urbanchuk’s analysis concludes that without the biodiesel tax incentive, there will be: a major loss of jobs and income; increased demand for petroleum diesel; a degradation of energy security; decreased demand for soybean oil and lower soybean prices leading to a negative impact on farm income; [...] stranded investment as biodiesel capacity is idled; and lost revenue for states and local governments.”

“Biodiesel production is consistent with an energy policy that values the creation of green jobs and the displacement of petroleum with domestically produced, low carbon fuel,” Feraci said. “Action by Congress to extend the incentive before the end of the year is absolutely necessary if we as a nation are to continue realizing the benefits of domestic biodiesel production.”

The study can be found on the NBB Web site at www.biodiesel.org.

Posted Dec. 17, 2009, at 2:23 p.m. CST 

 

On Dec. 17, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., that would give North Dakota agriculture and energy producers — who often face rail monopolies to get their goods to market — a better way to fight back against unreasonable rail rates.

 

“We produce a lot of coal and a lot of agricultural products in North Dakota, and we sell it in markets far and wide,” Dorgan said. “Unfortunately, many shippers don’t have access to adequate rail competition as they move their goods across the country. And for too long, policies of the Surface Transportation Board, which was created to protect rail customers, have made it hard for captive shippers to get fair rail rates.

 

“This bill isn’t perfect, but it will at long last make strides toward increasing rail competition and giving energy and farm producers in North Dakota fair rail rates.”

 

A senior member of the committee, Dorgan fought to include provisions in the bill that would strengthen and improve the Surface Transportation Board, the organization that hears complaints from small companies that are sometimes the victims of monopoly pricing. Provisions in the bill include reducing the fee for filing a complaint to $350, adding rail customer-oriented members to the board, increasing the use of arbitration to decide disputes and giving the board the power to investigate abuses proactively.

 

The bill, formally known as the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2009, will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

It was a year of highlights for Agraria LLC, the North Dakota Farmers Union member-owned restaurant company in Washington, D.C. Between the addition of a new restaurant — Founding Farmers — and the rebranding of the original property — Agraria Restaurant changed its name to Farmers & Fishers and got a new look and a new menu — it was an exciting year for the business venture.

 

“Agraria LLC continues to move forward to achieve a brand presence in the restaurant world,” NDFU agriculture strategist Mark Watne said. “We have had 12 months of operations at our second restaurant that is more conceptually close to the original business plan than the first restaurant was.”

 

With nearly $8 million in sales for fiscal year 2009, Founding Farmers has been a runaway success for Agraria. The two restaurants combined for $10.5 million in sales during the year. Although the venture lost money over the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, Watne says the two restaurants are moving in the right direction.

 

“Founding Farmers dramatically exceeded sales goals in the first year and is now showing a weekly profit, as startup costs have been covered and operation costs are fine-tuned with expected levels,” Watne said.

At Agraria Restaurant, the bottom line was not quite as favorable, but after migrating management of the property and the brand to Vucurevich Simons Advisory Group, the property is headed in a whole new direction in terms of menu and branding — with hopes that those changes translate to the restaurant’s bottom line. Rebranded as Farmers & Fishers, the restaurant’s management hopes to capitalize on many features that work at its sister restaurant, Founding Farmers.

 

“We have made a number of changes and rebranded Agraria to match Founding Farmers, and we are seeing excellent sales growth compared to a year ago,” Watne said. “We placed VSAG — our project manager at Founding Farmers — in charge of Agraria, and they have changed the name and expanded the menu.

“Farmers & Fishers is being marketed as a sister restaurant to Founding Farmers, and we are trying to fill the place with private dining events.”

 

In addition to benefitting from the success of Founding Farmers, Fishers & Farmers will also benefit from sharing management with its sister restaurant. “We are sharing management, employees and product between the restaurants to improve overall efficiencies,” Watne said. “The 2008-09 year will show losses, but our management team is confident that we have turned this corner and should see overall profit with the combined restaurants in the 2009-10 year.”

 

For more information on the restaurants, visit www.fishersandfarmers.com and www.wearefoundingfarmers.com.