Organic Grower Wins Suit Against Non-Organic Grower (by Cecilia Parsons, Capital Press)

 

The Office of Markets, the precursor to the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), was established in 1913 to standardize the egg market, as well as to introduce a system of grading. The use of the federal grade standards evolved slowly and was fully adopted only during World War II, when food meant for soldiers had to be inspected and graded because of the inconsistent quality of foods. These functions were later consolidated into AMS’ poultry programs.

In July 1939, the marketing service, research, and regulatory functions of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Dairy Industry, and Food and Drug Administration were transferred to the newly established Agricultural Marketing Service.

 

AMS, except for the Division of Agricultural Statistics, which returned to the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, was consolidated with the Surplus Marketing Administration, the Commodity Exchange Administration, and the Division of Consumers’ Counsel of the Agricultural Adjustment Agency to form the Agricultural Marketing Administration by executive order on February 23, 1942.

In 1935, Congress enacted the Tobacco Inspection Act, which established uniform standards on which to base marketing decisions for tobacco products. This legislation also authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to designate tobacco auction markets where tobacco growers could receive mandatory inspection of each lot of tobacco.

 

The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Transition Act of 2004 eliminated price supports and marketing quotas for all tobacco, beginning with the 2005 crop year. Mandatory inspection and grading of tobacco was eliminated, as well as the mandatory pesticide testing of imported tobacco and the tobacco news program. Instead, the Tobacco Division made these inspections, as well as grading and pesticide testing, voluntary.

 

A division of the US Department of Agriculture, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)  administers programs in six commodity areas, including cotton, dairy, fruit and vegetable, livestock and seed, poultry, and tobacco. These programs provide testing, standardization, grading and market news services and oversee marketing agreements and orders, administer research and promotion programs, and purchase commodities for federal food programs. The AMS also enforces federal laws such as the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and the Federal Seed Act.

 

AMS is divided into numerous divisions and programs, each with its own responsibilities. For example, the agency's Microbiological Data Program monitors cantaloupe, green onions, lettuce, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts for three types of bacterial contamination. The Science and Technology Program provides centralized scientific support to AMS programs, including laboratory analyses, laboratory quality assurance, coordination of scientific research conducted by other agencies for AMS, and statistical and mathematical consulting services. The Science and Technology Division”s Plant Variety Protection Office issues certificates of protection for new varieties of sexually reproduced plants and conducts a program to collect and analyze data about pesticide residue levels in agricultural commodities. The Science and Technology Division also administers a pesticide recordkeeping program that requires all certified private applicators of federally restricted-use pesticide to maintain records of all applications.

 

The Transportation and Marketing Program supplies research and technical information regarding the nation’s food transportation system to producers, producer groups, shippers, exporters, rural communities, carriers, government agencies and universities. The program also administers a program involving financial grants to states for marketing improvements. In addition, the division assists in the planning and design of marketing facilities, processes, and methods in cooperation with state and local governments, universities, farmer groups, and other segments of the US food industry. This program is intended to enhance the overall effectiveness of the food marketing system, provide better quality products to the consumer at reasonable cost, improve market access for growers with farms of small to medium size, and promote regional economic development.

 

Following is a complete list of AMS’ programs:

 

 

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) spent nearly $5.9 billion on 1,483 contractors this decade. According to USASpending.gov, AMS paid for a variety of services, all earmarked “subsistence” in support of its goals.  

 

The top 10 contractors are as follows: 

 

 

, AMS’ largest contractor, is a leading manufacturer of chicken, turkey and egg products. It employs 53,500 people in the United States and Mexico and has net sales totaling $7.6 billion (in 2007). 

, the agency’s second largest contractor, has been in business for 60 years and is the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork.

 

AMS oversees and administers a National Organic Program (NOP) as part of the Organic Foods Production Act. The program is based on federal regulations that define standard organic farming practices and a national list of acceptable organic production inputs. It is illegal for anyone to use the word organic on a product if it does not meet these standards. The act also called for the establishment of a 15-member National Organic Standards Board to help develop these standards. However, organic farmers have raised concerns that the USDA was blurring the distinctions between conventional and organic agriculture. Senators announced that the USDA would make revisions to its proposed national organic standards as a result of these concerns.

Organic Foods and the Proposed Federal Certification and Labeling Program (by Jean M. Rawson, CRS for Congress)

 

In June 2003, critics of labeling meat products according to their country of origin (COOL) met with the House Agriculture Committee in Washington, DC. More than a dozen witnesses from USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and industry groups gave testimony and answered pointed questions from the committee. Origin labeling covering produce, meats, fish and peanuts was to be mandatory by September 30, 2004. Meat processors, especially, said that the voluntary guidelines issued by the Food and Drug Administration were impractical to meet. The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association urged USDA to expedite the rulemaking process for mandatory origin labeling.

House AG Committee Hammers USDA and Meat Labeling Proponents (Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association)

Hot Issues and Cool Rules (by Bradley D. Lubben, Kansas State University) (PDF)

 

In January 2006, US dairy interests met with representatives from the Agriculture Department, AMS and other federal agencies to lodge their protests on the “make-allowance” issue. “Make-allowance” is the federal term for the amount of money, on a cent per pound basis, which a processor of cheddar cheese, butter, nonfat milk, dry milk and dry whey may hold out before returning the rest of the money to milk producers. Dairy producers want changes made to these rules to reflect changes in manufacturing and transportation costs. 

(by Cameron Thraen, Ohio State University) (PDF)