Farmers with damage from Hurricane Michael may be eligible for disaster assistance from funds allocated during the special legislative session convened by Governor Nathan Deal on Nov. 13, 2018. The Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriation Act was amended to provide emergency funding for state agencies and local governments in areas most heavily impacted by Hurricane Michael. Funds include $55 million for …
U.S. Sugar Gives Back at Christmas
With the holidays approaching, the people of U.S. Sugar have been busy spreading Christmas cheer by giving back to nearby communities. Over the past two weeks, representatives from the company have distributed more than 2,000 turkeys, 4,000 bags of sugar, hundreds of crates of sweet corn, and other vegetables grown by U.S. Sugar farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area. “The …
Establishing the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. The National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law, passed by Congress in July of 2016, directed USDA to establish this national mandatory standard for disclosing foods that are or may be bioengineered. The Standard requires food manufacturers, importers and certain retailers to ensure bioengineered foods are appropriately disclosed. “The …
USDA to Gauge Financial Well-Being of Farmers and Ranchers
Beginning in late December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will spend several months gathering information about farm economics and production practices from farmers and ranchers across Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, as the agency conducts the third and final phase of the 2018 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). “ARMS is the only survey that …
USDA Updates Wetland Determination Guidance
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it is improving the process in how it makes wetland determinations, updating guidance to improve consistency and timeliness as well as to responding to feedback from farmers and other stakeholders. The updates do not change the definition of a wetland for USDA program participation purposes, but rather provides greater …
FDACS Winning Fight Against Destructive, Disease-Carrying Snail
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced that more than 168,000 Giant African Land Snails (GALS) have been eliminated in Florida since the invasive snail was discovered in Miami-Dade County in 2011. In addition, due to the success of the program, the department has decommissioned two additional core areas, two of the largest is the state, where snails were …
Florida Population Climbs to 21.3 Million
It wasn’t so long ago that Florida was trying catch New York. Now — at least in the population game — it has left New York in the dust. The U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday released new estimates showing Florida had about 21.3 million residents as of July 1, cementing Florida’s place as the third most-populous state behind California and …
Genome Published of the Small Hive Beetle, a Major Honey Bee Parasite
Beekeepers and researchers will welcome the unveiling of the small hive beetle’s genome by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues. The small hive beetle (SHB) is a major parasite problem of honey bees for which there are few effective treatments. The SHB (Aethina tumida Murray) genome—a genome is the sum total of all an organism’s DNA; a gene codes …
Restoring a Species: Northern Bobwhite Quail
Sportsmen were alarmed, landowners worried as they watched the northern bobwhite population plummet at the turn of the century. In the last 50 years, annual populations are down 85 percent in the United States. Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation on a continental scale has silenced its iconic call across rural America. In Florida, a former private hunting plantation is leading the …
Florida NRCS Signup Deadline is Friday
Florida farmers, ranchers and forest owners can apply until December 21 for financial and technical assistance from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for fiscal year 2019 funding. While applications are accepted on a continuous basis for all programs, funding selections are typically made once a year. Through EQIP, agricultural landowners may receive financial and technical assistance to improve …