SB 353-AGRICULT. PROG.COORDINATOR/ANIMAL FEED  CHAIRMAN TORGERSON announced SB 353 to be up for consideration. MS. JANEY WINEGAR, staff to Senator Lyda Green, sponsor of SB 353, said that Pete Fellman, staff to Representative John Harris is very aware of this issue and the bill. She said SB 353 addresses three areas, organic crop inspections, feed labeling and control of noxious weeds, and that she would see that the committee received a copy of "Noxious Invasive Plant Management In Alaska" that was produced by the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service. She said: These weeds tend to impact our hunting and fishing grounds, agricultural crops and they're getting more invasive every year. Several western states have spent millions and millions of dollars controlling weeds. They're at a point now that they're very invasive and becoming very destructive. We're at the crossroads in Alaska where we can take control of them now with a little bit of money put into it. As far as the labeling of animal feed, we are the only state that doesn't require labeling of what's in animal feed and we think that we need to do that and come up to national standards. Another area that we're addressing is the organic label. Federal labeling laws require that organic food inspectors may not have a vested interest or participation in growing or processing the foods being certified. Either an outside inspector or staff person will need to be hired to determine that it is in fact organic foods and has been grown and processed within Alaska. This bill speaks to three problems by requiring the commissioner of [the] Department of Natural Resources to appoint an agricultural program coordinator to oversee management of an organic crop labeling program, adopt animal feed standards and implement this plan that the University has developed on noxious and invasive plant management as recommended by and developed in cooperation with federal, state, local and private agencies and groups… CHAIRMAN TORGERSON referred to language on page 1, line 7, "establish requirements that are compatible with federal law and the laws of other states" and asked why laws of other states were included. REPRESENTATIVE JOHN HARRIS, sponsor of HB 432, a companion bill to SB 353, responded that there is a publication put out by a federal organization that coordinated legislation in all states on this issue and developed model legislation so there is a uniform standard when it comes to weed control. CHAIRMAN TORGERSON said he didn't know if he wanted that requirement. He asked what would happen if a state adopted something contradictory to what Alaska wants and Alaska had to abide by their laws. MR. MICHAEL PURVIANCE, Delta Junction resident, stated support for SB 353. He said he started farming in Delta a few years ago on virgin ground and he is already beginning to see invasive weeds like chickweed. He said if we don't address these problems now, they will become big problems that would require millions of dollars to correct. He urged members to adopt this legislation. MS. MARTA MUELLER, lifelong Alaska resident, said she is a UAF student and supports SB 353 for the following reasons. The Agriculture Coordinator Commission will [indisc.] its development in Alaska. Working with the federally mandated Organic Food Regulations will help Alaskan food producers market organic foods, because the standards consumers can follow will be in place [indisc.]. Second, enforcing the existing state noxious weed code and reviewing DNR regulations can help development by assuring disturbed areas, such as mineral leases, transportation corridors, [indisc.], public recreation areas and farms remain weed free… MR. RIVER BEAN, President, Alaska Organic Association, said the federal Natural Organic Program would supercede the certifying organic program in Alaska this year. He added: While the standards that the federal government has are not as stringent as the ones that we have for the state of Alaska, we still would like to see the [indisc.] natural organic program standards be [indisc.] regardless. What SB 353 does is it removes the old organic law from the [indisc.] book, which are the worst standards in the nation… It will also adopt a national organic program that becomes effective, I believe October 22 of this year. And third, it allows the State of Alaska to become accredited with the federal government to certify organic foods and [indisc]. Without passing this bill, the farmers are going to have to rely on out-of-state certification and carry their labels on the organic Alaskan-grown foods - like certified with standards of California or Washington state. It's unlikely that any organic farmer in the State of Alaska would want another state's label on their Alaskan organic foods. So, the consumer is left without a choice. If they have a preference for buying certified organic foods, they will be forced to buy certified organic foods that are not grown in this state… MR. LARRY DE VILBISS, Mat-Su "carrot man," said this bill is important to his business. Last year he began the process of transitioning his entire farm to organic, including carrots and beets, about 1,000 acres outside of Palmer. If they are not able to continue with the certification process that they started about five years ago through the Alaska Organic Association, they can't continue the program or switch to the one from out of state. MS. KELLY LANGFORD LADERE, Secretary, Alaska Livestock Producers' Cooperative, said she also had been President and that she was Chairperson for the Upper Susitna Water and Soil Conservation District, a quasi-state agency that functions within DNR, and is composed of volunteers from within the district covering two million acres in the Upper Susitna Valley. She also makes her living as a farmer and a rancher. Regarding the labeling aspect of this legislation, she said it's very important for people who have made the investment in livestock in Alaska that the feedstuffs that come out of a bag and go into the animals be of a certain standard. In the past unlabelled feed has come into the state and has contributed substantially to the noxious weed and invasive plant problems that are taking place across Alaskan farms, roadsides, railroad beds, and along rivers. She said, "Accurate labeling will allow the consumer the option of choosing a higher quality feed that may be certified as weed-free. She plants about 400 acres of oats each year and buys only certified weed-free, however even it has noxious and invasive weeds. MS. LADERE said that a number of people across the state are trying to reach this level of organic certification. "It's expensive; they have to go through multiple years of inspection of their farm…" She said that most of the noxious plants that affect livestock in this state have been introduced. For the first time in 50 years on one of her farms she is going to have to spray a chemical to control invasive plants and she is not happy about it. SENATOR WILKEN moved on line 7 to delete the last six words, "and the laws of other states". There were no objections and the amendment was adopted. SENATOR WILKEN moved to report CSSB 353(RES) from committee with individual recommendations and the attached fiscal note. There were no objections and it was so ordered.