The deadline for farmers to certify yields for corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, barley and grain sorghum for the 2009 Average Crop Revenue Election program, or ACRE, has been extended. Farms enrolled in ACRE are required to furnish production certification by Sept. 1. Producers should contact their local Farm Service Agency office for more information. Find local area FSA offices.
Congress is hoping to help dairy farmers by introducing legislation that would set a quarterly production amount and provide a base price for milk. The Dairy Market Stabilization Act is expected to provide family farmers with a fair price for their production and keep the 65,000 U.S. dairy farms running. Dairy farmers have been suffering from volatile pricing that has caused many to take on debt or close down. In 2007, the price per hundred pounds of milk reached $21.80. It then fell in 2009 to $11.30. Some farmers need at least $17 to $18 per hundredweight to meet production costs. (CNBC) Read more. (Related articles: WBNG-TV).
Record temperature in June and a portion of July have taken their toll on crops in the northeastern part of the region. Corn is showing signs of stress while dairy farmers are producing less milk as cows tend to eat less when it is hot. Consumers more than likely will feel the impact of the heat at the grocery store as prices for produce and other products creep higher. (USAToday) Learn more.
More than 100 farmers and commodity groups gathered to have a part in helping to shape the 2012 Farm Bill.
North Dakota Congressman Earl Pomeroy and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson heard testimony from area producers and commodity groups last week in an effort to gather input before the 2012 farm bill legislation is drafted.
Interns from both the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) met with several senior employees from various agencies last week during the Student and Intern Information Seminar hosted by USDA. The seminar was designed to help interns better understand their agency and meet fellow interns.
Scientists at the National Center for Agriculture Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill., have donated nearly 75 pounds of fresh produce to two food pantries compliments of the city’s first People’s Garden. The 45-foot-by-65-foot garden that contains squash, carrots, onions, pole beans, purple beans and kohlrabi, has helped to feed more than 260 people at one food pantry and has benefitted another pantry that has seen a 41 percent increase people within the past four years. (PJstar.com) Learn more.
The USDA has designated eleven counties in Tennessee as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by excessive rainfall, flooding and flash flooding. Several other counties in Tennessee along with counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Missouri also qualify for emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency because the counties are contiguous. Read more.
USDA is partnering with landowners in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland to help protect the Chesapeake Bay by keeping farmland from being developed and reducing runoff. “Every track of farmland that is developed in the bay watershed results in lost environmental benefits and poor water quality for the region,’ said Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. “Agriculture is not the problem; agriculture is part of the solution for the Chesapeake Bay.”
The Farm Service Agency is seeking comments on a new program designed to provide grants to state and tribal governments to encourage owners of privately held land to make the land available for hunting, fishing and other wildlife-dependent recreation. The Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program will provide grants for up to three years to improve fish and wildlife habitat, create new public access programs or provide incentives to improve habitat on land enrolled in the program. Learn more or submit comments.
The U.S. can “easily” meet the Obama administration’s goal of doubling exports in five years, according to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. His comments are supported by a 19 percent increase in agricultural exports during the first quarter of this year. In his State of the Union address, Obama pledged to double exports within five years and expand trade with Columbia, Panama and South Korea. (Bloomberg Businessweek) Read more.
