SOUTHERN EXTENSION PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE (SEPAC)

PRIMARY PURPOSE OF GROUP:

The primary purposes of SEPAC are to provide a forum for Extension policy specialists to share educational resources and conduct joint educational activities on economic issues that affect Southeastern Region agriculture and rural economies.

SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Farm Bill 2002: A set of options/consequences papers were developed and disseminated with leadership by SEPAC and support from the Farm Foundation discussing critical issues in the Farm Bill debate. Joe Outlaw and Ed Smith coordinated the efforts and edited papers for publication. Several members of SEPAC were authors on these papers. Jim Novak as a representative of SEPAC assisted in developing a national farmer farm bill preferences survey and in coordinating southern states participation in the project.  This preference survey was also supported by the Farm Foundation, which involved southern, north central, western and northeastern representation. Nine southern state policy specialists carried out the survey of farmers on Farm Bill issues for their states.  Participation was voluntary and required each state to pay for administration of the survey in cooperation with their state NASS office.  A national and a southern publication of farmer preferences were developed from this survey. Publications from the edited papers and the farmer preferences survey are listed on the Farm Foundation website. Printed copies were made available to each state. Members of SEPAC co-organized, delivered presentations, and provided take-home educational materials for participants on the new Farm Bill at a national conference on the new Farm Bill held in Kansas City, Missouri.  Printed and media releases of from this conference are listed on the Kansas State Extension website. Larry Sanders and Jim Novak prepared and presented a Southern Ag. Econ. Assn. Meeting symposium on issues related to the new farm bill in February 2002. Larry Sanders prepared a pre-conference on policy options/consequences for the 2001 National Public Policy Education Conference. 9/11 forced cancellation of this conference but parts of the materials prepared were used for later meetings.  One final highlight, a 3 hour organized session by SEPAC, on the new farm bill, was made to participants in the joint SEFMC, SEMC, SEPAC and NCFMC 2002 meeting held in Nashville.

CURRENT/RECENT MAJOR PROJECTS:

Primary leadership by SEPAC:
International Trade (Joint with SEFMC and SEMC). Products will be a set of leaflets on trade impacts on U.S. commodities of domestic and trade policy. Timeline will be to complete papers by April 2003. Leadership will be provided by Larry Sanders (FL) and John Vansickle (FL, Southeast Marketing Committee).

Farm Bill 2002
Ongoing updates on the Farm Bill are provided to SEPAC members and other Land-Grant educators.
Proposal will be made for train-the-trainer workshops on Farm Bill 2002 for extension personnel and others. Jim Novak (AL) is providing SEPAC leadership for this effort.

Participation by SEPAC:
National Public Policy Education Conference.Larry Sanders (w/Sue Williams, OSU) developed a preconference workshop for NPPEC 2001 on basic training for public policy/policy issues education, but the conference was cancelled due to the Sept 11 tragedy.
SEPAC officers are members of the national planning committee. Joe Outlaw (TX) and David Mulkey (FL) will serve in this capacity for the coming year.

Southern Extension Outlook Conference. Leadership for this annual Commodity Outlook conference rotates among the extension committees.

PRIMARY DISCIPLINES WHICH PARTICIPATE:

Agricultural Economics

OTHER DISCIPLINES WHICH PARTICIPATE:

None

STATES REPRESENTED:

Formal or informal state representatives involved in activities and/or attending the annual meeting of SEPAC in 2001-2002 include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

Formal representation for SEPAC is lacking (or will be lacking at the end of calendar 2002) from Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES:

There is no industry representation on this policy-oriented committee.

LEADERSHIP:

Leadership in the 2001-2002 period (July to July) has been Chair: David Mulkey, FL; Vice-chair and Secretary: Jim Pease, VA

The committee voted this year to permanently combine the functions of Vice-chair and Secretary. Leadership elected for 2002-2003 are Chair: Jim Pease, VA; and Vice-chair/Secretary: Joe Outlaw, TX

MEETINGS:

Frequency and Usual Time(s) of Year:

The annual meeting of SEPAC rotates among the participating states, is held concurrently with the Southern Farm Management Committee and Southern Marketing Committee, and takes place in June.

Dates and Locations of Recent Meetings:

June 10-13, 2001: Ashville, NC

June 9-12, 2002: Nashville, TN

Date and Location of 2003 Meeting:

No fixed date has been established for the 2003 meeting, but the location will be Charleston, SC.

Committee will also meet informally during the 2002 National Public Policy Education Conference scheduled for September 2002 in Reno, Nevada.

Years of Existence:

Approximately 20 years.

Sunset Date:

SEPAC has issues and activities planned for an indefinite period through 2010 and beyond.

Report Prepared By:

Jim Pease (VA), Chair.

Date: July 21, 2002