[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 237 (Friday, December 10, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69222-69223]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32012]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of the Chief Economist


Notice of Appointment of the Advisory Committee on Small Farms

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Economist, USDA.

ACTION: Notification of appointment to the Advisory Committee on Small 
Farms

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, in accordance with 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 2, announces members 
appointed to the Advisory Committee on Small Farms. Nineteen members 
were appointed from nominations of more than 100 well-qualified 
individuals, representing owners and operators of small farms, ranches 
and woodlots and the diverse groups USDA programs serve. Four of the 
appointed members served on the USDA's National Commission on Small 
Farms whose term expired in July 1999. Inclusion of previous Commission 
members will ensure the continued consideration and implementation of 
the recommendations made by the Commission in its report, ``A Time to 
Act.'' Equal opportunity practices were followed in appointing 
committee members. To ensure that the recommendations of advisory 
committee take into account the needs of the diverse groups served by 
the Department, membership includes, to the extent practicable, 
individuals with demonstrated ability to represent minorities, women 
and persons with disabilities
    The following appointments to the Advisory Committee on Small Farms 
have been made:
    Dr. James Harness, will serve as chair of the Committee. He is the 
Director of Special Programs and Associate Extension Administrator of 
Alcorn State University in Fayette, Mississippi, and member of the 
National Commission on Small Farms;
    Dayle Larue Aldridge, Director of Small Farms Outreach for the 
Oklahoma Landowners and Tenants Association in Taft, Oklahoma;
    Jon W. Anderson, Executive Secretary at the Vermont Department of 
Agriculture, Food and Markets in Montpelier, Vermont;
    Karen S. Armstrong-Cummings, Director, Commodity Growers 
Cooperative Association in Frankfort, Kentucky and member of the 
National Commission on Small Farms;
    Suzanne L. Bertrand, Small Farms Special Project Coordinator, 
Heifer Project International in Little Rock, Arkansas;
    Marion Long Bowlan, Farmer and Executive Director of Pennsylvania 
Farm Link, Inc. in Manheim, Pennsylvania and member of the National 
Commission on Small Farms;
    Don R. Crittenden, Farmer/Rancher, Cherokee National Tribal Council 
Member in Taklequah, Oklahoma;
    Harold Eugene Garrett, Professor and Director of the Center for 
Agroforestry, University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri;
    Helen Gonzalez, Farmer and Director of Farmers Feed Cooperative, 
St. Croix, Virgin Islands;
    Luz Bazan Gutierrez, President, Washington Association of Minority 
Entrepreneurs, Inc., in Yakima, Washington;
    Neil D. Hamilton, Director of Agricultural Law Center and Professor 
of Law, Drake University Law School in Waukee, Iowa;
    Golden J. Hardy, Farmer and member of Jefferson County Farm Service 
Agency Committee in Beaumont, Texas;
    Archilus L. Hart, Assistant to the Commissioner of Agriculture on 
Small Farms Agricultural Policy in Knightdale, North Carolina;
    Edgar J. Hicks, President, DHV Inc., a farmers commodities 
corporation in Omaha, Nebraska;
    Majorie Jarrett, Rancher in Wray, Colorado;
    Calvin R. King, Sr., Founder and Executive Director, Arkansas Land 
and Farm Development Corporation in Aubrey, Arkansas;
    George L. Siemon, Farmer and CEO, Organic Valley Cooperative in 
Viroqua, Wisconsin;
    Ranuir Singh, Fruit farmer in Marysville, California;
    Thomas Joseph Trantham, Jr., Dairy farmer in Pelzer, South Carolina 
and member of the National Commission on Small Farms.
    Committee members will serve two-year terms. In the event of a 
vacancy, the Secretary will appoint a new member as appropriate and 
subject to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The 
duties of the Committee are solely advisory. The Committee will monitor 
government and private sector actions, policy and program proposals 
that relate to small farms, ranches and woodlots, including limited-
resource farms, ranches and woodlots, and evaluate the impact such 
actions and proposals may have upon their viability and economic 
livelihood. The Committee will review USDA programs and strategies to 
implement small farm policy, advise the Secretary on actions to 
strengthen USDA programs; and evaluate other approaches that the 
Committee would deem advisable or which the Secretary of Agriculture or 
the Director of Sustainable Development and Small Farms may request the 
Committee to consider. The Committee will advise the Secretary through 
an annual report and other means as necessary and appropriate.
    The Committee will hold at least one public meeting per year, and 
conduct working sessions and teleconference calls as determined by the 
Chair.

[[Page 69223]]

Committee members will serve without pay. Reimbursement of travel 
expenses and per diem costs shall be made to Committee members who 
would be unable to attend Committee meetings without such 
reimbursement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions should be e-mailed to 
[email protected] or [email protected], faxed to 202-720-0443, or 
telephoned to Alfonzo Drain, 202-720-3238; all mailed correspondence 
should be sent to Alfonzo Drain, Office of the Chief Economist, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Room 112-A, Jamie L. Whitten Building, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-310.

    Dated: December 1, 1999.
Keith Collins,
Chief Economist, Office of the Chief Economist.
[FR Doc. 99-32012 Filed 12-9-99 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-KG-M