The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, urges residents to be wildfire ready by highlighting Florida Wildfire Awareness Week, April 5-11. Since January, nearly 600 wildfires have burned more than 7,700 acres. Last year, a total of 1,969 wildfires burned 44,152 acres across the state. The wildfire threat in the Florida Panhandle is substantially …
USDA, Partners Unveil New Fire Mapping Tool
Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled the new Southeast FireMap, a fire mapping tool for the Southeastern U.S. that enables resource managers to improve their regional or local approaches to managing wildfire risk and fire management needs through targeted prescribed burns and training. Fire management helps improve forest ecosystem health, increases timber values, reduces the risk of wildfire damage …
Florida Timber Owner Pleased with CSP
Florida landowners are being reminded the deadline to sign up for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for the fiscal year 2021 funding is Friday, March 26. Through CSP, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida helps agricultural producers and forest landowners earn payments for expanding conservation activities while maintaining agricultural production on their land. CSP also encourages the adoption of new technologies and management techniques. …
Information on USDA’s Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Strategy Requested
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a Federal Register Notice requesting public input on a climate-smart agriculture and forestry strategy. The Notice represents an important step toward implementing President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. The Order, signed January 27, states that, “America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners have an important role to …
USDA Investing to Improve National Forest and Grassland Infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced they will invest $285 million to help the Forest Service address critical deferred maintenance and improve transportation and recreation infrastructure on national forests and grasslands. The investment is made possible by the newly created National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, established in 2020 by the Great American Outdoors Act. The …
The Threat of Wildfires Remains from Fallen Timber
(NSF) — State Forester Erin Albury warned Thursday that the threat of wildfires remains from fallen timber still strewn across areas of Northwest Florida decimated by Hurricane Michael more than two years ago. Albury cautioned residents in the region to keep property clear of debris as the volume of timber left by the Oct. 10, 2018, storm will continue to …
AFBF President Testifies Before House Agriculture Committee
American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall provided testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture Climate Change and the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Sectors. Here is his written testimony: Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, my name is Zippy Duvall. I am a third-generation farmer and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, and I am pleased to offer this …
USDA Investing to Protect Communities in Florida
The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be investing more than $46 million this year through the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership for projects that mitigate wildfire risk, improve water quality, and restore healthy forest ecosystems on public and private lands. Through the projects, USDA’s Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are working hand-in-hand with agricultural producers, forest landowners, and …
USDA Offers New Forest Management Incentive for CRP
(USDA/FSA) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making available $12 million for use in making payments to forest landowners with land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in exchange for their implementing healthy forest management practices. Existing CRP participants can now sign up for the Forest Management Incentive (FMI), which provides financial incentives to landowners with land …
Farmers Gain Improved Access to Small Business Support as PPP Reopens
(NMPF) — The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is pleased that farmers who run their operations as sole proprietors, independent contractors, or otherwise self-employed individuals will have newly expanded access as soon as today to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under changes made in the COVID stimulus package Congress approved last month. Producers who were denied PPP loans or whose …