The 2008 farm has brought several new conservation programs to life and Michele Laur, acting state conservationist with the Florida Natural Resources Conservation Service says one of those is called the Environmental Services Markets.
The Agriculture Department is going full steam ahead on the energy portions in the 2008 Farm Bill as Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says they have made the 30 day deadline set by President Obama.
AUBURN, Ala. – State Conservationist Dr. William Puckett with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced June 30, 2009, as the cutoff date for a Partnership Initiative with the Alabama Forestry Commission Targeting Underserved Forest Landowners under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Applying for EQIP is continuous; however, selecting applications for funding is completed periodically through batching periods with specific cutoff dates.
The 2008 Farm Bill took quite a bit of time to draft and has also been delayed in its implementation. But Michele Laur, acting State Conservationist for Florida NRCS assures farmers that the end result will be a positive one.
Florida Natural Resources Conservation Service extended sign up for the new Organic Initiative is coming up on June 12, 2009. The 2009 Organic Initiative is a nationwide special initiative to provide financial assistance to National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic producers as well as producers in the process of transitioning to organic production.
We remind growers that Governor Crist declared a state of emergency late last week for Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Lake, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia counties. This enables farmers to quickly harvest and transport their crops to help mitigate further losses from the recent rain fall. The Commissioner of Agriculture’s office is hoping to have a disaster declaration from the Secretary of Agriculture soon.
Southeast AgNet recently had the opportunity to interview Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack regarding the progress of the 2008 Farm Bill Implementation process.
The Alabama NRCS held an American Indian Program Delivery Initiative meeting earlier this week and State Conservationist Dr. William Puckett, says it was a great opportunity to inform the group about services available through the 2008 Farm Bill.
Applications Accepted Until May 29, 2009 - GAINESVILLE, May 8, 2009—The United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida announces over $1.3 Million in funding available for qualified applicants for a new Organics Initiative. The initiative meets the Obama Administration’s promise to encourage more organic agriculture production. Funding for the initiative is being made available as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). “Assisting organic producers is one of the priorities of the 2008 Farm Bill,” said Carlos Suarez, State Conservationist for NRCS in Florida. The 2009 Organics Initiative is a nationwide special initiative to provide financial assistance to National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic producers as well as producers in the process of transitioning to organic production. Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has released the following statement regarding President Obama’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget request, calling for additional cuts to key agriculture programs:
While in Washington DC last week, the Southeast AgNet team had an opportunity to visit with Senator Saxby Chambliss about how representatives from all regions of agriculture come together to tackle the unique challenges Southeastern Agriculture faces.
The Executive Director of the Georgia Cotton Commission, Richey Seaton gives an update on where Georgia cotton farmers are pertaining to planting and market frustrations.
While in Washington D C this week we discussed the sugar program with American Sugar Alliance spokesman Luther Markwart, who says the program that was implemented as part of the most recent farm bill is working well for U S sugarcane and sugarbeet growers. Hear his comments in these reports.
Funded in part by Cotton Incorporated, Texas A & M University’s Agricultural Food Policy Center (AFPC) has developed a decision aid for producers considering ACRE. The ACRE Decision Aid provides cotton producers in every county a risk based computer program for analyzing the ACRE decision. The Decision Aid is available at www.afpc.tamu.edu.
Enrollment for USDA’s Average Crop Revenue Election payments will be open to eligible farmers starting April 27 through August 14, Brent Orr of the Farm Service Agency gives us a quick overview regarding the new program.
For more information visit your local Farm Service Agency office or log on to their website.
With Congress in adjournment for a two week break, Richey Seaton, executive director of the Georgia Cotton Commission, encourages the Ag community to seek out the lawmakers to express their concerns.
After 34 years of serving our nations farmers in positions with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Gary Kobylski is retiring as Alabama’s State Conservationist.
This Friday April 3rd will be Gary Kobylski’s last day with NRCS as you can hear more of my interview with him this week:
The Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, otherwise known as FRPP, is now accepting applications for funding on a continuous basis. FRPP is administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service as the 2008 Farm Bill provides for a continuous signup to allow eligible entities more opportunities to sign up eligible parcels.
U.S.D.A. and the I.R.S. have begun efforts to ensure that high-income individuals and entities who request USDA payments meet income limits set forth in the 2008 Farm Bill.
The delay of the Farm Bill implementation is making some growers anxious and Richey Seaton, executive director of the Georgia Cotton Commission, and other industry leaders voiced that concern to members of their delegation during a recent trip to Washington.
In the first report, an overview of a couple key agriculture issues that are in our spotlight this week as state budget talks in the legislative session heat up.
In the second report, a serious situation regarding a developing water rulemaking process that some agriculture representatives say could create a doomsday scenario for Florida agriculture, while putting Florida at a huge disadvantage in trying to attract new business and industry to the state. This next story is so important, I’m posting it here and will develop a post for this story alone to give it more chance to be clicked on and heard.
Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss says USDA should stop pittin farmers versus school nutrition programs. Here is the news release: (WASHINGTON, D.C.) U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and others today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to refrain from using rhetoric that unfairly attacks the farmers and ranchers who form the foundation of America’s rural economy. Earlier this month, the Secretary stated that the upcoming reauthorization of the school nutrition program and the larger agenda of the Department of Agriculture is a choice between 30 million children or 90,000 farmers.
In the letter, the Senators said Congress can reauthorize the school nutrition programs, provide adequate funding to meet the urgent needs of our children, while at the same time maintain the support promised in the 2008 farm bill to U.S. production agriculture. They added the USDA has responsibility for a wide variety of interests and should be able to advocate for one without vilifying another. Read the rest of this entry »
The peanut posted price for this week holds steady as Tyron Spearman has the numbers along with information that producers are eligible for 2008 disaster assistance authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill even if they did not previously obtain otherwise statutorily required crop insurance from the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) or Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage for 2008 by now paying a buy-in fee through May 18, 2009.
Peanut posted price:
USDA Buy-in waiver:
Executive Director of the Georgia Cotton Commission, Richey Seaton, and other Industry Leaders recently had an opportunity to travel to Washington to speak with the Georgia Delegation.
Today Tyron Spearman has information that some feel cutting farm payments in our nation’s capitol is not going to happen, while he also looks at this week’s peanut calendar.
The 2008 farm has brought several new conservation programs to life and Michele Laur, acting state conservationist with the Florida Natural Resources Conservation Service says one of those is called the Environmental Services Markets.
The Alabama NRCS held an American Indian Program Delivery Initiative meeting earlier this week and State Conservationist Dr. William Puckett, says it was a great opportunity to inform the group about services available through the 2008 Farm Bill.
U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has released the following statement regarding President Obama’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget request, calling for additional cuts to key agriculture programs:
While in Washington D C this week we discussed the sugar program with American Sugar Alliance spokesman Luther Markwart, who says the program that was implemented as part of the most recent farm bill is working well for U S sugarcane and sugarbeet growers. Hear his comments in these reports. 
Funded in part by Cotton Incorporated, Texas A & M University’s Agricultural Food Policy Center (AFPC) has developed a decision aid for producers considering ACRE. The ACRE Decision Aid provides cotton producers in every county a risk based computer program for analyzing the ACRE decision. The Decision Aid is available at 
In the first report, an overview of a couple key agriculture issues that are in our spotlight this week as state budget talks in the legislative session heat up. 
The peanut posted price for this week holds steady as Tyron Spearman has the numbers along with information that producers are eligible for 2008 disaster assistance authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill even if they did not previously obtain otherwise statutorily required crop insurance from the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) or Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage for 2008 by now paying a buy-in fee through May 18, 2009.
Executive Director of the Georgia Cotton Commission, Richey Seaton, and other Industry Leaders recently had an opportunity to travel to Washington to speak with the Georgia Delegation.
Today Everett Griner gives us some statistics on just what is really affected by the recession.
