Category: Agriculture

MIL-OSI Global: The audacity of Kamala Harris’ laughter – and the racist roots of Trump’s derision

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Betsy Huang, Professor of English, Clark University

A split image of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during the presidential debate on Sept. 10, 2024. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images

Just when the summer uproar over Donald Trump calling his potential rival “Laffin’ Kamala” and “Cackling Copilot Kamala Harris” was beginning to subside, an apparent new round of attacks by Trump and other Republicans has emerged after their initial U.S. presidential debate.

The target – again – was Kamala Harris’ laugh.

Three days after the debate, for instance, Bruce Zuchowski, an Ohio sheriff, posted on his Facebook account that Harris was a “laughing hyena.” Zuchowski was subsequently barred from providing election security during in-person voting.

Conservative media commentators also have voiced their displeasure, calling Harris’ laugh “contemptuous, ”exaggerated“ and ”inappropriate.“

This is not surprising, given that Harris’ laughter was on full display during much of the nationally televised debate – and, worse, Trump was clearly the object of her unrelenting derision.

Much has been written already about the sexism and racism behind Trump’s contempt for Harris’ laugh.

But in a little-known, 1985 essay called ”An Extravagance of Laughter,“ celebrated American writer Ralph Ellison provided a sharp analysis of the subversive power of Black laughter in 1930s America.

Ellison’s essay, published in a 1986 collection “Going to the Territory,” still offers useful historical racial context for explaining Trump’s animus toward Harris. Among the stories Ellison tells: Black people once had to put their heads in a barrel to laugh because their laughter unnerved white Southerners.

The dangers of Black laughter

Best known for his 1952 novel “Invisible Man,” Ellison was one of America’s foremost social critics who confronted racism and white supremacy by telling the stories of alienation among everyday Black people searching for identity in a nation that deemed them inferior.

In “An Extravagance of Laughter,” Ellison began with an anecdote about attending a theater adaptation of Erskine Caldwell’s novel “Tobacco Road” in New York City in 1936. The popular play detailed the lives of destitute white sharecroppers during the Great Depression. The sharecroppers feared, among other things, losing their social status by dropping below the lower rung reserved for Black people in America.

While laughing uncontrollably at a comical scene in the play involving the antics of poor white Georgia farmers, Ellison became aware of the stir he was causing among the predominantly white audience.

American novelist Ralph Ellison in 1963.
Ben Martin/Getty Images

For many white Americans, Black laughter was “a peculiar form of insanity suffered exclusively by Negroes, who in light of their social status and past condition of servitude were regarded as having absolutely nothing in their daily experience which could possibly inspire rational laughter,” Ellison explained.

As Ellison saw it, his laugh during the play was being construed as an affirmation of the Black buffoon stereotype.

As he described it, the white spectators were “catching fire and beginning to howl and cheer the disgraceful loss of control being exhibited” by a Black man.

Later in the essay, Ellison lampoons the use of “laughing barrels” in Southern towns, which he described as “huge whitewashed barrels labeled FOR COLORED, and into which any Negro who felt a laugh coming on was forced … to thrust his boisterous head.”

The intent of suppressing Black laughter, Ellison explained, was pro bono publico, or for the public good.

Stories of the use of barrels to block offensive Black laughter from public view have been well studied by scholars and are believed to be the origin of the expression “barrel of laughs.”

While the idea of the barrels may seem utterly ridiculous, Ellison understood them as an absurd strategy of containment for a not-so-absurd fear in post-Reconstruction and Jim Crow white America, when racial segregation was legal.

Black folks who laugh “turned the world upside down and inside out,” he explained.

And in so doing, Ellison wrote, Black laughter “in-verted (and thus sub-verted) tradition and thus the preordained and cherished scheme of Southern racial relationships was blasted asunder.”

In a 1983 letter celebrating Caldwell’s birthday, Ellison thanked the writer – “by giving artistic sanction to a source of comedy which in the interest of self-protection I had been forced to deny myself you had released me from three turbulent years of self-restraint.”

Flipping the script on who gets to laugh

The first time Trump found himself the object of Black laughter was during the 2011 White House correspondents’ dinner, where he was publicly and mercilessly roasted by a gleeful Barack Obama. The experience appeared to humiliate and infuriate Trump and is widely seen by political pundits as the catalyst for Trump’s entrance into the 2016 presidential race.

It is not surprising, then, to see his campaign resurrect the rhetoric that many deem to be racist to erode public confidence in Harris’ fitness for the office.

During the debate, Trump repeatedly accused Harris of “destroying the fabric of our country” with “insane” policies. Trump had previously called Harris “dumb as a rock” and “a radical left lunatic.”

In this Harper’s Weekly cartoon published in 1874, two Black legislators are arguing in front of their white colleagues.
Fotosearch/Getty Images

These hearken to the long and shameful history of racist characterizations of Black Americans as menaces to society. They include depictions of unruly, newly emancipated Black men holding public office in D.W. Griffith’s 1915 “The Birth of a Nation” to Trump’s public call for the death penalty for the Black and Hispanic teens known as the Central Park Five in a full-page New York Times ad in 1989.

In that case, the teen boys were falsely accused of the brutal assault of a white New York jogger. They served years in prison before being exonerated by DNA and the confession of a convicted rapist and murderer.

America’s new racial and gender norms

Trump’s mockery of Harris’ laughter has not been successful in neutralizing her popularity.

Harris is widely regarded by political commentators as the winner of the debate, and the lasting impression is that of a glowering Trump repeatedly failing to put a stop to Harris’ mirthful expressions of incredulity.

Almost a century has passed since Ellison’s disruptive laugh occurred in a New York theater in 1936. In that time, both Obama and Harris have reordered traditional gender and racial norms by using Black laughter in the very public theater of U.S. presidential politics.

Betsy Huang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The audacity of Kamala Harris’ laughter – and the racist roots of Trump’s derision – https://theconversation.com/the-audacity-of-kamala-harris-laughter-and-the-racist-roots-of-trumps-derision-238189

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Airdropping vaccines to eliminate canine rabies in Texas – two scientists explain the decades of research behind its success

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rodney E. Rohde, Regents’ Professor & Chair, Medical Laboratory Science, Texas State University

Rabies is a fatal disease for both animals and people. CDC/Barbara Andrews

Rabies is a deadly disease. Without vaccination, a rabies infection is nearly 100% fatal once someone develops symptoms. Texas has experienced two rabies epidemics in animals since 1988: one involving coyotes and dogs in south Texas, and the other involving gray foxes in west central Texas. Affecting 74 counties, these outbreaks led to thousands of people who could have been exposed, two human deaths and countless animal lives lost.

In 1994, Gov. Ann Richards declared rabies a state health emergency. The Texas Department of State Health Services responded by launching the Oral Rabies Vaccination Program to control the spread of these wildlife rabies outbreaks.

Since 1995, the program has distributed over 53 million doses of rabies vaccine over 758,100 square miles (nearly 2 million square kilometers) in Texas by hand or aircraft. Rabies cases in dogs and coyotes went from 141 to 0 by 2005, and rabies cases in foxes went from 101 to 0 by 2014. By 2004, one canine rabies variant was effectively eliminated from Texas, and another variant was substantially controlled.

We are researchers who began studying wildlife rabies and oral vaccination in the 1980s. From providing a proof of concept in using oral vaccines in raccoons to being among the first to use new rabies vaccines in the 1990s, we were on the ground floor of efforts to contain this deadly virus.

Decades of vaccine research led to one of the most successful public health projects in Texas. And we’re hopeful it could provide a road map for the use of mass wildlife vaccination to prevent future outbreaks.

Developing the oral rabies vaccine

The Texas Oral Rabies Vaccination Program benefited greatly from the work of multiple researchers over prior decades.

The mid-20th century saw several major developments in rabies control. With the failure of efforts to poison or trap infected animals, virologist and veterinarian George Baer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized the need for a different strategy to prevent and control wildlife rabies. His and his colleagues’ work in the 1960s led to the concept of oral rabies vaccination. While orally vaccinating wildlife would help combat infection at its source, it was previously thought to be logistically unfeasible given the large range of target animals.

By the late 1970s, European researchers began the first field trials to orally vaccinate foxes against rabies. Small plastic containers were filled with vaccines and placed into baits, such as chicken heads. Over 50,000 of these vaccine-laden baits were distributed over four years in fox habitats in forests and fields.

Early vaccine baits were coated with fishmeal crumbles and cod liver oil.
Maki et al/Veterinary Research, CC BY-ND

Researchers in Canada also began similar field trials in Ontario. During the 1980s, an average of 235 rabid foxes per year were reported in the area. Baits containing oral rabies vaccine were dropped annually from 1989 to 1995 and successfully eliminated the fox variant of rabies from the whole area.

Recombinant oral rabies vaccine

The first generation of these vaccines used live viruses modified in an attempt to not cause severe disease. Although effective and generally safe, the original rabies vaccines had to be kept in cool temperatures and had the rare risk of causing rabies in animals.

In the early 1980s, scientists developed recombinant rabies vaccines, which use a separate virus to express the genes of the rabies virus. A collaboration between a nonprofit institute, the U.S. government, and the pharmaceutical industry led to the development of a recombinant viral vaccine that produced a rapid immune response against rabies without the possibility of causing rabies.

In 1984, preliminary work in laboratory animals showed the promise of using an oral form of the recombinant vaccine to vaccinate animals. However, the concept of using genetically modified organisms was in its infancy among both scientists and the general public. While the vaccine was safe and effective in captive raccoons and foxes, major questions loomed over how it might affect other species once released into the environment.

After years of work improving the vaccine’s design and testing its safety in several nonhuman species, the first European trial was held on a military base in Belgium. With data supporting it could safely and effectively control wildlife in Luxembourg and France, the vaccine was licensed to control fox rabies in 1995.

In the U.S., similar studies of the oral recombinant rabies vaccine were conducted. The first trial began in 1990 at Parramore Island off the Virginia coast, and a year of intensive monitoring found no significant adverse effects on the environment or any wildlife species. A second yearlong study on the mainland near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, had similarly positive results.

After the vaccine was successfully used to control raccoon rabies in tests in several other East Coast states, it was approved for use on raccoons in 1997.

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received funding to expand existing oral wildlife vaccination projects to states of strategic importance, to prevent the spread of specific rabies viruses, and to coordinate interstate projects.

Results in Texas

In Texas, the oral recombinant vaccine is now primarily distributed by hand and by approximately 75 separate helicopter flights annually.

The Texas Department of State Health Services rabies laboratory worked alongside the CDC to create the Regional Rabies Virus Reference Typing Laboratory. One of us was recruited to both distribute the vaccine in the field and to develop molecular typing tools to discriminate between different types of rabies virus variants in the lab. These techniques allowed us to identify where different rabies virus variants were emerging at any given moment.

The Texas Oral Rabies Vaccination Program continues to monitor and control rabies cases in the state.

Our lab was also the first in the nation outside of the CDC to assist other U.S. states and countries in testing their specimens for rabies virus variants. These techniques helped researchers monitor where the rabies epizootic was ongoing or retreating due to wildlife vaccination and new forms of spread.

With the constant threat of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases like COVID-19 and influenza, the prospect of mass vaccination of wild animals may be one way to address future pandemics. Though there is much work ahead of us, we have hope that we may one day have the option of using mass wildlife vaccination to reduce or eliminate infectious diseases like rabies.

Rodney E. Rohde has received funding from the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, U.S. Department of Labor (OSHA), and other public and private entities/foundations. Rohde is affiliated with ASCP, ASCLS, ASM, and serves on several scientific advisory boards.

Charles E. Rupprecht consults for global academic, governmental, industrial and NGO organizations. He receives funding from academic, governmental, industrial, and NGO sources.

– ref. Airdropping vaccines to eliminate canine rabies in Texas – two scientists explain the decades of research behind its success – https://theconversation.com/airdropping-vaccines-to-eliminate-canine-rabies-in-texas-two-scientists-explain-the-decades-of-research-behind-its-success-238508

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Fungal infections known as valley fever could spike this fall – 3 epidemiologists explain how to protect yourself

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jennifer Head, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan

As the climate warms and landscapes become drier, researchers fear that valley fever could spread across other regions of the U.S. Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As the climate warms, the southwestern U.S. is increasingly experiencing weather whiplash as the region swings from drought to flooding and back again. As a result, the public is hearing more about little-known infectious diseases, such as valley fever.

In May 2024, about 20,000 people attended a music festival in Buena Vista Lake, California. In the months that followed, at least 19 developed valley fever, and eight were hospitalized from their infection. This outbreak follows a dramatic increase of more than 800% in valley fever infections in California between 2000 and 2018.

In 2023, California reported the second-highest number of valley fever cases on record, with more than 9,000 cases reported statewide. And between April 2023 and March 2024, California provisionally reported 10,593 cases – 40% more than during the same period the prior year.

The Conversation U.S. asked Jennifer Head, Simon Camponuri and Alexandra Heaney – researchers specializing in the epidemiology of valley fever – to explain what valley fever is, and what might explain its rise in recent years.

What is valley fever, and how do you get infected?

Valley fever is the common name for a disease called coccidioidomycosis, which is an infection caused by pathogenic fungi from the Coccidioides genus. The fungi are primarily found in arid soils of the southwestern United States, as well as parts of Central and South America.

When the fungus has access to moisture and nutrients, it grows long, branching fungal chains throughout the soil. When the soil dries out, these chains fragment to form fungal spores, which can be stirred up into the air when the soil is disturbed, such as by wind or digging. Airborne spores can then be inhaled and cause a respiratory infection.

Cases of valley fever are typically highest in California’s southern San Joaquin Valley and southern Arizona, but they have been increasing outside of these regions. Between 2000 and 2018, the incidence of valley fever cases increased fifteenfold in the northern San Joaquin Valley and eightfold along the Southern California coast. And between 2014 and 2018, incidence increased by more than eightfold along the central coast.

Because of these trends and the virulence of the pathogen that causes valley fever, it is listed as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization. Historically, fungal infections have received very little attention and resources. By creating this list, the WHO is hoping to galvanize action surrounding listed pathogens, including getting more resources for research as well as the development of new treatments.

Coccidioides immitis, one of the two species of fungus that cause valley fever.
Smith Collection-Gado/Archive Photos via Getty Images

What are the symptoms, and what should people be looking for?

After inhaling fungal spores from the environment, Coccidioides initially infects the lungs, causing symptoms like mild to severe cough, fever, difficulty breathing, chest pain and tiredness. Valley fever symptoms can resemble other common respiratory infections, so it’s important for people to get checked by a doctor if they’ve experienced prolonged symptoms, particularly if they have been given antibiotics that they are not responding to.

In California and Arizona, an estimated one-third of community-acquired pneumonia cases – or pneumonia acquired outside of the hospital – are caused by valley fever. However, only a fraction of community-acquired pneumonia cases get tested for it, so it’s likely the number of valley fever cases is significantly higher. Among diagnosed cases, half experienced symptoms for two months or more before being diagnosed.

In 5% to 10% of cases, the fungus can spread from the lungs to other parts of the body, such as the central nervous system, liver and bones, causing meningitis or arthritis-like symptoms. These cases can be severe and possibly fatal.

Antifungal treatment is available, and early diagnosis and treatment is critical for better outcomes.

Jose Epifanio Sanchez Trujeque of Lebec, Calif., spent four months in the hospital after contracting valley fever in 2023.
The Washington Post/Getty Images

What time of year should you be most concerned?

Valley fever cases can occur year-round, but in California, cases reported via surveillance systems tend to increase starting in August and September, peak in November and return to background levels in January and February.

Researchers believe that patients are likely exposed to the fungus in the summer and early fall months, typically one to three months prior to their diagnosis. This delay accounts for time between when patients are exposed, develop symptoms and are diagnosed with the disease. While cases peak in the fall on average, seasonal strength and timing varies regionally.

Our research shows that this seasonal surge in the fall is especially strong following wetter winters and that alternation between dry and wet conditions is associated with increased incidence in fall months.

Valley fever cases in California nearly doubled following wet winters that occurred one and two years after the 2007-2009 and 2012-2015 droughts.

In 2023, California experienced a similar transition, with an extreme drought occurring between 2020-2022 followed by heavy precipitation in the winter of 2022-2023.

This transition was followed by a near-record spike in cases in 2023. The state experienced another wet winter during the 2023-2024 wet season, furthering concern about continued high risk for valley fever in 2024.

Our research team recently developed a model to forecast valley fever cases that will occur between April 2024 and March 2025 in California. We forecast that the state is likely to see another spike in cases during the fall and winter of 2024, on par with the spike in 2023.

During high-risk periods, clinicians should consider valley fever as a potential diagnosis. This is especially true when evaluating a patient presenting with valley fever symptoms or a respiratory illness who lives in, works in or traveled to an endemic or emerging region.

We are currently working to characterize seasonal disease patterns in Arizona as well, which are different from California’s. This is likely because Arizona has two rainy seasons.

Are some people at greater risk than others?

Those who spend time or work outdoors in areas where valley fever is common, especially where they may be exposed to dirt and dust, are more likely to get it.

While healthy people are still at risk of infection, certain factors can increase the likelihood of developing severe disease from valley fever. These include being an adult 60 years or older, having diabetes, HIV or another condition that weakens the immune system, or being pregnant. People who are Black or Filipino also have been noted to have a higher risk of severe disease, which may relate to more exposure to the fungal spores, underlying health conditions, inequities in accessing care or other possible predispositions.

People who work around dry, dusty conditions are at a higher risk of contracting valley fever.
David McNew/Getty Images News via Getty Images

How can you protect yourself from getting valley fever?

People who live and work in the regions where the fungus is found should avoid exposure to dust as much as possible. When it is windy outside and the air is dusty, stay indoors and keep windows and doors closed.

When driving through a dusty area, limit vehicle speed, keep car windows closed and recirculate the air, if possible. When working outdoors, use dust suppression techniques, including wetting soil before digging to prevent stirring up dust, and installing fencing, windbreaks and vegetation where possible.

For those who must directly stir up soil or be in dusty conditions, such as while doing construction or gardening work, consider using an N95 mask to limit dust inhalation.

Jennifer Head receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.

Alexandra K. Heaney receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.

Simon Camponuri receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health and from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

– ref. Fungal infections known as valley fever could spike this fall – 3 epidemiologists explain how to protect yourself – https://theconversation.com/fungal-infections-known-as-valley-fever-could-spike-this-fall-3-epidemiologists-explain-how-to-protect-yourself-238972

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Grocery stores that donate expiring food − instead of price discounting or discarding − make higher profits

Source: The Conversation – USA – By John Lowrey, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain and Health Sciences, Northeastern University

This new food pantry opened on Long Island in September 2024. Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images

All major supermarkets and retailers that sell groceries, such as Kroger, Walmart and Costco, give large amounts of food to food banks and pantries. In 2022, retailers donated close to 2 billion pounds of food across the United States, which amounted to US$3.5 billion that year. The estimated value of donated food was a little less than $2 per pound in 2022.

Retailers donate products that are typically packaged, palatable and safe for consumption, yet unsuitable for sale due to quality concerns, such as minor blemishes. Since these items can go a long way to feeding hungry people, donations represent one of the best uses of leftover or surplus food.

Donations are also technically acts of charity, and the companies responsible for them get tax breaks. This means that donations boost profits by lowering costs. There’s a second effect of donations on a store’s bottom line: They improve the quality of food on the store’s shelves and increase revenue from food sales.

As a supply chain scholar who studies food banks, I worked with a team of economists to estimate the effects of retail food donations. We used sales data for five perishable food categories sold by two competing retail chains, with stores located in a large, Midwestern metropolitan area. We found that stores that remove items on the brink of expiration, donate them to food banks and fill up the emptied shelf space with fresher inventory get more revenue from sales and earn higher profits.

Retailers donate 30% of what food banks give their clients

U.S. food banks, which have been operating for more than 50 years, give away over 6 billion pounds of food annually.

They get about 30% of that food for free from supermarkets and big-box retailers that sell groceries. Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers supplied more than twice as much food to food banks than the federal government did. The volume of food supplied by federal programs administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program, have steadily increased since 2020, to now almost match the volume of food donated by retailers.

In 2022, for example, the network of more than 200 Feeding America member food banks procured about 2 billion pounds from retailers and almost 1.5 billion pounds from government programs.

The remaining 2.88 billion pounds of food were either purchased directly, provided by farmers, donated by food processing companies or donated by people and organizations in local communities.

Despite several federal programs that help low-income people get food and the nation’s robust network of food banks and food pantries, nearly 50 million Americans are experiencing food insecurity. That means they can’t get enough nutritious food to eat at least some of the time.

Retail donation routines are established but inconsistent

When food on a store’s shelves is on the verge of expiration, store managers have three options. They can donate or discard it, or sell it at a discount.

Stores that regularly donate food have established routines for when they set aside about-to-expire food to give away. However, these routines are often inconsistent.

Many stores donate only on a seasonal basis or just give away certain kinds of food. For example, they might donate only meat, baked goods or fruits and vegetables. In many cases, donations take a backseat to more immediate priorities, such as customer service.

Those realities can increase the likelihood that food will land at the dump instead of on somebody’s table.

Although millions of Americans struggle to find their next meal, close to 40% of food gets thrown out along the supply chain, as food moves between agricultural producers, factories, retailers and consumers. This is largely due to logistical challenges: It’s hard to transport and distribute highly perishable food.

Discounted meat is displayed at a San Rafael, Calif., grocery store in September 2024.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Discounts on food can undercut sales

Stores often prefer to sell food on the brink of expiration at a discount rather than donate it or throw it out due to the money they recoup that way. This option, however, also keeps the discounted food on the shelf, where it takes up valuable space that could otherwise hold fresher inventory.

Shelf space dedicated to the sale and promotion of full-priced products competes with that for price-discounted food. Stocking perishable foods that are starting to look iffy – such as bananas with brown spots sold alongside unblemished yellow bananas – could harm a retailer’s image if shoppers start to question the store’s quality.

In other words, if consumers make judgments based on all the produce that’s on display, then it may be better for stores if they don’t sell sad-looking bananas and instead just give them away.

My research team calls this practice “preemptive removal.” Increasing the average quality level of food on display does more than improve a store’s appearance. We used panel data with over 20,000 observations, and we included 21 retail stores that compete in a similar market geography. The five fresh food categories were bakery, dairy, deli, meat and produce.

Stores that donated food, instead of discounting it, may have made better use of the limited room to display fresher inventory. My research team found that food donations can increase average food prices by up to 1%, which corresponds to a 33% increase in profit margins. Profit margins for supermarkets and other food retailers are quite low and typically hover below 3%.

That means even a small increment in food prices, even a 1% bump up, can translate into significantly higher profits for retailers. At the same time, increasing the volume of retail food donations would get more food to people who need it, limit hunger and reduce food insecurity.

Prof Lowrey has consulted with several Feeding America member Food Banks on procurement and food-distribution-related supply chain projects. He has also served on an advisory board to the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, focused on supply chain responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the emergency feeding network. His research has been funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (National Institute for Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture).

– ref. Grocery stores that donate expiring food − instead of price discounting or discarding − make higher profits – https://theconversation.com/grocery-stores-that-donate-expiring-food-instead-of-price-discounting-or-discarding-make-higher-profits-234998

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI: Gevo Acquires CultivateAI for its Verity Business Unit

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Sept. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) has acquired Cultivate Agricultural Intelligence, LLC (“CultivateAI”) for $6 million in cash, with the opportunity for the sellers to receive additional earn-out payments. Gevo will fold CultivateAI into its wholly owned Verity subsidiary to accelerate Verity’s business development and growth. CultivateAI is a proven business with expected 2024 revenue of $1.7 million and corresponding positive cash flow. CultivateAI provides agricultural data to clients through a software as a service (“SaaS”) platform.

Gevo expects to combine CultivateAI’s digital agriculture data and analytics platform with Verity’s carbon accounting and tracking solutions to provide the highest quality data-driven solutions for carbon abatement in food, feed, fuels, and industrial markets, while simultaneously helping farmers improve their operations, sustainability, and profitability. CultivateAI’s SaaS platform is a cloud-based, mobile platform that helps farm operators, agronomists, ag-service providers, and researchers make informed, data-driven decisions with real-time analytics.

“Adding CultivateAI and its inventive approach to Verity will help us grow revenue by providing the most complete set of data-driven analytics services to farmers, agronomists, and researchers,” said Dr. Paul Bloom, Head of Verity and Chief Carbon Officer of Gevo. “With this acquisition, Verity is speeding up our development and increasing the value we will deliver to our customers.”

Verity is at the forefront of creating the ability to track, verify, and empirically value carbon intensity across the full carbon lifecycle. By adding the tools and existing business from CultivateAI, Verity will benefit from the addition of clients outside the biofuel segment as well as additional revenue streams.

“We are constantly looking for this kind of development that delivers new streams of untapped revenue to the company,” said Dr. Pat Gruber, CEO of Gevo. “As we accelerate development of Verity, we expect to see these customer relationships and revenue opportunities grow as customers seek out new products and services that help them understand their businesses better. These new business elements support our mission of growing an efficient circular economy, and delivering shareholder returns by adding scalable revenue opportunities now.”

About Gevo
Gevo’s mission is to convert renewable energy and biogenic carbon into sustainable fuels and chemicals with a net zero or better carbon footprint. Gevo’s innovative technology can be used to make a variety of products, including sustainable aviation fuel (“SAF”), motor fuels, chemicals, and other materials. Gevo’s business model includes developing, financing, and operating production facilities for these renewable fuels and other products. It currently runs one of the largest dairy-based renewable natural gas (“RNG”) facilities in the United States. It also owns the world’s first production facility for specialty alcohol-to-jet (“ATJ”) fuels and chemicals. Gevo emphasizes the importance of sustainability by tracking and verifying the carbon footprint of its business systems through its Verity subsidiary.

For more information, see http://www.gevo.com.

About Verity
Verity is at the forefront of creating the ability to track, verify, and empirically value carbon intensity across the full carbon lifecycle. Verity Holdings, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gevo, Inc.

For more information, see http://www.veritytracking.com.

About CultivateAI
CultivateAI is a cloud-based, mobile platform that helps its customers make informed, data-driven decisions with real-time analytics. Its trusted insights are designed to help agricultural operations increase production, manage risk, and maximize profitability.

For more information, see cultivateagi.com.

Forward Looking Statement
Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to a variety of matters, including, without limitation, CultivateAI and its operations, the integration of CultivateAI into Verity, CultivateAI’s expected financial results and other statements that are not purely statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are made based on the current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Gevo undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Gevo believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2023 and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Gevo.

Media Contact
Lindsay Fitzgerald
Senior Vice President of Public Affairs
PR@gevo.com

Investor Contact
Eric Frey, PhD
Vice President of Finance & Strategy
IR@Gevo.com

The MIL Network –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: 211-2024: Australian Fumigation Accreditation Scheme: treatment provider suspended – PT. Fumindo Mandiri Sejahtera Cabang Surabaya (AEI: ID0169MB)

Source: Australia Government Statements – Agriculture

Who does this notice affect?

Stakeholders in the import and shipping industries—including vessel masters, freight forwarders, offshore treatment providers, Biosecurity Industry Participants, importers, customs brokers, principal agents and master consolidators.

What has changed?

Following identification of critical non-compliance, we have suspended PT. Fumindo Mandiri Sejahtera Cabang Surabaya (AEI: ID0169MB) from the…

MIL OSI News –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Suppliers encouraged to submit feedback on supermarket dealings

Source: Australian Treasurer

To ensure farmers and suppliers get a fair go when dealing with the major supermarkets – Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash – the Government is encouraging affected businesses to submit feedback to the 2024 Annual Food and Grocery Code (the Code) Independent Reviewer’s Survey.

The survey monitors compliance with the Code, which mandates conduct between supermarkets and their suppliers, and is part of our work to ensure our supermarket system is fairer for farmers and for families.

Tracking and reporting on supermarket conduct is key in cracking down on anti‑competitive behaviour in the food and grocery sector, which is a priority for the Government.

This year’s survey incorporates recommendations of Dr Craig Emerson’s Review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct to monitor suppliers’ experience agreeing to exceptions to the Code and retribution concerns.

These changes to the survey form part of the Government’s commitment to implement all recommendations of the review, announced in June this year.

The Albanese Government will introduce legislation later this year to enact substantial multi‑million dollar penalties for serious breaches of the Code. The Government will also give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission new powers to issue infringement notices where it has reasonable grounds to believe a provision has been breached.

The new mandatory Code with strengthened dispute resolution mechanisms will come into effect from 1 April 2025.

Suppliers eligible for participation in the survey will have received correspondence from the Independent Reviewer, Chris Leptos AO, containing the survey link.

The survey closes on 26 November and results will be published with the Independent Reviewer’s Annual Report.

To see the previous years’ results, including how the major supermarkets rate against each other and the annual reports, go to Grocery Code Reviewer annual reports.

MIL OSI News –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1828 renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of feed containing, consisting of and of food and feed products produced from genetically modified maize MON 810 pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1207 – B10-0146/2024

Source: European Parliament

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Members responsible: Martin Häusling, Biljana Borzan, Anja Hazekamp

B10‑0146/2024

European Parliament resolution on Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1828 renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of feed containing, consisting of and of food and feed products produced from genetically modified maize MON 810 pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1207 (2024/2840(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1828 renewing the authorisation for the placing on the market of feed containing, consisting of and of food and feed products produced from genetically modified maize MON 810 pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1207 [1],

– having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed [2], and in particular Article 11(3) and Article 23(3) thereof,

– having regard to the vote of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed referred to in Article 35 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, on 26 April 2024, at which no opinion was delivered, and the vote of the Appeal Committee on 29 May 2024, at which again no opinion was delivered,

– having regard to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers [3],

– having regard to the opinion adopted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on 30 November 2023, and published on 19 January 2024 [4],

– having regard to its previous resolutions objecting to the authorisation of genetically modified organisms (‘GMOs’)[5],

– having regard to Rule 115(2) and (3) of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the motion for a resolution of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,

A. whereas, on 6 October 2022, Bayer Agriculture BV, based in Belgium, submitted on behalf of Bayer CropScience LP, based in the United States, an application to the Commission for the renewal of Commission Implementing Decisions 2013/649/EU [6] and (EU) 2017/1207 [7]; whereas, in accordance with Article 11(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, the period of authorisation of genetically modified pollen produced from genetically modified maize MON 810 (the ‘GM maize’) for food uses covered by Implementing Decision 2013/649/EU has been automatically extended until a decision is taken on the renewal application;

B. whereas, on 30 November 2023, EFSA adopted a favourable opinion, which was published on 19 January 2024;

C. whereas the GM maize has been modified to produce insecticides (‘Bt toxins’);

Outstanding questions concerning Bt toxins

D. whereas a number of studies show that side effects have been observed that may affect the human immune system following exposure to Bt toxins and that some Bt toxins may have adjuvant properties [8], meaning that they can increase the allergenicity of other proteins with which they come into contact;

Bt crops: effects on non-target organisms

E. whereas, unlike the use of insecticides, where exposure is at the time of spraying and for a limited time afterwards, the use of Bt GM crops leads to continuous exposure of the target and non-target organisms to Bt toxins;

F. whereas the assumption that Bt toxins exhibit a single target-specific mode-of-action can no longer be considered correct and effects on non-target organisms cannot be excluded; whereas an increasing number of non-target organisms are reported to be affected in many ways; whereas 39 peer-reviewed publications that report significant adverse effects of Bt toxins on many ‘out-of-range’ species are mentioned in a recent overview [9];

Member State comments

G. whereas Member States submitted many critical comments to EFSA during the three-month consultation period [10], including that the compositional data for the GM maize should be checked and re-analysed and that the analysis should fulfil the present EFSA requirements, inter alia equivalence testing, and that the literature review did not include studies on the fate of Cry1Ab in the environment or on potential effects of Bt-crop residues on non-target organisms, which is problematic because publications indicate that a carryover from GM maize feed to manure may lead to exposure of soil organisms to Cry1Ab and that this may trigger negative effects on soil organisms with consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services;

H. whereas Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 states that GM food or feed must not have adverse effects on human health, animal health or the environment, and requires the Commission to take into account any relevant provisions of Union law and other legitimate factors relevant to the matter under consideration when drafting its decision; whereas such legitimate factors should include the Union’s obligations under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD);

Reducing dependency on imported feed

I. whereas one of the lessons from the COVID-19 crisis and the ongoing war in Ukraine is the need for the Union to end the dependencies on some critical materials; whereas in the mission letter to Commissioner-elect Christophe Hansen, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asks him to look at ways to reduce imports of critical commodities [11];

Undemocratic decision-making

J. whereas the vote on 26 April 2024 of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed referred to in Article 35 of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 delivered no opinion, meaning that the authorisation was not supported by a qualified majority of Member States; whereas the vote on 29 May 2024 of the Appeal Committee again delivered no opinion;

K. whereas, in its eighth term, Parliament adopted a total of 36 resolutions objecting to the placing on the market of GMOs for food and feed (33 resolutions) and to the cultivation of GMOs in the Union (three resolutions); whereas, in its ninth term, Parliament adopted 38 objections to placing GMOs on the market;

L. whereas despite its own acknowledgement of the democratic shortcomings, the lack of support from Member States and the objections of Parliament, the Commission continues to authorise GMOs;

M. whereas no change of law is required for the Commission to be able not to authorise GMOs when there is no qualified majority of Member States in favour in the Appeal Committee [12];

N. whereas, on 2 July 2024, the Commission renewed the authorisation for the placing on the market of the GM maize;

1. Considers that Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1828 exceeds the implementing powers provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003;

2. Considers that Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1828 is not consistent with Union law, in that it is not compatible with the aim of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, which is, in accordance with the general principles laid down in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council [13], to provide the basis for ensuring a high level of protection of human life and health, animal health and welfare, and environmental and consumer interests, in relation to GM food and feed, while ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market;

3. Calls on the Commission to repeal Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1828;

4. Welcomes the fact that the Commission finally recognised, in a letter of 11 September 2020 to Members, the need to take sustainability into account when it comes to authorisation decisions on GMOs [14]; expresses its deep disappointment, however, that, since then the Commission has continued to authorise GMOs for import into the Union, despite ongoing objections by Parliament and a majority of Member States voting against;

5. Urges the Commission, again, to take into account the Union’s obligations under international agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, the UN CBD and the UN SDGs; reiterates its call for draft implementing acts to be accompanied by an explanatory memorandum explaining how they uphold the principle of ‘do no harm’[15];

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

MIL OSI Europe News –

January 22, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: VIDEO: Grassley Presses USDA to Act Now to Protect U.S. Farmland

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a lifelong family farmer and a Senate Agriculture Committee member, is urging the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to share with key national security agencies its data on foreign-owned farmland.

“USDA is sitting on a treasure trove of data that federal partners could use to help protect American farmers.”

Download video HERE.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Grassley notes the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 – which he cosponsored as a member of the House of Representatives – requires USDA to “collect, track and report reliable data on foreign investments in U.S. agricultural land.” To enhance transparency and curtail malign foreign investments, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a January 2024 report recommending USDA share this data with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in a more timely fashion. While USDA agreed with GAO’s recommendations, it has yet to take the necessary steps to address GAO’s guidance and improve its data sharing standards.

“It is crucial that USDA continue to improve its processes for collecting, tracking, and reporting data on foreign ownership and investment in U.S. agricultural land. Further, it is essential that USDA provide CFIUS and its member agencies with access to timely and detailed information on these transactions to ensure that all potential national security risks receive a thorough review,” Grassley wrote to Vilsack.

Read Grassley’s full letter HERE.

Learn more about Grassley’s work to protect American farmland through his:

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MIL OSI USA News –

September 30, 2024
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Action on NPSFM needed urgently

Source: ACT Party

“Farmers are under serious pressure from Labour’s National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management 2020 and action is urgently required to provide them with relief,” says Ruawai dairy farmer and ACT Rural Communities spokesperson Mark Cameron.

“The coalition government was elected with a mandate to end this unnecessary burden. We’ve made excellent progress, but a significant remnant of Labour’s damaging policies still lingers: the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management 2020.

“Farmers have raised concerns with me about the proposed changes to the Otago Regional Council’s freshwater rules – rules which are being drafted in accordance with Labour’s NPSFM 2020.

“ACT continues to argue that the full repeal of NPSFM 2020 is the right approach.

“Short of achieving that, I have written to Environment Minister Penny Simmonds asking her to use section 25A of the RMA to allow the Otago Regional Council to remove any sections relating to freshwater management from their plan while allowing them to progress with other sections. This would provide consistency across councils and offer clarity for the farmers who have sought my help.

“Over the past six years, farmers have not only had to manage the day-to-day challenges of farming but also navigate a sea of red tape and costs imposed by the last Government. This onslaught has threatened one of our most efficient and productive industries.

“This policy introduced stringent rules, centralising control from Wellington, and elevating the vague concept of ‘Te Mana o te Wai’, the mana of the water. This principle has led to even more restrictive regulations being imposed on our farmers by regional councils.

“Today, despite the work of the Government, regional councils continue to integrate these stringent regulations and vagaries into their regional plans. Farmers face uncertainty and fear. This over-regulation not only stifles our agricultural productivity but also risks our entire national economy at a time when we should be empowering our most productive sectors.

“The concept of ‘Te Mana o te Wai’ is not only vague but replaces scientific benchmarks with subjective interpretations. This isn’t about environmental standards, which are necessary, it embeds a subjective idea of the mana of the water that leads to co-governance and unequal treatment based on who someone’s ancestors were. The broad and often ambiguous interpretation of this principle by councils and courts adds to the confusion, diverting from a clear, science-based approach.

“ACT is dedicated to real change. We cannot continue with a policy that burdens our farmers unnecessarily. We campaigned on a complete overhaul of this policy to remove subjective concepts and ensure that our freshwater management is scientifically sound and adapted to the needs of local communities.

“We are continuing to advocate for repealing the NPS-FM and allowing district councils more flexibility in how they meet environmental limits.

“It is time for urgent reform. We must protect our farmers from the ongoing effects of what has effectively been a war on our agricultural sector.”

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

September 30, 2024
MIL-OSI Canada: Saskatchewan Recognizes Global Biotech Week

Source: Government of Canada regional news

Released on September 25, 2024

Agriculture Minister David Marit has proclaimed September 22 to 28, 2024, as Global Biotech Week in Saskatchewan. This week brings awareness to and celebrates the benefits of biotechnology, including the province’s achievements in the agriculture sector.

“Biotech is transforming the future of farming, from enhancing crop and livestock production to improving sustainability,” Marit said. “We are proud of the role our province plays in advancing this important sector, boosting our provincial economy and global food supply.”

Agricultural biotechnology equips Saskatchewan producers with improved upon productivity and management practices, resulting in higher yields and product quality. Saskatchewan’s biotech sector is recognized internationally, with one-third of Canada’s agricultural biotechnology sector in the province. Our institutes are leaders in the field of crop breeding, genetics and genomics.

“Ag-West Bio coordinates activities across the province to mark Global Biotech Week,” Biotech President and CEO Karen Churchill said. “The goal of Global Biotech Week is to bring attention to the ways that biotechnology benefits society. The world would look very different without biotechnology. Sustainable agriculture production, innovations in food and medicine are made possible thanks to science. We need to take time to celebrate!”

Members of the public are encouraged to check out the activities planned this week to showcase the province’s bioeconomy, including how science benefits agriculture. A full list of this year’s events, including several in Saskatoon and online, is available at www.globalbiotechweeksask.ca/.

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For more information, contact:

MIL OSI Canada News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Casten, Brownley Propose Voluntary Carbon Footprint Label for Food
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Sean Casten (IL-06)
September 25, 2024

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) and Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26) introduced the Voluntary Food Climate Labeling Act, legislation to revolutionize the way consumers learn about the climate impact of the food they purchase.

Under the legislation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will work with food producers, manufacturers, and retailers to develop a voluntary food climate label to place on products that will contain EPA-verified information relating to the carbon footprint of that product.

“A growing number of consumers are eager to know the climate impacts of the items they purchase,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “The Voluntary Food Climate Labeling Act provides them with the information they need to make climate-conscious decisions–if they so choose–with their hard-earned money, empowering them to take control of their own carbon footprint.”

“The food and agriculture sector currently contributes an estimated 10 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States,” said Congresswoman Julia Brownley. “While a majority of U.S. consumers say that sustainability is important to them when purchasing food, research shows that consumers struggle to identify which products are the most sustainable. This food climate label would help consumers more easily identify sustainable foods and food production, creating a simple and effective solution to address one of the significant causes of greenhouse gas emissions. Creating this label will be a real win-win for the agriculture sector, consumers, and our environment.”

The label will include information on the greenhouse gas emissions released during the production, manufacturing, distribution, consumer use, end-of-life reuse, and recycling of a food product. This will help food producers, manufacturers, and retailers showcase the work they’ve done to reduce their carbon footprint, while empowering consumers with more information to shop more sustainably.

Text of the legislation can be found here.

How it Works:
- The legislation would establish the Voluntary Food Climate Labeling Program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in implementing the program.
- Entities selling food products will be allowed, but not mandated, to apply to the Program to put a food climate label on the packaging of their food product.
- The label will:
- Provide a numerical summary of the best available information regarding the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released during the growing of the food ingredients, manufacturing, processing, packaging, distribution, storage, presentation in the retail establishment, consumer use (including the energy involved in refrigeration and cooking), end-of-life reuse, recycling, composting, treatment, and disposal of the food and its packaging.
- Of the above information, the food producer, manufacturer, or retailer will provide the “cradle-to-gate” information, from the growing of the food to its arrival at the retail establishment. Because the rest of the food lifecycle – including how it is stored, prepared, and disposed of – is beyond the control of these businesses, EPA will provide the information on the rest, based on the typical use case, in consultation with the producer, manufacturer, or retailer.
- In addition, the label will:
1. Convey the information in a manner determined to be most useful to the consumer at the point of sale;
1. Not convey that any given food is acceptable or unacceptable – that kind of decision being left to the consumer, presumably as informed by the factual information conveyed through the label;
1. Convey that the information has been verified by EPA;
1. Include a logo to help the consumer identify the label;
1. Include a QR code to provide the consumer access to the above-described in-depth information.
1. In specifying the visual form, the information to be included, and the method for verification, the EPA shall consult with food industry stakeholders, and may do so through the establishment of a federal advisory committee or a negotiated rulemaking.
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MIL OSI USA News –
September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Boebert’s Legislation to Protect Native Fish Species and Responsible Water & Power Users Passes in the House of Representatives

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Lauren Boebert (Colorado, 3)

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) applauded final passage of her legislation H.R. 4596, “Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act:”

“Passage of my bill to reauthorize the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Recovery Programs is a major win for Colorado and the West. These important programs, which will be extended for an additional seven fiscal years, will ensure that 2,500 water and power projects continue, and provide legal certainty for water and power users throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

With strong bicameral, bipartisan momentum and significant stakeholder support, I’m confident this bill will become law and this important program will be reauthorized,” said Congresswoman Boebert.

“Congresswoman Boebert is true fighter for Colorado’s rich biodiversity, and her bill to reauthorize the endangered fish recovery programs in the San Juan and Upper Colorado River Basins will ensure these species are healthy for future generations to enjoy. I’m so glad to see this commonsense, science-based legislation pass the House today, and look forward to seeing it signed into law,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman

Background:

The House of Representatives voted to pass Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s bill H.R. 4596, the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act.

Congresswoman Boebert’s bicameral bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, provides a clean, seven-year reauthorization of the Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery Programs that protect four threatened and endangered native fish species in the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins by extending conservation programs at current funding levels for seven additional fiscal years.

The Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery Programs were established in 1988 to achieve full recovery of four federally listed endangered fish species including the humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, and razorback sucker. Those designations led to the threat of significant water and power-use restrictions.

The recovery programs facilitate water delivery from the Navajo, Flaming Gorge, and Aspinall Unit reservoirs which collectively can store more than 6.5 million acre-feet of water as part of the Colorado River Storage Project.

For over three decades, states, tribes, local communities, environmental groups, energy users, and water users, have partnered to help recover four threatened and endangered fish species while continuing water and power facility development and operations in the Upper Colorado River Basin and the San Juan River Basin.

Non-federal partners contribute $11 million per year in water contributions, plus another $750,000 in staffing and in-kind contributions. Participating states contribute $500,000 to base funding each year in cash equivalents for recovery actions, including for fish hatcheries and non-native fish removal.

The Fish and Wildlife Service contributes $1.56 million per year in base funding. The Bureau of Reclamation provides cost-shared contributions to both base and capital funding. Reclamation’s capital funding supports major infrastructure projects at reservoirs, diversion dams, canals, and floodplains across the basin.

Without these programs, these 2,500 water and power users would have to perform extremely burdensome Section 7 consultations for all 2,500 individual projects.

Because of the success of these programs, the humpback chub and the razorback sucker are success stories with the chub been downlisted from endangered to threatened and the razorback being recommended for downlisting.

Rep. Boebert’s bill is the result of months of hard work with local stakeholders, the Bureau of Reclamation, and Senators Hickenlooper and Romney, and others to provide a long-term solution by reauthorizing these vital programs until 2031.

Groups supporting Congresswoman Boebert’s Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act include: Aurora Water, Central Utah Water Conservancy District, Clifton Water District, Colorado River District, Colorado River Energy Distributors Association, Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado Water Congress, Delta County Commissioners, Denver Water, Dolores County Commissioners, Dolores Water Conservancy District, Grand Valley Water Users, Huerfano County Commissioners, LaPlata Water Conservation District, Mesa County Farm Bureau, Montezuma County, Municipal Subdistrict, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Pueblo Water, Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District, Rio Blanco Board of Commissioners, Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District, Rio Grande Water Conservation District, San Juan Water Commission, Southern Ute Tribe, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Southwestern Water Conservation District, Tri-County Water Conservancy District, Utah Waters Users Association, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Water Conservancy District.

Co-sponsors of Congresswoman Boebert’s bill include Rep. John Duarte (CA-13), Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ-09), Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Rep. Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), Rep. Troy Nehls (TX-22), and Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04).

Full text of Rep. Boebert’s Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act can be found HERE. Full replay of Rep. Boebert’s remarks on the House floor can be found HERE.

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For updates, subscribe to Congresswoman Boebert’s newsletter here.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Announces Over $3 Million in Awards to Advance Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for STEM, R&D-Focused Small Businesses and Startups
Source: United States Small Business Administration

WASHINGTON – Today, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 34 million small businesses, announced the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) Stage Two winners. Forty-four accelerator partnerships received between $50,000 and $150,000 each to advance their work supporting small businesses and startups in STEM and research and development (R&D) across priority areas like national and economic security, domestic manufacturing and production, and sustainability and biotechnology.

“Innovation happens everywhere and the Biden-Harris Administration is continuing to build on its commitment to promote sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems that advance research and development and commercialization in communities across the nation,” said Administrator Guzman. “The 2024 GAFC Stage Two award winners will drive forward the Investing in America agenda and strengthen America’s global competitiveness by continuing to support the expanding and increasingly diverse entrepreneurs across the nation and provide them with the opportunities that lower barriers for market and capital access.”

GAFC Stage One prizes emphasized ecosystem network building, while Stage Two efforts focus on the enhanced support that can be provided to small businesses and startups through these Growth Accelerator Partnerships. These partnerships span public, private, nonprofit, and academic institutions, fostering collaboration across industries and geographies, with lead awardees headquartered in 34 U.S. states and territories, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and assisting innovators nationally.

“Since its launch in 2014, the SBA’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) has made a positive difference to local and national innovation-focused entrepreneurship organizations and the communities they support. The competition has grown to be a core component and vital source of support to our nation’s innovation ecosystem. Over the last decade, SBA has awarded 566 prizes totaling over $33 million to winners across the U.S. and U.S. territories. We are delighted to announce 31 of this year’s Stage Two winners are new to the program, and we are inspired to witness communities of ecosystem developers coming together to build new relationships and networks with GAFC funding,” said Bailey G. DeVries, Associate Administrator for SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation.

Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Stage Two Winners

Learn more about each GAFC partnership in the public directory located at https://bit.ly/GAFC24Directory.

National and Economic Security
- Ala., The Catalyst Center for Business and Entrepreneurship
- Calif., Starburst Accelerator
- Colo., Catalyst Accelerator
- Ind., Central Indiana Corporate Partnership
- Ind., Indiana Center for Emerging Technologies
- La., Maven Scouts
- Md., Rural Autonomous Innovation Network (RAIN) Association of University Research Parks (AURP)
- Mo., Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation
- Mont., Early Stage Montana
- Neb., Invest Nebraska
- N.M., NewSpace Nexus
Domestic Manufacturing and Production
- Ariz., Startup Tucson
- Ark., Endeavor NWA Entrepreneurs
- District of Columbia, National Disability Institute
- Fla., Florida Institute of Technology
- Fla., International Business Innovation Association
- Hawaii, XLR8HI
- N.C., RIoT
- N.D., Grand Farm Research and Education Initiative Inc.
- N.Y., FuzeHub
- N.Y., Southern Tier High Technology Incubator Inc.
- Utah, Utah Advanced Materials Manufacturing Institute
- Wash., 360 Social Impact Studios
Sustainability and Biotechnology
- Alaska, Spruce Root Inc.
- Calif., Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator
- Conn., The Community Foundation-Mission Investments Company
- Ill., University of Illinois Research Park LLC
- Maine, Central Maine Growth Council
- Mass., SeaAhead Inc.
- Minn., RuralWorks Partners LLC
- N.C., Eva Garland Consulting LLC
- N.Y., The Hudson Valley Venture Hub at SUNY New Paltz
- Ore., Oregon Health and Science University
- Pa., University City Science Center
- Puerto Rico, CARBONO3 LLC
- Tenn., BioTN Foundation Inc.
- Tenn., Native American Investment and Capital Alliance
- Texas, Health Wildcatters
- Texas, Impact Hub Houston
- Utah, Altitude Lab
- Va., FedTech
- Vt., LaunchVT
- W.Va., U.S. Research Impact Alliance Corp.
- Washington, D.C., Women in Engineering ProActive Network
“Supported by SBA’s Investment and Innovation Ecosystem Development (IIED) Division, the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition awards boost strategic partnerships that create a national network so entrepreneurs can tap into significant capital and resources. Our work emphasizes the value of strategic connections and relationships across a wide variety of entrepreneur support organizations and accentuates how the work they are doing can successfully impact the growth and advancement of our federal innovation ecosystem,” said Brittany Sickler, Director of Ecosystem Development, for SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation. “We are changing the trajectory for underserved communities and founders so that more startups and small businesses can scale and grow. “

For more information about the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, please visit SBA’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (americasseedfund.us).

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About SBA Office of Investment and Innovation

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) leads programs that provide the growth-oriented small business and startup community with access to financial capital, networks, assistance, and R&D funds to develop commercially viable innovations. Our work is underpinned by public-private partnerships that help small businesses on their trajectory from idea to IPO.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –
September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Boebert’s Legislation to Protect Native Fish Species and Responsible Water & Power Users Passes in the House of Representatives

Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Lauren Boebert (Colorado, 3)

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) applauded final passage of her legislation H.R. 4596, “Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act:”

“Passage of my bill to reauthorize the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Recovery Programs is a major win for Colorado and the West. These important programs, which will be extended for an additional seven fiscal years, will ensure that 2,500 water and power projects continue, and provide legal certainty for water and power users throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

With strong bicameral, bipartisan momentum and significant stakeholder support, I’m confident this bill will become law and this important program will be reauthorized,” said Congresswoman Boebert.

“Congresswoman Boebert is true fighter for Colorado’s rich biodiversity, and her bill to reauthorize the endangered fish recovery programs in the San Juan and Upper Colorado River Basins will ensure these species are healthy for future generations to enjoy. I’m so glad to see this commonsense, science-based legislation pass the House today, and look forward to seeing it signed into law,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman

Background:

The House of Representatives voted to pass Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s bill H.R. 4596, the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act.

Congresswoman Boebert’s bicameral bill, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, provides a clean, seven-year reauthorization of the Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery Programs that protect four threatened and endangered native fish species in the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins by extending conservation programs at current funding levels for seven additional fiscal years.

The Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery Programs were established in 1988 to achieve full recovery of four federally listed endangered fish species including the humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, and razorback sucker. Those designations led to the threat of significant water and power-use restrictions.

The recovery programs facilitate water delivery from the Navajo, Flaming Gorge, and Aspinall Unit reservoirs which collectively can store more than 6.5 million acre-feet of water as part of the Colorado River Storage Project.

For over three decades, states, tribes, local communities, environmental groups, energy users, and water users, have partnered to help recover four threatened and endangered fish species while continuing water and power facility development and operations in the Upper Colorado River Basin and the San Juan River Basin.

Non-federal partners contribute $11 million per year in water contributions, plus another $750,000 in staffing and in-kind contributions. Participating states contribute $500,000 to base funding each year in cash equivalents for recovery actions, including for fish hatcheries and non-native fish removal.

The Fish and Wildlife Service contributes $1.56 million per year in base funding. The Bureau of Reclamation provides cost-shared contributions to both base and capital funding. Reclamation’s capital funding supports major infrastructure projects at reservoirs, diversion dams, canals, and floodplains across the basin.

Without these programs, these 2,500 water and power users would have to perform extremely burdensome Section 7 consultations for all 2,500 individual projects.

Because of the success of these programs, the humpback chub and the razorback sucker are success stories with the chub been downlisted from endangered to threatened and the razorback being recommended for downlisting.

Rep. Boebert’s bill is the result of months of hard work with local stakeholders, the Bureau of Reclamation, and Senators Hickenlooper and Romney, and others to provide a long-term solution by reauthorizing these vital programs until 2031.

Groups supporting Congresswoman Boebert’s Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act include: Aurora Water, Central Utah Water Conservancy District, Clifton Water District, Colorado River District, Colorado River Energy Distributors Association, Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado Water Congress, Delta County Commissioners, Denver Water, Dolores County Commissioners, Dolores Water Conservancy District, Grand Valley Water Users, Huerfano County Commissioners, LaPlata Water Conservation District, Mesa County Farm Bureau, Montezuma County, Municipal Subdistrict, Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Pueblo Water, Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District, Rio Blanco Board of Commissioners, Rio Blanco Water Conservancy District, Rio Grande Water Conservation District, San Juan Water Commission, Southern Ute Tribe, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Southwestern Water Conservation District, Tri-County Water Conservancy District, Utah Waters Users Association, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Ute Water Conservancy District.

Co-sponsors of Congresswoman Boebert’s bill include Rep. John Duarte (CA-13), Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ-09), Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Rep. Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), Rep. Troy Nehls (TX-22), and Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04).

Full text of Rep. Boebert’s Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act can be found HERE. Full replay of Rep. Boebert’s remarks on the House floor can be found HERE.

###

For updates, subscribe to Congresswoman Boebert’s newsletter here.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Reps. Adams, McGovern; Sen. Booker Introduce Climate-Smart Farm Conversion Bill

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Alma Adams (12th District of North Carolina)

Bicameral legislation would enable producers to transition away from factory farming model using conservation dollars

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), Representative Jim McGovern (MA-02), and U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act (IACA), which would allow farmers to voluntarily convert their on-farm infrastructure toward more climate-friendly uses with USDA conservation dollars.

The IACA would use existing agricultural conservation funds to support farmers transitioning from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to more sustainable and humane production systems. Reps. Adams and McGovern are leading the bill in the House, and Sen. Booker introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

“Farmers want to produce food in ways that are good for people and the planet, but aren’t always empowered to do so in a consolidated food system like ours. I’m thrilled to introduce the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act, which unlocks climate-forward conservation dollars to assist producers who want to transition out of the factory farm model,” said Congresswoman Adams. “Whether pasture-based or plant-based, farmers want to farm sustainably, humanely, and resiliently. I’m glad to support them in partnership with Representative McGovern, Senator Booker, and dozens of organizations on the ground.”

“We need a food system that feeds everyone while doing right by the people, the planet, and animals” said Congressman McGovern. “Farmers are at the center of that vision, and we need to do everything we can to support them. I’m proud to co-lead this bill with Representative Adams and Senator Booker so that we can empower farmers to break free from a broken system and thrive as independent producers.”

“Corporate meatpackers use their market power to trap producers in the factory farm system with terrible profit margins and unsustainable debt,” said Senator Booker. “Their practices contribute to climate change and destroy rural communities. This legislation leverages conservation funding to give farmers a completely voluntary new path forward by providing them with the resources they need to transition to a more climate-friendly and humane production system that is good for people, animals, and the planet.”

The IACA is the first stand-alone federal legislation to assist producers who want to make the move from intensive animal agriculture to pasture-based animal agriculture or specialty crop production. It would allow the USDA to create a grant program for eligible climate-smart conversion projects, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act’s pathbreaking investments in agricultural conservation. Earlier this year, Congresswoman Adams, Congressman McGovern, and Senator Booker all signed a letter cautioning against the use of IRA conservation money towards industrial agriculture; the IACA would ensure the integrity and effectiveness of these funds.

“Factory farming is not just a nightmare for animals—contract farmers who were promised easy profits and the chance to ‘feed the world’ find themselves taking on seemingly endless debt to raise animals in this cruel industrial model, threatening the security of their families and farms,” said Kara Shannon, director of farm animal welfare policy for the ASPCA. “The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act offers resources to support farmers who are climbing the ladder out of the pit of factory farming and want to transition to more humane and economically sustainable practices. We commend Representatives Adams and McGovern, and Senator Booker for introducing this groundbreaking legislation to create a more compassionate food system that respects animals, farmers, rural communities and our environment.”

“The factory farming industry preys on our nation’s farmers by trapping them in exploitative contracts and depriving them of meaningful autonomy. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act seeks to promote competition in our food system by creating a program for farmers who wish to transition from the highly consolidated factory farming model to climate-smart practices, such as specialty crop production,” said Frances Chrzan, senior federal policy manager, the Transfarmation Project of Mercy For Animals. “We applaud Rep. Alma Adams, Rep. McGovern, and Sen. Cory Booker for introducing legislation to create kinder and more sustainable pathways for farmers, which will benefit not only farmers and our economy but human health, the environment, and farmed animals.”

“I know firsthand the difficulty both financially and socially in transitioning from a confinement animal system to a regenerative farming system, having transitioned our farm in 1996,” said Ron Holter of Holterholm Farms. “Financially there is often a lag time from the beginning of what can be an expensive transition to eventually achieving an improved income while the land heals and the livestock become accustomed to a healthier, happier lifestyle. Transitional funds like those provided in the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would be a blessing to farmers attempting to move to more regenerative, livestock friendly systems.”

“We took on over $400,000 in debt to become contract chicken farmers and came close to foreclosure when we decided to get out of industrial animal agriculture. When we cancelled our contract, the integrator came out to our farm, picked up their $20 sign and drove away without another thought,” said Paula Boles, co-owner of JB Farms. “We know too many farmers have similar stories of being exploited by integrators and left with few options to keep their farms going. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would help support farmers like us across the country who want to transition to more sustainable and economically viable farming systems.”

“In North Carolina’s Duplin and Sampson counties, hogs outnumber people by approximately 30-to-1. The vast majority of these industrial agricultural operations use an outdated cesspit and spray field system in which hog feces and urine are flushed into open-air pits and sprayed onto nearby fields, causing higher rates of anemia, kidney disease, and infant mortality among local communities,” said Dr. Rania Masri, Co-Director of the NC Environmental Justice Network. “NCEJN applauds Rep. Alma Adams, from North Carolina, for introducing the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act and speaking up for the contract farmers, trapped as serfs on their own land, and the communities who are struggling against this polluting industry.”

“Too many farmers have been exploited and trapped in the factory farm system for too long, which is why Farm Aid applauds the introduction of the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act,” said Hannah Tremblay, Policy and Advocacy Manager of Farm Aid. “We’re especially excited that livestock farmers will have an opportunity to be a part of the solution to climate change through the funding for climate-smart conversion projects.”

“The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act will release farmers ensnared in the highly flawed industrial animal agriculture model and usher in much-needed sustainable food and farm system reform. ‘Get Big or Get Out’ has failed farmers, rural communities, and our country. The IACA will help farmers and rural America get out from under CAFOs and thrive,” said Harry Manin, deputy legislative director of the Sierra Club.

“The factory farm system that traps farmers under mountains of debt and damages rural communities, public health and the environment didn’t happen by accident,” said Patty Lovera of the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment. “Factory farms are the result of decades of failed enforcement, bad farm policy and direct government support, including federally-guaranteed loans for new factory farms. The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act would be a critical first step in the transition away from factory farms to a system based on independent, family farm livestock production.”

“Today’s factory farm system stacks the cards against farmers, workers, consumers, and the environment while letting Big Ag corporations reap all the rewards. The Industrial Agricultural Conversion Act is an important opportunity to transition our food and agriculture sector away from factory farms and an important lifeline for those squeezed by corporate consolidation,” said Rebecca Wolf, senior food policy analyst for Food and Water Watch.

“This bill would give small farmers more control over their operations to not have the larger corporations controlling what they do on their own farms. Factory farms put a strain on our health. This gives those farmers an opportunity to create a better product for our communities and consumers and improve our food system as a whole,” said Philip Barker, farmer and co-founder/co-project director of Operation Spring Plant, Inc.

“More than ever before, consumers want the assurance that the products they buy are aligned with their values. The data shows us that 80% of U.S. consumers are concerned about the environmental impact of the products they buy,” said David Levine, Co-founder and President of the American Sustainable Business Network. “In just the last few years, the sale of meat with labels boasting environmental and labor benefits increased 18% compared to conventionally labeled meat products. In addition, the sustainable fashion industry market is expected to more than double to $15 billion by 2030. Sustainable business is no longer just about doing the right thing, it’s also a wise investment and makes good business sense. Once farmers can move out of the industrial model, they will see higher profits and more resiliency to extreme weather and volatile markets, the Industrial Agriculture Conservation Act will begin to provide the needed support to take that first step to transition.”

“Over a decade ago I began to transition away from conventional cattle production to more sustainable, humane and regenerative practices and I’ve seen more benefits than I can name in the health of my animals and land. But without the kind of support this legislation offers, doing the right thing has been a slow and extremely risky process for myself and farmers like me across the country,” said Don Jackson, owner of Pompey’s Rest Farm. “The Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act gives farmers a way out of a destructive system that’s squeezing them dry, and that’s a wonderful thing.”

Specifically, the IACA would:

The text of the Industrial Agriculture Conversion Act is available here.

A section-by-section of the IACA is available here.

A list of endorsers of the IACA at the time of publication is available here.

###

Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District (Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus County) and serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, and the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, where she serves as ranking member of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: NASS to publish 2023 Irrigation and Water Management report earlier

Source: US National Agricultural Statistics Service News

IIssued Sept. 25, 2024, by the Agricultural Statistics Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. For more information, contact Lance Honig at Lance.Honig @usda.gov or (202) 690-0912.

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has changed the publication date of the 2023 Irrigation and Water Management data report. The data from this 2022 Census of Agriculture Special Study was scheduled to be released Nov. 14, 2024, at noon EDT. The new release date is Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, at noon EDT.

All NASS reports are available online at nass.usda.gov/Publications.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Announces Over $3 Million in Awards to Advance Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for STEM, R&D-Focused Small Businesses and Startups
Source: United States Small Business Administration

WASHINGTON – Today, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 34 million small businesses, announced the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) Stage Two winners. Forty-four accelerator partnerships received between $50,000 and $150,000 each to advance their work supporting small businesses and startups in STEM and research and development (R&D) across priority areas like national and economic security, domestic manufacturing and production, and sustainability and biotechnology.

“Innovation happens everywhere and the Biden-Harris Administration is continuing to build on its commitment to promote sustainable and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems that advance research and development and commercialization in communities across the nation,” said Administrator Guzman. “The 2024 GAFC Stage Two award winners will drive forward the Investing in America agenda and strengthen America’s global competitiveness by continuing to support the expanding and increasingly diverse entrepreneurs across the nation and provide them with the opportunities that lower barriers for market and capital access.”

GAFC Stage One prizes emphasized ecosystem network building, while Stage Two efforts focus on the enhanced support that can be provided to small businesses and startups through these Growth Accelerator Partnerships. These partnerships span public, private, nonprofit, and academic institutions, fostering collaboration across industries and geographies, with lead awardees headquartered in 34 U.S. states and territories, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and assisting innovators nationally.

“Since its launch in 2014, the SBA’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) has made a positive difference to local and national innovation-focused entrepreneurship organizations and the communities they support. The competition has grown to be a core component and vital source of support to our nation’s innovation ecosystem. Over the last decade, SBA has awarded 566 prizes totaling over $33 million to winners across the U.S. and U.S. territories. We are delighted to announce 31 of this year’s Stage Two winners are new to the program, and we are inspired to witness communities of ecosystem developers coming together to build new relationships and networks with GAFC funding,” said Bailey G. DeVries, Associate Administrator for SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation.

Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Stage Two Winners

Learn more about each GAFC partnership in the public directory located at https://bit.ly/GAFC24Directory.

National and Economic Security
- Ala., The Catalyst Center for Business and Entrepreneurship
- Calif., Starburst Accelerator
- Colo., Catalyst Accelerator
- Ind., Central Indiana Corporate Partnership
- Ind., Indiana Center for Emerging Technologies
- La., Maven Scouts
- Md., Rural Autonomous Innovation Network (RAIN) Association of University Research Parks (AURP)
- Mo., Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation
- Mont., Early Stage Montana
- Neb., Invest Nebraska
- N.M., NewSpace Nexus
Domestic Manufacturing and Production
- Ariz., Startup Tucson
- Ark., Endeavor NWA Entrepreneurs
- District of Columbia, National Disability Institute
- Fla., Florida Institute of Technology
- Fla., International Business Innovation Association
- Hawaii, XLR8HI
- N.C., RIoT
- N.D., Grand Farm Research and Education Initiative Inc.
- N.Y., FuzeHub
- N.Y., Southern Tier High Technology Incubator Inc.
- Utah, Utah Advanced Materials Manufacturing Institute
- Wash., 360 Social Impact Studios
Sustainability and Biotechnology
- Alaska, Spruce Root Inc.
- Calif., Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator
- Conn., The Community Foundation-Mission Investments Company
- Ill., University of Illinois Research Park LLC
- Maine, Central Maine Growth Council
- Mass., SeaAhead Inc.
- Minn., RuralWorks Partners LLC
- N.C., Eva Garland Consulting LLC
- N.Y., The Hudson Valley Venture Hub at SUNY New Paltz
- Ore., Oregon Health and Science University
- Pa., University City Science Center
- Puerto Rico, CARBONO3 LLC
- Tenn., BioTN Foundation Inc.
- Tenn., Native American Investment and Capital Alliance
- Texas, Health Wildcatters
- Texas, Impact Hub Houston
- Utah, Altitude Lab
- Va., FedTech
- Vt., LaunchVT
- W.Va., U.S. Research Impact Alliance Corp.
- Washington, D.C., Women in Engineering ProActive Network
“Supported by SBA’s Investment and Innovation Ecosystem Development (IIED) Division, the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition awards boost strategic partnerships that create a national network so entrepreneurs can tap into significant capital and resources. Our work emphasizes the value of strategic connections and relationships across a wide variety of entrepreneur support organizations and accentuates how the work they are doing can successfully impact the growth and advancement of our federal innovation ecosystem,” said Brittany Sickler, Director of Ecosystem Development, for SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation. “We are changing the trajectory for underserved communities and founders so that more startups and small businesses can scale and grow. “

For more information about the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, please visit SBA’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (americasseedfund.us).

###

About SBA Office of Investment and Innovation

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) leads programs that provide the growth-oriented small business and startup community with access to financial capital, networks, assistance, and R&D funds to develop commercially viable innovations. Our work is underpinned by public-private partnerships that help small businesses on their trajectory from idea to IPO.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –
September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Conviction for Unlawful Waste Disposal and Illegal Asbestos Site
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

In a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency, PDM Industries Ltd have been fined £60,046.
Image of the site operated by by PDM Industries.

PDM Industries has been handed fines and costs totalling £60,046 and its director, Peter Marquis, received a 42-week prison sentence (suspended for 18 months) and 200 hours of unpaid community work for his involvement in the offences.

The sentencing follows an investigation conducted by the Environment Agency into operations at two sites in the Northwest of Preston, Stanley Lodge Farm, Salwick Road, Preston, and a yard adjacent to Wards House Farm, Lea Lane, Preston.

PDM Industries Ltd disposed of controlled waste, specifically tyres, at Stanley Lodge Farm without obtaining the required environmental permits.

Although the Environment Agency instructed them to transfer the waste to a legally permitted facility, Marquis opted to illegally bury the waste tyres, thus violating environmental regulations.

Between 31 December 2016 and 15 February 2023, PDM Industries Ltd also operated a facility handling asbestos without authorisation by an environmental permit, in violation of environmental protection regulations.

Expert testimony provided by Gabriela Boca, an environmental specialist, highlighted the controls that should have been in place at the site dealing with asbestos.

Her evidence demonstrated the seriousness of the offences. The inadequate storage conditions posed significant risks to the environment due to the improper containment of harmful asbestos fibres.

Marquis and PDM Industries Ltd acknowledged the offences and cooperated with the investigation by the Environment Agency. The tyres were later removed from Stanley Lodge Farm, along with the asbestos waste from the yard next to Wards House Farm.

District Judge Goodwin concluded that both offences were committed with deliberate intent.

Shannon Nicholson, Environmental Crime Team Leader at the Environment Agency said:

The sentencing demonstrates the importance of following proper procedures, especially when dealing with hazardous materials like asbestos, which pose serious risks.

This case highlights our commitment to holding those who violate environmental regulations accountable. Strict enforcement is essential to prevent harm to the environment

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Published 25 September 2024
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI Canada: Saskatchewan Exports to Latin America Reach Record $5.4 Billion in 2023

Source: Government of Canada regional news

Released on September 25, 2024

Record Exports to Latin America Reported for Second Consecutive Year

Saskatchewan’s exports to Latin America reached a new provincial record of $5.4 billion last year driven primarily by potash and agri-food products. Potash accounted for 54.5 per cent of exports in 2023 at nearly $3 billion, while agri-food products totaled over $2.4 billion.

Exports to Peru also increased by 19.3 per cent in April to June 2024 compared to the same period last year for a total export value of $105.5 million.

“The Latin American region is a vital component of our government’s strategy to expand our province’s trade network and export more Saskatchewan products around the world,” Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison said. “Global food security continues to be a priority for our province. These numbers show that our international engagement efforts to promote Saskatchewan as a reliable supplier of food and fertilizer on the world stage are working. This significant growth in or province’s exports creates new jobs and economic opportunities for Saskatchewan’s strong and vibrant communities.”

Top agri-food commodities to the region include non-durum wheat, which increased 30.5 per cent from 2022, canola seed, lentils, canola oil, durum wheat and dried peas. The five top countries in Latin America for 2023 were Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, accounting for 85 per cent of Saskatchewan’s exports to the region.

Saskatchewan’s trade and investment office in Mexico City, which opened in 2022, continues to facilitate new partnerships and grow trade relationships in the region. In September 2023, the office supported a trade and investment mission to Mexico led by Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit that focused on promoting the province’s agricultural and mining sectors.

“Saskatchewan’s agriculture sector continues to make an impact on the global stage – and our increased presence in Latin America is no exception,” Agriculture Minister David Marit said. “Our producers and value-added businesses are able and willing to provide sustainable, high-quality agri-food products to nourish the world and boost our provincial economy.”

Earlier this year, Saskatchewan’s Mexico Office assisted Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP) to lead eight Saskatchewan companies in a trade mission to Peru and Mexico which resulted in over 186 business-to-business connections and sales of over $1 million in agricultural commodities.

The Government of Saskatchewan recently unveiled its new Securing the Next Decade of Growth – Saskatchewan’s Investment Attraction Strategy. This strategy combined with Saskatchewan’s trade and investment website, InvestSK.ca, contains helpful information for potential markets and solidifies the province as the best place to do business in Canada.

For more information visit InvestSK.ca.

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For more information, contact:

MIL OSI Canada News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: LANCASTER COUNTY – Shapiro Administration to Announce 2025 PA Farm Show Theme at Oregon Dairy

Source: US State of Pennsylvania

September 26, 2024 – Lititz

ADVISORY – LANCASTER COUNTY – Shapiro Administration to Announce 2025 PA Farm Show Theme at Oregon Dairy

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Secretary of Community and Economic Development Rick Siger will announce the theme of the 2025 Pennsylvania Farm Show and Pennsylvania State Fair™ at Oregon Dairy Farmstead in Lititz.

Every year, the PA Farm Show brings half a million visitors to the capitol city for eight days of competition and agriculture-centric family fun with an educational twist. The event is a tourism powerhouse with an estimated $40 million-plus annual economic impact, supporting more than 5,600 jobs and generating more than $100,000 in local taxes.

The Shapiro Administration is investing in agriculture and tourism as key sectors powering Pennsylvania’s future economic success.

WHO:
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding
DCED Secretary Rick Siger
PA Farm Show Complex and Expo Center Director Sharon Myers
Oregon Dairy Co-Owner Maria Forry
State Representative Steven C. Mentzer
PA Fair Queen Erica Teagarden

WHEN:
Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 2 p.m.

WHERE:
Oregon Dairy Farmstead, 1289 Creek Road, Lititz PA (park in field by corn maze – at intersection of Oregon Pike and Creek Road)

RSVP: Press attending should RSVP to Shannon Powers,shpowers@pa.gov.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI Global: Nature is adapting to climate change – why aren’t we?

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition

Humanity may be no better prepared for the impacts of climate change today than in the 1970s.

So says a new study led by Stanford University researchers that compared how sensitive societies are to extreme weather now versus 50 years ago. This research has yet to be peer-reviewed, and its conclusions run counter to what many climate policy experts have long assumed. If they are accurate, it means that additional wealth, technology and climate-savvy have not meaningfully enhanced our protection as the weather has become more hostile.

This roundup of The Conversation’s climate coverage comes from our award-winning weekly climate action newsletter. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 35,000+ readers who’ve subscribed.

Earth’s atmosphere has warmed and contains more moisture as a result of fossil fuel burning. Europeans reeling from Storm Boris can testify to the failure of even wealthy countries to adapt to this reality says Chris Medland, a PhD candidate in climate change resilience at the University of Surrey.

Read more:
Who’s to blame when climate change turns the lights off?

Eventually, everyone will feel this deficit.

“Your home may not be in the path of the next storm but the infrastructure it relies on might be,” Medland says.

Flood defences, power lines, rail networks – all of these things and more need to be built or upgraded to withstand mounting storms. Yet in the recently flooded UK, the companies that run utilities are not expressly obliged to ensure their networks remain resilient to climate change, Medland says. Nor is it clear who is ultimately responsible for keeping the lights on as the crisis intensifies.

Invaders must die?

If the accounts of biologists are anything to go by, the natural world is adapting to the effects of climate change far more radically than any human institution.

“Faced with the degradation of their habitat, the species that will survive will be those that are able to adapt,” says Suzanne Bonamour, a postdoctoral researcher in ecology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Bonamour studies an endangered seabird, the crested cormorant, and its struggles to feed itself and its brood amid stormier seas. These birds can migrate to escape a winter squall, but only some do.

Read more:
How cormorants are rethinking their migration routes in the face of climate change

Bonamour wonders whether adult birds might transmit this behaviour to their chicks, but she says that there is little that species can do to compensate for the catastrophe humans are engineering.

Adjusting to a rapidly changing climate is a very tall order.
LABETAA Andre/Shutterstock

When plants and animals seeking cooler climes settle on new shores, they usually get a hostile reception. Attempting to root out these migrants is generally a mistake according to Heather Kharouba, an ecologist at the University of Ottawa.

“Stated plainly, the vast majority of intentionally or unintentionally introduced species are not a threat to native ecosystems,” she says.

Read more:
Climate change means we may have to learn to live with invasive species

Some arrivals do cause problems. In North America, “invasive species” include the emerald ash borer, an insect from north-eastern Asia that damages ash trees. But most control measures are laborious and expensive failures, Kharouba says. Some are even harmful, like using herbicides that afflict the native and non-native alike.

Kharouba cites numerous examples of introduced species enriching their new homes. More generally, there is a trade-off: forests in the eastern US that are turning gold with autumn’s onset now harbour fewer species, but they store more carbon.

“All this means that introduced plants could be well placed to support, or even buffer, current ecosystems as they undergo transitions due to climate change,” Kharouba says.

Nature offers stark evidence that the world is changing rapidly. What if we embraced it?

‘Not just a challenge’

Climate activists have typically shied away from discussing “climate adaptation” for fear of sounding defeatist says Joost de Moor, an assistant professor of political science at Sciences Po. There is cause to remain laser-focused on cutting emissions, he adds, but no excuse to neglect the question entirely.

If change is inevitable, what sort of world do we want to emerge from the climate crisis? In March 2023, protesters in western France seized the initiative when they opposed the construction of a 628,000 sq metre reservoir in the rural Sainte-Soline commune, de Moor says.

Read more:
How climate activists finally seized the issue of adaptation in 2023

France had suffered a historic drought, and so a huge artificial water reserve might have seemed prudent. Not if it involved draining a common resource, the water table, to serve a few farmers whose methods of agriculture already placed an untenable strain on struggling ecosystems, protesters argued.

The campaign sparked a vital debate about whose needs ought to be prioritised in a future with greater hardship says Lucien Thabourey, a sociologist of environmental activism at Sciences Po. Fortunately, there is also a conversation to be had about the ways in which everyone might live better.

Read more:
Sainte-Soline : un tournant pour les mouvements écologistes ?

“Some of the actions taken by humans to minimise the risk of catastrophic floods can actually make life more pleasant anyway, even when it isn’t raining,” says Maryam Imani, an associate professor of water systems engineering at Anglia Ruskin University.

Read more:
Torrential rain represents an opportunity to build a better society

“For this reason, we should see rains like this not just as a challenge, but as an opportunity.”

– ref. Nature is adapting to climate change – why aren’t we? – https://theconversation.com/nature-is-adapting-to-climate-change-why-arent-we-239750

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Nature Preserve Vintage Museum Collection, Modern Research Intersect in Century-Long Bee Study

Source: US Agriculture Research Service

Nature Preserve Vintage Museum Collection, Modern Research Intersect in Century-Long Bee Study

Contact: Amaani Lyle
Email: Amaani.Lyle@usda.gov

September 25, 2024

At a tranquil nature reserve in South Michigan, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist and her collaborators connected olden wild bee sample collections and modern technology to better decode the ecological traits and habits pollinators, critical links to environmental stability.

Kelsey Graham, an ARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit scientist, co-led the collaborative, intensive wild bee study at the University of Michigan’s E.S. George Reserve with a sampling period covering 1921 to 2018, which in tandem with advanced computer analyses revealed long-term bee population trends that may hold the keys to new and enhanced conservation approaches.

“These studies point to clear indicators of an urgent need for diligent and consistent conservation efforts to protect bee diversity, which is crucial for our ecosystem health, human health and agricultural productivity,” Graham said.

In a recent publication of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Graham’s research article “A century of wild bee sampling: historical data and neural network analysis reveal ecological traits associated with species loss,” explains how the study reached inflection points along the way, finding alarming declines in species richness, evenness and overall bee community diversity. Researchers also found that 64% of the more common bee species exhibited a more than 30% decline in abundance.

“In 1972 and 1973, the late zoologist Francis C. Evans detected 135 bee species, compared to our recent surveys in 2017 and 2018, which recorded only 90 species, with just 58 species present in both sampling periods,” Graham noted. “These samplings indicate a substantial shift in the bee community composition.”

Mikayla Ward, an undergraduate research technician at Michigan State University, collects bees using an insect net in September 2018 at the E.S. George Reserve. (Photo courtesy of Kelsey Graham, ARS)

To better understand why some species disappeared from the preserve, the ARS team and its partners leveraged neural networks, which determined that certain types of bees were more likely to vanish. Specifically, researchers discovered that oligolectic ground-nesting bees (meaning, bees that collect pollen from a few types of plants and nest in the ground) and kleptoparasitic bees (who steal food from other bees) are most vulnerable.

In comparison, the study found polylectic cavity-nesting bees (or bees that collect pollen from various plants and nest in cavities) are more likely to remain at the preserve.

Similarly, the findings demonstrated that bees active for longer periods each year have a better chance of remaining in the community if they collect pollen from a variety of plants.

In short, bees with certain traits, such as being picky about food, will continue to struggle compared to their more flexible counterparts.

Wild bees on flowers found at the E.S. George Reserve, Livingston County, Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Kelsey Graham, ARS)

Scientists also noted the significance of climate response, as bee species in the contemporary sampling period had a more southerly overall distribution compared to the historic community, indicating communities are shifting in response to warming temperatures.

This study, Graham explained, exhibits the utility and importance of publicly available historical long-term data in deciphering complex indicators of bee population trajectories, findings that may have otherwise been obscured in a lesser scope and timeframe.

“Combining traditional analysis techniques with neural networks helped us reveal shifts in geographic ranges and declines in bee abundance and diversity as they relate to species traits,” Graham said. “Such analyses help our understanding of bee population trends to inform the science and practice of bee conservation.”

The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in U.S. agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI: American National Urges Claims Preparedness for Tropical Storm Helene
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Helene is forecast to rapidly intensify and accelerate while it moves northward across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and approaches the Florida Gulf coast. The storm is expected to intensify and grow significantly reaching major hurricane intensity as it approaches the Florida coast and impacting the southeast region. American National strongly encourages its policyholders to prepare for their insurance needs. We hope you will find the following informational resources helpful while preparing for this storm. Please be advised to follow the orders of local authorities.

If you are an American National policyholder:

There are several ways to report a claim (to ensure efficient claims service, check that your login credentials are up to date):
1. Mobile: Use the AN Mobile app, available for free at the Apple App store or Google Play. An account is required.
2. Online: Claims (AmericanNational.com) and login to your account to file claim. To create an account, go to AmericanNational.com > Customer Login > Personal Insurance – Log In > Register.
3. If reporting on behalf of the insured and do not have a login: Claims (AmericanNational.com) and click the “Start Claim Online” link.
4. Phone: Call the 24-hour claims hotline at (800) 333-2860.
Stay alert, stay safe:

Refer to the National Hurricane Center at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov for hurricane preparedness, weather tracking and additional updates.

Check your local area forecast and follow instructions from local authorities to protect yourself, your family, and your property. Be sure to secure your home and property, follow your disaster plan and heed all storm warnings.

APCIA urges the following actions to prepare for a tropical storm or hurricane:
1. Gather copies of your insurance policies. Keep copies of your insurance policies (home, flood and auto) in a safe, dry, and accessible location or have your policy numbers available.
2. Save your insurer’s contact info. Save your insurer’s toll-free claims number to your cell phone’s contacts. APCIA has a list of insurer’s toll-free numbers here. APCIA American Property Casualty Insurance Association | APCIA
3. Make a home or business inventory. Use your smartphone to take photos or videos of your belongings, including furniture, appliances, clothes, lawn equipment, jewelry, and art. Save your inventory to a place where you can easily retrieve it. You can also check if your insurer has an app to help with creating a home inventory.
For more information on how to prepare, visit https://www.weather.gov/safety/hurricane-plan.

ABOUT AMERICAN NATIONAL

American National is a group of companies writing a broad array of insurance products and services and operating in all 50 states. American National Insurance Company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Galveston, Texas. Life insurance, annuities, credit insurance, pension products, and other products and services are written through multiple companies. Property and casualty insurance is written through American National Property And Casualty Company, Springfield, Missouri, and affiliates. In New York, business is written through Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company, United Farm Family Insurance Company, and American National Life Insurance Company of New York, Glenmont, New York. Not all products and services are available in all states. Not all companies are licensed in all states. Each company has financial responsibility for only the products and services it issues. For more information, please visit AmericanNational.com

Contact:
Becky Hudzik-Presson
SVP, Chief Claims Officer, P&C Claims Executive
Becky.Hudzik-Presson@AmericanNational.com

The MIL Network –
September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Bennet, Hickenlooper Introduce Legislation to Compensate Communities Affected by Gold King Mine Disaster

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Colorado Michael Bennet

Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper introduced the Gold King Mine Spill Compensation Act to help communities in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona that were affected by the Gold King Mine disaster of 2015.

“The effects of the Gold King Mine disaster were felt far beyond the banks of the Animas River. The blowout hurt families, farmers, and outdoor recreation companies in Durango and throughout southwest Colorado who depend on the river for their livelihoods,” said Bennet. “Almost a decade later, too many Coloradans still feel its effects. Our legislation is a necessary step to help Coloradans finally recover certain remaining costs and damages incurred from the spill and make Southwest Colorado communities whole again.”

“Local farmers, homeowners, and outdoor rec outfitters were left high and dry after the Gold King Mine spill in 2015,” said Hickenlooper. “Our bill will make sure they get the compensation they need to finally recover and move forward.”

On August 5, 2015, the Gold King Mine spill released 3 million gallons of polluted mining wastewater into the Animas and San Juan rivers, affecting waterways in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, the Southern Ute reservation, and the Navajo Nation. Though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was able to partially compensate some claims, its ability to meet the needs of affected businesses, farmers, and homeowners is constrained by existing laws. This legislation would provide EPA with the necessary authority and funding to compensate certain outstanding claims from the spill.

“The Gold King Mine Compensation Act clears the procedural hurdles that kept businesses that suffered economic losses due to the spill nearly 10 years ago from being made whole,” said Matt Salka, Chair, La Plata County Board of County Commissioners. “We are grateful that the impact felt by those businesses has not been forgotten and that a remedy is possible through this much-appreciated legislation.”

“The work that Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper and their teams have done on the Gold King Mine Bill is restoring my faith in government. After all these years to see the promise of our government concerning the Gold King Mine incident and its ensuing economic damage was not forgotten, is refreshing. The wheels of government turn slowly. We at Mild to Wild Rafting and Jeep Tours are thankful that Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper and their teams are keeping them turning,” said Alex Mickel, President, Mild to Wild Rafting and Jeep Tours.

The La Plata County Board of County Commissioners also shared a letter in support of this legislation.

Immediately after the Gold King Mine disaster, then-Governor Hickenlooper declared the affected area a disaster zone. The following month, Bennet requested and testified at a Senate hearing regarding the cause, response, and effects of the Gold King Mine disaster. He also introduced the Gold King Mine Spill Recovery Act to ensure the EPA continued to work with states, local communities, and Tribes to compensate those who were affected and implement long-term water quality monitoring. The following year, Bennet worked to pass legislation to support recovery efforts from the spill.

On its second anniversary, Bennet and New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, alongside then-Representative Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), introduced legislation to reform the nation’s antiquated mining laws and prevent future hardrock mine disasters.

The text of the bill is available HERE.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI Canada: Deeply personal NFB docs and animation showcased at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival
Source: Government of Canada News

Newfoundland filmmaker Tamara Segura’s National Film Board of Canada (NFB) feature documentary Seguridad headlines an impressive selection of women’s cinema from the NFB at the 2024 St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival (SJIWFF), taking place October 22–26.
Powerful NFB lineup includes Newfoundland director Tamara Segura’s feature Seguridad and Halifax animator Andrea Dorfman’s short Hairy Legs

September 24, 2024 – Halifax – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

Newfoundland filmmaker Tamara Segura’s National Film Board of Canada (NFB) feature documentary Seguridad headlines an impressive selection of women’s cinema from the NFB at the 2024 St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival (SJIWFF), taking place October 22–26.

Seguridad was just named Best Atlantic Documentary at the Atlantic International Film Festival in Halifax.

From elsewhere in Atlantic Canada, Halifax filmmaker Andrea Dorfman’s new animated short Hairy Legs will screen at the festival.

SJIWFF will also be presenting the Atlantic premieres of two feature docs from Toronto directors: Laurie Townshend’s A Mother Apart (Oya Media Group/NFB) and Anishinaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson’s Wilfred Buck (Door Number 3 Productions/NFB).

About the films

Seguridad by Tamara Segura (76 min) | Friday, October 25, at 7 p.m., Majestic Theatre
Producers: Annette Clarke and Rohan Fernando
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/seguridad
- Once named “Cuba’s youngest soldier” in a publicity stunt, Newfoundland-based filmmakerTamara Segura explores her father’s troubled past and its connection to the Cuban Revolution. She returns to Cuba after four years away, camera in hand, hoping to make amends. But her father’s sudden death forces Segura to confront the past and the role Cuba’s highly militarized system played in his downfall.
- Tamara Seguragraduated from the prestigious International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV). Her films have received awards in Spain, Cuba, Canada and Mexico. Based in Newfoundland since 2012, Segura previously worked with the NFB on such films as Song for Cuba (2014) and Becoming Labrador (2018), and is an instructor at the College of the North Atlantic.
Hairy Legs by Andrea Dorfman (17 min) | Friday, October 25, at 7 p.m., LSPU Hall
Producers: Liz Cowie and Rohan Fernando
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/hairy-legs
- Andrea Dorfman’s animated short film documents a 13-year-old girl’s small yet life-changing act of rebellion on the road to womanhood and feminism. Deciding not to shave her legs led the filmmaker to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations. With charm, warmth and humour, Hairy Legscaptures the universality of girls exploring gender, curiosity and freedom as they evolve from spending exuberant, carefree days on their bicycles to facing and defying stereotypes.
- Andrea Dorfman has written and directed many award-winning documentaries, features and animated films, including the NFB-produced Flawed(2010), Big Mouth (2012) and feature doc The Girls of Meru (2018). Dorfman’s video collaborations with poet-musician Tanya Davis, How to Be Alone (2010) and How to Be at Home (2020), became YouTube sensations.
A Mother Apart by Laurie Townshend (89 min) | Wednesday, October 23, at 7 p.m., LSPU Hall
Producers: Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George (Oya Media Group); Justine Pimlott (NFB)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/a-mother-apart
- How do you raise a child when your own mother abandoned you? In a remarkable story of healing and forgiveness, Jamaican-American poet and LGBTQ+ activist Staceyann Chin, renowned for performances in Def Poetry Slamand hit solo shows like MotherStruck!, radically re-imagines the essential art of mothering. In seeking her elusive mother—a trail that leads to Brooklyn, Montreal, Cologne and, finally, Jamaica—Staceyann and her daughter forge a new sense of home.
- Laurie Townshendis a Toronto-based filmmaker, writer and educator. Her films centre on the human capacity to transform small acts of courage into quiet revolutions, as seen in the dramatic short The Railpath Hero (2013, TIFF Black Star Series), the unscripted series Human Frequency Streetdocs (2014) and the award-winning short doc Charley (2016).
Wilfred Buck by Lisa Jackson (92 min) | Saturday, October 26, at 2:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre
Producers: Lisa Jackson (Door Number 3 Productions), Lauren Grant (Clique Pictures); Alicia Smith (NFB)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/wilfred-buck
- This hybrid, time-travelling road triptakes us into the stellar life of charismatic Cree Elder, star expert and ceremonial leader Wilfred Buck, adapted from Buck’s rollicking memoir I Have Lived Four Lives. Jackson’s portrait of Buck moves between earth and sky, past and present, bringing to life ancient teachings of Indigenous astronomy and cosmology to tell a story that spans generations.
- Lisa Jacksonis an Anishinaabe (Aamjiwnaang) filmmaker whose work has garnered two Canadian Screen Awards, been nominated for a Webby and screened at top festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, London BFI and Hot Docs. Her 2018 NFB VR experience Biidaaban: First Light was viewed by more than 25,000 people, while her film Indictment won Best Doc at imagineNATIVE. Jackson has been honoured with the 2022 Chicken & Egg Award as well as the 2021 DOC Vanguard Award.
– 30 –

Stay Connected

Online Screening Room: nfb.ca
NFB Facebook | NFB Twitter | NFB Instagram | NFB Blog | NFB YouTube | NFB Vimeo
Curator’s perspective | Director’s notes

About the NFB
Lily Robert
Director, Communications and Public Affairs, NFB
C.: 514-296-8261
l.robert@nfb.ca

MIL OSI Canada News –
September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Wyden Introduces Legislation to Clean Up Hemp Market, Keep Products Out of Kids’ Hands

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)
September 25, 2024
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act (CSRA) to establish national standards to protect public health and safety and keep cannabis products out of the hands of children.
The CSRA would establish a national age restriction to prevent those under 21 from purchasing hemp-derived cannabis products. The legislation would require that all hemp-derived products are tested for safety and are manufactured using clean and safe processes. The CSRA would require truth in labeling, and would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recall or ban any cannabis products with dangerous chemicals or additives.
“Just like the tobacco industry marketing cigarettes to young people, nobody should be slapping fun cartoons and glitzy candy wrapper packaging on cannabis products meant for adults,” Wyden said. “A federal floor for regulation of hemp products is non-negotiable to ensure that consumers aren’t put at risk by untested products of unknown origin. My legislation will ensure that adult consumers know what they’re getting, and that hemp products are never sold or marketed to children.”
Unsafe, unregulated cannabis products have flooded the market since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized U.S. hemp production. Without FDA regulation on manufacturing, packaging, labeling and age-gating hemp-derived products, there has been a massive increase in producing and selling hemp products that imitate candy or kids’ snacks, contain dangerous chemicals or additives, or are untruthfully labeled. Despite some states’ efforts to implement their own testing, labeling, and processing standards, a federal regulatory floor is crucial to address regulatory gaps between states. The CSRA would explicitly allow states to prohibit, limit or otherwise regulate hemp-derived products beyond the bill’s provisions.
The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
The CRSA is endorsed by the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, the National Cannabis Industry Association, National Industrial Hemp Council, and hemp industry associations from California, Colorado, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, Virginia, and Texas.
“The hemp industry is united behind a simple, common-sense proposition: Hemp products should be robustly regulated, not the subject of a misguided prohibition. Senator Wyden’s critical legislation does just that: imposing strong health and safety standards for hemp products while ensuring that they are kept out of the hands of minors. Along with dozens of other hemp organizations, the US Hemp Roundtable endorses this bill as we stand up and cheer for Senator Wyden’s continued stewardship and leadership, and as we look forward to continuing to work closely with him as this bill progresses and transforms over the next several months,” said Jonathan Miller, General Counsel at U.S. Hemp Roundtable.
“For too long, federal inaction has fostered an unregulated marketplace for hemp THC products, endangering the public and creating unfair competition for regulated cannabis businesses. We look forward to working with Senator Wyden to pass the Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act because it solves this problem by implementing commonsense safeguards to ensure intoxicating hemp products are tested, properly labeled, and not made available to minors while creating a pathway for manufacturers to provide safe hemp products to adults through a regulated framework,” said Aaron Smith, CEO at the National Cannabis Industry Association.
The bill text is here. The one-pager is here. The section-by-section is here.

MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI Translation: NFB at St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival

MIL OSI Translation. Canadian French to English –

Source: Government of Canada – in French 1

This year’s St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival will be held October 22-26 and will feature the feature documentary Seguridad by Newfoundland National Film Board filmmaker Tamara Segura, as well as an impressive selection of works directed by NFB creators.

Feature film Seguridad, by Newfoundland director Tamara Segura, and short film Hairy Legs, by Halifax animator Andrea Dorfman, will be presented

September 24, 2024 – Halifax – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

This year, the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival will be held from October 22 to 26 and will highlight feature-length documentaries Security, from Newfoundland filmmakerNational Film Board Tamara Segura, as well as an impressive selection of works directed by NFB creators.

Seguridad has just won the award for best Atlantic documentary at the Atlantic International Film Festival in Halifax.

In St. John’s, the public will also be able to discover the new animated short film Hairy Legs, the work of another Atlantic Canadian filmmaker, Andrea Dorfman, based in Halifax.

The festival will also present the Atlantic premieres of two feature-length documentaries by Toronto-based women directors: A Mother Apart (Oya Media Group/ONF), by Laurie Townshend, and Wilfred Buck (Door Number 3 Productions/NFB), by Anishinaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson.

The movies

Seguridad, Tamara Segura (76 min) | Friday October 25, 7 p.m., Majestic Theater Production: Annette Clarke and Rohan FernandoPress kit: spacemedia.onf.ca/epk/seguridad

In Seguridad, Newfoundland filmmaker Tamara Segura, once dubbed “Cuba’s youngest soldier” for a publicity stunt, portrays her troubled relationship with her father, set against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution. After four years away, she returns to Cuba with her camera in hand, hoping to reconcile with him. But Jorge’s sudden death just days after her arrival pushes her to examine her father’s troubled past and the role Cuba’s heavily militarized regime played in his downfall. Tamara Segura is a graduate of the prestigious International Film and Television School in San Antonio de los Baños. Her films have won awards in Spain, Cuba, Canada and Mexico. Based in Newfoundland since 2012, she previously created the works A song for Cuba(2014) andTo the rhythm of Labrador(2018). She teaches at the College of the North Atlantic.

Hairy Legs, Andrea Dorfman (17 min) | Friday 25 October, 7pm, LSPU Hall Producer: Liz Cowie and Rohan FernandoPress kit: spacemedia.onf.ca/epk/poil-aux-jambes

Andrea Dorfman’s animated short film chronicles a 13-year-old girl’s modest but pivotal act of rebellion as she journeys through femininity and toward feminism. When she chooses not to shave her legs, the budding filmmaker is led to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations. Leg Haircaptures with charm, humor, and tenderness the universal dimension of young teenage girls’ exploration of identity and curiosity. Their carefree childhood spent on bicycles with their heads in the clouds is soon followed by a desire to challenge stereotypes. Andrea Dorfman has written and directed numerous award-winning documentaries, feature films, and animated films, includingImperfect(2010),Disjointed mouth(2012) andThe Young Girls of Meru(2018), produced by the NFB. His short films How to Be Alone (2010) andAt home (2020), made in collaboration with poet Tanya Davis, became a sensation on YouTube.

A Mother Apart, Laurie Townshend (89 min) | Wednesday, October 23, 7 p.m., LSPU HallProduced by: Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George (Oya Media Group); Justine Pimlott (NFB)Press Kit: spacemedia.onf.ca/epk/une-mere-a-part

How do you raise a child when you yourself have been deprived of a mother figure? In this extraordinary tale of forgiveness and healing, the art of motherhood is radically reimagined by poet and LGBTQ activist Staceyann Chin, a central figure in the contemporary Black American spoken word scene. In search of the woman who abandoned her, Staceyann travels from Brooklyn to Montreal to Cologne to Jamaica, and along the way builds a new sense of belonging with her daughter. Filmmaker, writer, and educator Laurie Townshend lives in Toronto. Her films explore the human capacity to transform small acts of courage into quiet revolutions, as evidenced in the dramatic short The Railpath Hero (2013, TIFF, BlackStar Series), the improvised series Human Frequency Streetdocs (2014), and the award-winning short Charley (2016).

Wilfred Buck, Lisa Jackson (92 min) | Saturday October 26, 2:30 p.m., Majestic Theater Production: Lisa Jackson (Door Number 3 Productions), Lauren Grant (Click Pictures) ; Alicia Smith (NFB)press kit: spacemedia.onf.ca/epk/wilfred-buck

This hybrid documentary travels back in time to the extraordinary life of charismatic Cree elder Wilfred Buck, a renowned stargazer and ceremonial officiant. It is an adaptation of the protagonist’s exuberant memoir, I Have Lived Four Lives. Lisa Jackson’s portrait moves between earth and sky, past and present, reviving centuries-old teachings of Indigenous astronomy and cosmology to tell a story that unfolds across generations. Winner of two Canadian Screen Awards and nominated for a Webby, Anishinaabe (Aamjiwnaang) filmmaker Lisa Jackson has had her films screened at major festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, London BFI and Hot Docs. The VR experienceBiidaaban: First Light, which she created in 2018 for the NFB, has been viewed by over 25,000 people. Her film Indictment won the Best Documentary Award at the imagineNATIVE festival. Lisa Jackson has also been awarded the Chicken Award

– 30 –

Stay Connected

Online viewing space at NFB.ca Facebook NFB | NFB Twitter | Instagram NFB | ONF Blog | YouTube NFB | Vimeo NFB Curator’s Perspective | The filmmakers’ words

The NFB in brief

Lily RobertDirector, Communications and Public Affairs, ONFCell.: 514-296-8261l.robert@nfb.ca

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.

MIL Translation OSI

September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Reps. Cleaver, David Scott Reintroduce Legislation to Expand Access to Apprenticeships for Young African Americans
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II (5th District Missouri)

(Washington, D.C.) – This week, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) and David Scott (D-GA), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, announced the reintroduction of the Jobs, On-the-Job ‘Earn While You Learn’ Training and Apprenticeships for Young African Americans Act. The legislation would encourage the U.S. Department of Labor to work with African American organizations and labor unions to recruit and hire African Americans in registered apprenticeship (RA) programs.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has made it a priority to bring good-paying jobs back to communities across the heartland by investing in critical infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy—but we must also ensure the pipeline of workers ready to help fill those jobs reflects the diversity of the nation at large,” said Congressman Cleaver. “Registered apprenticeship programs provide young Americans with the opportunity to gain valuable skills in high-earning industries while earning a paycheck, and our legislation seeks to expand those opportunities to communities that have historically been left out, which will ensure greater prosperity for all.”

Offering hands-on training opportunities, virtually zero student debt and the potential to advance in high-quality jobs, RA programs provide participants with the economic mobility needed to build wealth and a pathway toward high earning careers across a number of in-demand industries. However, according to data from the Department of Labor, African Americans have one of the lowest rates of participation in apprenticeship programs.

The Jobs, On-the-Job ‘Earn While You Learn’ Training and Apprenticeships for Young African Americans Act would:
- Create a Diversity and Inclusion Administrator position within the Employment and Training Administration at DOL responsible for promoting and assisting greater African American participation in RAs.
- Support the Recruitment, Employment, and Retention of African American and other nontraditional Black populations in programs under the national apprenticeship system in high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors and occupations.
- Target High-Earnings Occupations in construction, welding, electrical engineering, plumbing, information technology, energy, green jobs, advanced manufacturing, health care, and cybersecurity.
- Update the RA Application process requiring new sponsors to include a plan to boost African American participation in their apprenticeship programs.
- Establish a Competitive Grant Program for eligible RAs to create, increase, or expand African American participation in traditional and non-traditional apprenticeship industries.
The Jobs, On-the-Job ‘Earn While You Learn’ Training and Apprenticeships Act is endorsed by International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), International Brotherhood of Electrical Engineers (IBEW), Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council, Institute for Policy Studies’ Black Worker Initiative (IPS-BWI), and 100 Black Men of Atlanta.

The Jobs, On-the-Job ‘Earn While You Learn’ Training and Apprenticeships Act is cosponsored by Reps. Juan Vargas (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alma Adams (D-NC), André Carson (D-IN), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Dwight Evans (D-GA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Nikema Williams (D-GA), and Marilyn Strickland (D-WA).

Official text of the Jobs, On-the-Job ‘Earn While You Learn’ Training and Apprenticeships Act is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee’s Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.

MIL OSI USA News –
September 29, 2024
MIL-OSI USA: Sorensen Announces Over $12.2 Million for Safety Upgrades at Local Airports

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17)

MOLINE, IL – Today, Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) announced $12,269,860 from the U.S. Department of Transportation for safety and infrastructure upgrades at Chicago-Rockford International Airport (RFD) in Rockford, the Quad Cities International Airport in Rock Island County, and the Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) in McLean County.

“Too many of my neighbors across Central and Northwestern Illinois have to travel miles and sit through hours of traffic just to catch their flights at O’Hare or Midway,” said Sorensen. “By investing in safety upgrades at our local airports, our communities will have better access to affordable air travel right in their backyards. This important funding will be used to repair runways, prevent flooding, and purchase new safety equipment that will make our local airports sustainable for the future. I will always look for ways I can bring tax dollars back home to build up our communities through reliable transportation options.”

Northern Illinois

“We sincerely thank the FAA’s Airport Improvement Grant Program for the nearly $8 million in grant funding to support RFD’s taxiway replacement project,” said Zack Oakley, Executive Director of Chicago Rockford International Airport. “This vital taxiway section, used by all aircraft operating at RFD, was built during the early 1990s and has been crucial to our operations for over 30 years. With this support, we will replace the infrastructure and continue delivering safe, efficient, and excellent service to all, further strengthening our role as the economic engine of Northern Illinois and specifically the Rockford region.”

The Greater Rockford Airport Authority will receive $7,946,166 to reconstruct 2,624 feet of the existing paved Taxiway F pavement that has reached the end of its useful life at Chicago-Rockford International Airport.

Western Illinois

“The Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County appreciates the continued support of Senators Durbin and Duckworth as well as Congressman Sorensen in securing discretionary federal funding to support the Quad Cities International Airport,” saidBenjamin Leischner, A.A.E., Executive Director, Quad Cities International Airport. “This money will be used to improve airport safety by eliminating standing water on the airfield that has historically been an attractant to wildlife. Construction is estimated to begin next year with a local contractor.”

The Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County will receive $2,765,727 to construct new drainage improvements to adequately handle storm water runoff and mitigate substances that attract wildlife at the Quad Cities International Airport.

Central Illinois

“The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority is grateful for Congressman Sorensen’s support of the Central Illinois Regional Airport and, specifically, for this new infrastructure and safety grant,” said Alan Sender, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority. “The federal grant announced by the Congressman will advance two major projects at CIRA in the years ahead: the rehabilitation of Runway 11/29 and the purchase of a new aircraft rescue and fire fighting vehicle. Both components are key for the continued safe operation of the airport.”

The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority will receive $1,557,967 for CIRA to replace one existing rapid response aircraft rescue and fire fighting vehicle to meet safety requirements. In addition, this funding will be used to rehabilitate 5,960 feet of the existing paved Runway 11/29 at CIRA to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement and minimize foreign object debris.

Congressman Eric Sorensen serves on the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Prior to serving in Congress, Sorensen was a local meteorologist in Rockford and the Quad Cities for nearly 20 years. His district includes Illinois’ Quad Cities, Rockford, Peoria, and Bloomington-Normal.

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MIL OSI USA News –

September 29, 2024