USDA Soliciting Bids Under Feedstock Flexibility Program

Posted on August 16, 2013 by tanya brown

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is inviting sugar processors to sell sugar to the Commodity Credit Corporation and bioenergy producers to buy sugar for bioenergy production under the Feedstock Flexibility Program (FFP). FFP requires the purchase of sugar as a feedstock for producing fuel-grade ethanol and other biofuels to avoid forfeiture of sugar pledged as collateral by processors when securing nonrecourse commodity loans from Commodity Credit Corporation. Federal law allows sugar processors to obtain loans from the CCC with maturities of up to nine months at the beginning of the crop year. Upon loan maturity, the sugar processor may repay the loan in full or forfeit the sugar used as collateral to the government to satisfy the loan. Learn more.

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$40 Million in Grants, Loans Available to Provide Safe Housing for Farmworkers

Posted on August 14, 2013 by tanya brown

Nearly $40 million in grants and loans are available to provide housing for farmworkers and their families. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement on Wednesday stating that the USDA Farm Labor Housing Program is the only national source of construction funds to buy, build or improve housing for farmworkers. “This program is an important way that USDA helps to ensure the well-being of itinerant farm labor families. Looking ahead to the future, we will also continue to urge passage of common sense immigration reform that will create rules that work for farm workers and producers alike.” Funding is available to farmers, farmers associations, family farm corporations, Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations, public agencies and farmworker associations to develop or improve multi-family housing facilities for farm laborers and their families. Learn more.

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Record-Setting Corn Production on the Horizon

Posted on August 12, 2013 by tanya brown

Corn production is forecast to jump 28 percent to 13.8 billion bushels. If the forecast is met, it will be the largest corn production on record in the United States, according to the latest USDA Crop Production report released Aug. 12. Soybean production is expected to be up 8 percent from 2012 with 3.26 billion bushels. If met, that would be the third largest on record. All cotton and wheat production is expected to be down 25 percent and 7 percent, respectively, when compared to 2012. Read the August Crop Production Report.

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Calif. FSA Reaches Out to Hmong Farming Community

Posted on August 12, 2013 by tanya brown

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U.S. Cropland Values Increase 13 Percent

Posted on August 9, 2013 by tanya brown

The value of cropland in the United States increased 13 percent to $4,000 per acre, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Land in the Northern Plains and Corn Belt saw the greatest increase with 25 percent and 16 percent respectively. The Corn Belt region also saw the highest increase in farm real estate with $6,400 per acre. Cropland value in the Southeast region decreased by 2.8 percent while farm real estate values in that region remained the same. Review the report.

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Lack of Workers Prove Costly to Local Producers

Posted on August 9, 2013 by tanya brown

Texas farmers Bernie and Cynthia Thiel spent days planting, watering and nurturing their squash. Now, they are shredding those profits into the ground because they have no workers to pick the crop. After advertising on the radio and newspaper for eight weeks that they were hiring, they have only 30 workers compared to 40-50 in previous years. “We really have to do something with our immigration reform, comprehensive immigration reform, because I’m afraid if we don’t here in the next few years that there’s just not going to be any laborers hardly at all,” said Bernie. The lack of workers forced the Thiel’s to shred their squash fields of overripe crops to stop them from pulling nutrients from the ground. Read more (FOXLubbock/Fox34 News).

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Illinois FSA Grants Wish to 5-Year-Old Cancer Survivor

Posted on August 9, 2013 by tanya brown

Five-year-old Joe Joe Charles celebrates being named “Cowboy Of The Year.” Photo by Bob Haentzler

By Mary Kirby, Illinois FSA Public Affairs Specialist

He didn’t want to go to Disney World or meet his favorite superhero. All 5-year-old Joe Joe Charles wished for was one day where he could be a farmer and a cowboy.

It was a wish that FSA County Executive Director Linda Mathews and the Make-A-Wish Foundation brought to life.

“Joe Joe is the first child that had a wish to be a farmer or cowboy for a day,” said Stephanie Hampton-Boeglin, director of Mission Delivery for Make-A-Wish Missouri, “It’s the best wish I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of.”

Diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer at the age of 2, Joe Joe has endured chemotherapy, radiation, blood and platelet transfusions and multiple surgeries. He is now in remission and was referred to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to have a wish fulfilled. The non-profit organization grants a child diagnosed with a life threatening medical condition the chance to travel, meet a superstar or do something they have always dreamed. Continue reading →

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“Meet Me at the Market” – The Evolution of a Farmers Market

Posted on August 8, 2013 by tanya brown

The Romanesque Revival market house, pictured above, was built in 1889. Today, Central Market is home to many families that have been coming to the market for generations. Photo courtesy Lancaster Central Market.

What better time than National Farmers Market Week to explore the history of farmers markets in the United States?  Farmers markets are a critical ingredient to our nation’s food system, and date back to 1730 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the United States.

“Meet me at the Market” has for decades been a phrase commonly heard by Lancaster citizens.  In 1730, when city planners designed the city they designated a 120 square foot lot in the center of town as a public market place giving birth to the Lancaster Central Market. Read more (USDA Blog).

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Report: 96 Percent of Farms are Family Owned

Posted on August 7, 2013 by tanya brown

A report released this month by the USDA Economic Research Service shows that 96 percent of U.S. farms with crop production are family owned. The report, Farm Size and the Organization of U.S. Crop Farming, stated that businesses owned and operated by family groups continue to dominate agricultural production, providing 87 percent of the value of crop production. Family farm is defined as one in which the principal operator, and people related to the principal operator by blood or marriage, own more than half of the farm business. The report also highlights the change in cropland and farms, indicating that mid-size crop farms have declined while farm numbers at the extremes (large and small) are growing. Read the report.

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USDA Provides Additional Assistance to Ranchers Impacted by Drought

Posted on August 6, 2013 by tanya brown

Livestock producers in areas impacted by drought may find some relief as the USDA Farm Service Agency approved the opening of additional Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres for haying or grazing. “States must adhere to specific guidelines to ensure that additional haying and grazing still maintains the important environmental and wildlife benefits of CRP,” said FSA Administrator Juan Garcia. With some states facing a multi-year drought, forage for livestock has been significantly reduced. This action allows land that is typically not eligible for emergency haying and grazing to be used while still protecting the environmental benefits of CRP. CRP is a voluntary program that provides producers annual rental payments on their land in exchange for planting resource-conserving vegetation on cropland to help prevent erosion, provide wildlife habitat and improve the environment.

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