RELATING TO PRACTICES INVOLVING THE MARKETING OF LIVESTOCK CONCERNING PACKERS, BY PROVIDING FOR THE REGULATION OF CERTAIN PURCHASE INFORMATION AND CONTRACTING, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES AND EFFECTIVE DATES.… Read More
The price discrimination provision of SB 95 was overturned in a July 1999 case brought by the American Meat Institute (AMI), an industry trade group. The law was interpreted as extending uniform pricing to other states "for livestock purchased for slaughter in this state," thereby interfering with interstate commerce." The price disclosure/reporting provision remains in effect, harmonized with the national price reporting legislation passed in 1999.… Read More
A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to livestock; to adopt the Competitive Livestock Markets Act; and to declare an emergency.
Prior to 1999, Georgia levied ad valorem taxes for some agricultural commodities, such as fruit and nut trees and livestock. Legislation passed in 1998 relieved small scale farmers of this additional burden. For other crops, such as ornamental trees and shrubs, the possibility of ad valorem taxation was eliminated.
The legislation is noteworthy not because of the tax impact- farmers will save about $ 2.5 million a year, or an average of less than $20,000 per Georgia county- but because it targets those tax cuts to a well defined "family farm" scale agriculture.
This program allows recipients of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to receive part of their supplemental food aid in the form of coupons that can be redeemed at local farms and farmers markets. In 2009, about 2.2 million recipients received farmers’ market benefits. Coupons redeemed through the FMNP resulted in over $20 million in revenue for farmers in 2009. More than 17,000 farms, 3,600 farmers markets, and 2,600 roadside stands are authorized to accept WIC FMNP coupons.… Read More
Colleges and Universities, especially the nation’s land grant universities are a perfect laboratory for policies that support locally-grown and/or organic food supplies. The University of Wisconsin’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems completed a survey of schools in 1998 and identified a handful that had policies in place that supplied their food service departments with significant quantities of locally grown and/or organic food.… Read More
In 1967, the Wholesome Meat Inspection Act and the Wholesome Poultry Products Act authorized states with inspection programs certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as "at least equal to" the federal program to inspect meat and poultry products for distribution within a state’s borders. An adversarial relationship between state programs and the USDA and little interest in direct marketing caused many of the programs to be dropped. Today, meat producers interests in niche markets and marketing have resulted in 25 state meat inspection programs being reinstated and expanded across the country.… Read More
The Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) is a program established by USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). Under the program, CCC makes grants to States and Indian tribal governments to provide coupons to low-income seniors that may be exchanged for eligible foods at farmers markets, roadside stands, and community supported agriculture programs.… Read More
This Iowa county has a two-pronged policy approach to encourage the production and use of locally grown organic food. First, there is a property tax rebate for farmers who convert from conventional to organic farming practices. The second approach is a mandate that the County purchase locally grown organic food through its food service contractor.… Read More