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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: BBGREGSON AT cs.com
  • To: mjb AT premier1.net, hogsback AT oz.net, jjs1 AT jps.net, terryann AT nwrain.com, timchris AT wolfenet.com, Mary AT oz.net, Steve.Evans AT metrokc.gov, feise AT wsu.edu, granats AT wsu.edu, market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu, musickhall AT jps.net, eric-k.nelson AT metrokc.gov, Martin AT greenmanfarm.com, shelley AT whistlingtrainfarm.com, doug.stienbarger AT co.clark.wa.us, mjberry AT fidalgo.net, beusc AT wsu.edu, pgutierrez AT wsu.edu, glawe AT wsu.edu, michaelh AT co.skagit.wa.us, zuiches AT wsu.edu
  • Subject: DC Lobbying Comments
  • Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 01:55:51 EDT


Hello all,

Here are some informal comments about my recent experience lobbying on behalf
of Cooperative Extension in DC. I offer them because some of you may lobby
in the future, or have constituents who would like to lobby on your behalf or
related to other ag matters...or some of you may have future influence over
the Extension conference that precedes the actual day of lobbying....or some
of you might want to hear a Western WA, small sustainable farm version of the
events. Remember, this is from a neophyte who knows nothing about this
except from this one small experience.

1. The Extension Leadership conference was kind of lame, but there was good
info about lobbying applicable almost anywhere: (this sounds basic, but it is
apparently forgotten sometimes) Thank the person for what he/she has done in
the past; ask for something specific; suggest something you can do for them
in their district (like a photo op on a farm tour, etc); write subsequent
issue letters to them---they get blasted with orchestrated email, and
relatively ignore that in favor of letters; deal with the staff person
related to your interests and keep in touch with him/her through brief
updates or info about what your group is doing/accomplishing. "The essence
of lobbying is wearing them down"

2. Most of the ag staffers in DC are 20-somethings with no ag experience, and
some have almost no personal knowledge of their district---they lean on the
advice of other key ag staffers and lobbying directed at them.

3. Extension is fairly well known but is not well understood. Most appeared
to think of Extension as a few guys in boots out working with the
(diminishing) farm community. Some apparently had concerns that money
allocated to Extension went mostly to administration and to programs that
didn't relate to the small scale of farming in their more urban districts.
(This could be an important issue to clarify to get more support from urban
legislators.) They also didn't seem to know/remember much about family
programs and the like that Extension does.

4. I have the names and email or other addresses of the ag staffers we met,
and will be happy to pass any on to you if you so desire.

5. I think we in Western WA have a very good chance of influencing every one
of our representatives, with the possible exception of Jennifer Dunn in the
8th Dist. (I think her staffer may rely on Rep's Nethercutt and Hastings
positions, and will require a lot of work by those of you in the 8th to get
her attention), and they all seemed very open to hearing from us and being
"educated". Apparently Rep. Adam Smith and his ag staffer Shana Chandler
have visited the Puyallup facility, and the way she told it, it was quite a
positive experience. I think County Extension Chairs and farmers' market
coordinators can probably locally do more of the same to their great benefit.
I frankly felt more positive about the interest level and general prospects
for help and cooperation from our DC reps than from many of those in Olympia.


6. The staff and rep's in DC seemed so beseiged by lobbyists (like us!)every
half hour that they don't have time to think, read, ponder, etc., so
experiential learning like touring something interesting in their districts

(with photo ops and the local press) is the very best. Don't bother sending
newsletters or similar reading material in most cases---send highlights,
results, summaries. (Some good opportunities for you, Chris Curtis, re:
farmers market successes.)

7. All we met were quick to point out that this year's budget is constrained
to a 4% increase in most cases, and would thus be very tight...that all the
attention is being focused on some huge surplus that might accrue over the
next 15 years, but the nitty gritty of this year is the real issue. I didn't
sense a lot of support for the proposed Extension 15% increase in each of the
next 5 years. But they were not negative, they just didn't know what all
Extension does and impacts. So you WSU folks have a grass roots education
job to show that Extension makes a difference on the local level, and that
the dollars do go to cost-effective programs, properly prioritized to reach
desired populations in their districts. I had the strong impression that the
concept of small farms and organics are matters of interest to many of
them...they perked up their ears and enjoyed hearing a positive message that
we (small, organic, sustainable) were coming on strong and would be in touch
through the Network. It was a new message to many of them. And an
opportunity for WSU institutionally.

These are novice impressions only, so take them for what they are worth. It
was an interesting experience that I recommend but would not want to do again!

Cheers,

Bob



  • DC Lobbying Comments, BBGREGSON, 04/02/2001

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