"Secretary Johanns has been a champion of important reforms in farm policy. We will miss the courage and tenacity with which he challenged the status quo in farm subsidies. Our hope is that the Bush administration will continue to press for changes like stricter payment limits and more support for conservation programs. We wish Secretary Johanns the best of luck."

"Chuck Conner is one of the best minds and practitioners in agriculture policy."

Ken Cook
President
Environmental Working Group

Ian Swanson and Kevin Bogardus from the Hill newspaper continue to do great reporting on the issue of black farmers and Pigford remedies. Last Thursday they reported on Secretary Johanns strong rebuke of USDA employee lobbying actions to strip Pigford remedies from the House version of the 2007 Farm Bill. Their story this morning details how Senator Barack Obama's work on the plight of black farmers could position him to gain crucial votes in the South.

“I have yet to do a town hall meeting and not have someone ask me about the settlement,” said Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who helped bring the matter to Obama’s attention. “It’s a supremely large issue in the black rural community in the South.”

and

Obama also plans to discuss his commitment to bring relief to black farmers on the campaign trail over the next few months, according to an aide on his presidential campaign.

National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd said Obama’s position as a leader on the Pigford issue could “absolutely, unequivocally” help him politically.

“I think this will help Obama with black voters split between Hillary Clinton and Obama,” said Boyd, who said he was happy to see Obama speak out publicly on Pigford because there have been too few champions of black farmers in the Senate.

Davis, who has endorsed Obama, rattles off the Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia primaries as elections where a sizable number of voters will care about a candidate’s stance on Pigford.

The Hill newspaper reported today on developments in the ongoing saga of black farmers seeking justice from the USDA. Mulch broke the story about USDA employees lobbying to have Pigford remedies stripped from the 2007 Farm Bill because of the 'boat load' of work it would cause them.

Senator Obama and Congressman Towns have raised tough questions about the employee lobbying, with Towns calling for an independent investigation. Now today per the Hill piece, USDA Secretary Johanns has taken a hard stance on USDA employees who may have used government computers and time to lobby against black farmer's claims for equity in federal farm assistance.

Johanns on Tuesday told reporters that members of Congress were “justifiably” upset about an e-mail that called on Farm Service Agency (FSA) employees to lobby against the language. He said such lobbying would violate USDA rules prohibiting grassroots lobbying by employees.

“I must admit, it’s painful for me that we have an e-mail out there that advocated a given position,” Johanns said Tuesday. “That really upset Congress, and I don’t want that to jeopardize what has been a very positive view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and what we can offer in the policy debate.”

He described the matter as a personnel issue, and said it was being investigated within the USDA. “We are not a lobbying agency here,” he said. “In fact, there are rules against that. So let me just speak very strongly that that is not permitted here.”

Read it all here.

If you missed it on Sunday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran an excellent editorial [reg required] on the 2007 Farm Bill that lays out the need for reform from the conservation angle.

In 2005 the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent more than $100 million in crop subsidies to southern Minnesota, including $1.7 million to a single corporate farm. Meanwhile, scores of farmers who wanted help converting to organic and conservation agriculture were turned away for lack of funds.

This is a terrible expression of national priorities and an indefensible misuse of the taxpayer's money. It must change as Congress finishes work on major farm legislation this fall, and Minnesota's two U.S. senators are in a position to help as action moves to the Senate this month.

Very modest changes in the big farm programs could give Minnesota cleaner trout streams, improved wildlife habitat and a healthier food supply.

Also, CNBC's Business Nation will be running this in-depth 12 minute package on farm subsidies throughout September that features EWG.

Click here to view the entire piece.

Yesterday, EWG released a new report detailing the failings of current conservation programs and it is already gaining notice.

Arkansas Democrat Gazette - Farmland erosion expands dead zone

Agricultural erosion this year in the Mississippi River basin has helped create the third-largest “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico’s history, according to a report released Monday by the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D. C.-based nonprofit.

Des Moines Register - Environmentalists urge farm runoff crackdown

“It’s high time for Congress to require more environmental protection in exchange for farm subsidies, especially now, when budgets are tight, and there isn’t enough money to solve problems with the conventional voluntary cost-share approach,” said Michelle Perez, a senior analyst for the Washington-based Environmental Working Group and the report’s chief author.

Reuters - U.S. farmers should curb fertilizer runoff: study

In light of the boom in fuel ethanol, EWG said conservation compliance should be expanded to cover all land eligible for federal crop subsidies and to cover nutrient runoff "associated with the increase in agricultural biofuels production."

Go here for the full report

Ag Secretary Mike Johanns has been using a map of farm subsidy recipients in New York City to illustrate the need for farm bill reform. My colleague Carrie Gouldin has kicked it up a notch.

You may envision your farm subsidy dollars going to hardworking farmers on picturesque farms, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Every year absentee landowners, corporations and other "farmers" collect hundreds of millions of dollars in farm subsidies, all while living smack in the middle of some of America's wealthiest metropolitan areas. All you need to qualify for farm subsidy payments is a stake in qualifying farmland (and a good lawyer to help you wade through the paperwork). Last time we checked there were no farms on 5th Avenue, but somehow people are getting big bucks to "farm" there anyway. See the maps after the jump.