Making Changes: Turning Local Visions into National Solutions

This publication details the recommendations generated by participants in a five-year Agriculture Policy Project of the Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural & Environmental Policy at Winrock International. The 350 farmers, livestock producers, business people, and civic leaders who participated recommended means of improving U.S. farm and rural development policies, focusing specifically on changes that will promote a sustainable food and agricultural system. For instance, they explored programmes to enhance agricultural marketing, strengthen farmland protection, and address water and air quality.

The table of contents includes:

• Acknowledgements
• Policy Advisory Team
• Foreword
• List of Acronyms
• Executive Summary
• Project Overview
• Issue Area 1: Federal Agriculture Policy Explicitly Supporting Small and Diversified Farms
• Issue Area 2: Market Access in the Face of Consolidation and Vertical Integration
• Cooperative control and concentration in the agricultural sector
• Agricultural contract markets
• Issue Area 3: Alternative Marketing Channels
• Promotion of cooperatives and other organized, value-added marketing strategies
• Market development strategies for farmers' markets and direct marketing
• The effect of increased regulation on small-scale producers, processors, and/or direct marketers
• Issue Area 4: Research and Cooperative Extension
• Research and education on new market opportunities
• Stakeholder input
• Multi-disciplinary research
• Issue Area 5: Economic and Rural Development
• Federal assistance to promote agriculture as part of rural development programs and policies
• Small agricultural businesses and lending programs
• The role of the SBA and SBDCs in stimulating agricultural enterprises
• Conflict resolution in rural communities
• Issue Area 6: Special Populations of Farmers and Farmers in Pockets of Poverty
• Issue Area 7: Young, Beginning, and Retiring Farmers and Ranchers
• Credit for new farmers and ranchers
• Strengthening other beginning farmer and rancher programs
• Issue Area 8: Farmland Preservation and Sprawl Management
• Strengthening and broadening USDA's Farmland Protection Program
• Supporting the National Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Linking farmland protection, natural resource conservation, and agricultural economic development
• Issue Area 9: Water and Air Quality
• Comprehensive nutrient management planning
• Air quality
• Policy coordination for water and air pollution
• References
• Appendix A: Index to Visioning Sessions
• Appendix B: Index to Recommendations