With the 2022 crop production season soon to begin, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be contacting producers to determine their plans for the upcoming growing season. Later this month, NASS will mail survey questionnaires asking producers to provide information about the crops they intend to plant in 2022, how many acres they intend to plant, and the amounts of …
Ag Groups Sue EPA Over Chlorpyrifos
A group of U.S. agricultural organizations had filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency over chlorpyrifos. DTN says the 21 groups want the agency’s pending ban on the product to be halted and eventually revoked. The lawsuit was filed as the EPA will finalize its rule revoking the food tolerances for the insecticide on February 28. That will effectively …
Six Georgia Counties as Primary Natural Disaster Areas by USDA
This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of …
After Securing State of Emergency Declaration, Florida Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried Advocates for USDA Disaster Designation to Help Florida Producers Hurt by Recent Freeze
(FDACS/Tallahassee, FL/February 9, 2022) — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried wrote to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack in support of a Secretarial Disaster Designation to provide additional assistance to Florida producers experiencing losses due to the recent freezing temperatures. This follows the Commissioner’s requests last week for the Governor to declare a state of emergency and for the Florida Department of Transportation to issue an emergency …
New Anti-Competition Reporting Tool
Last week, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Justice (DOJ) launched a new tool where farmers and ranchers can anonymously report potentially unfair and anticompetitive practices in the livestock and poultry sectors. This can be done online at farmerfairness.gov. “This new online tool will help USDA and the Justice Department address anticompetitive actions and create livestock and poultry markets that …
Update for Producers Impacted by Freezing Temperatures Provided by Florida Ag Commissioner
Emergency Order Issued as Assessments Continue (Tallahassee, FL/February 4, 2022/FDACS) — The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) had staff in the fields as producers continue to assess damages caused by recent freezing temperatures and work to salvage impacted produce. On Thursday, the Florida Department of Transportation issued an emergency order helping farmers impacted by freezing temperatures to move as …
FFBF On Florida Nutrient Application Rates Bills
Florida’s farmers rely on nutrient management guidelines and recommendations that ultimately come from the University of Florida institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS). Those guidelines and recommendations haven’t been updated for a while, according to Florida Farm Bureau Interim Director of State Legislative Affairs, John Walt Boatright. “In essence, many farmers and ranchers depend on best management practices which …
USDA To Conduct First-Ever National Agroforestry Survey
(WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2022) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct the first National Agroforestry Survey, beginning next week. Data collection will begin Feb. 1 and conclude on April 5, 2022. The survey will be sent to 11,100 farmers and ranchers nationwide to gather information on the five agroforestry practices used for climate, …
Citrus Recovery Act Seeks to Update Florida Citrus Commission
It is set to be a busy legislative session for agricultural interests in Florida. One of the bills making its way through the process is SB 1002, the Citrus Recovery Act. Sen. Danny Burgess (R-District 20) introduced the bill to amend the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC). The FCC is the governing body of the Florida Department of Citrus. The Citrus Recovery Act …
Florida Commissioner Nikki Fried on Additional TS Elsa Disaster Declarations by the USDA
(Tallahassee, FL/January 24, 2022) — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried welcomed the news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that it has designated Dixie and Gilchrist counties as primary natural disaster areas eligible for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans to help producers impacted by Tropical Storm Elsa in July 2021 recover. “While we were fortunate that the 2021 hurricane season was relatively quiet for Florida, all three storms that made landfall in the …