Update of Progress on Section 1619 of the 2008 Farm Bill

In late September the congressional agricultural committees asked the major farm organizations, the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation to find out where their membership stands on Section 1619 of the 2008 Farm Bill.

The National Farmers Union has given assurance that they are in support of reinstating public access to CLU data.  However, we have found that there are personnel within the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) who are reluctant to support a change to Section 1619 stating privacy concerns.  We need to remind people that there is no compliance, CRP, wetlands or other personal information in the CLU data.  CLU data greatly benefits businesses who work closely with the producer providing more timely, accurate, and cost effective services. 

Recently a resolution was passed by the North Dakota Farm Bureau under: "National Policy Recommendations, USDA: Programs and Services" which asks for the reinstatement of the CLU data to the public domain. This resolution will be presented for discussion and a vote at the AFBF 90th Convention and Annual Meeting being held January 11-14, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas.  This is good news but, we still have work to do.

At this time it is important that you call your state Farm Bureau office.  Ask them to have their state delegates to the AFBF’s annual meeting support the resolution to reinstate the CLU data back into the public domain.  We only have a short time to bring awareness to this resolution so, we are asking that you call right away. 

To assist you we've provided a list of contacts at the State Farm Bureaus below.  Find your state's Farm Bureau by selecting your state from the dropdown list below.