Forever Florida, St. Johns Proposals Get Senate Backing

Measures that would double Gov. Rick Scott’s spending request for the Florida Forever conservation program and earmark money to improve the St. Johns River continued to move easily through the Senate on Thursday. The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously backed a proposal (SB 370) to designate $100 million a year for Florida Forever. Also, it approved a …

UF study: Farm to School Program Boosts Fruit, Veggie Intake

It’s one thing to offer students fruits and vegetables for school lunch; it’s another for them to actually eat them. Children who attend schools with Farm to School programs eat more fruits and vegetables, new University of Florida research shows. In 2010, Congress passed the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. In approving the legislation, lawmakers wanted to improve children’s nutrition. …

GAO: Improvements Recommended to Checkoff Oversight

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending several changes to improve oversight of commodity checkoff programs. The recommendations include instituting a better review of subcontracts and display of key documents on program websites, according to meat industry publication Meatingplace. There are 22 federal agricultural research and promotion programs, funded by a fraction of the sale of each unit of a …

Soybeans to Overtake Corn in 2019

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a preview of its long-term planting projections Tuesday. The USDA considers a lot of factors when making the projections, including macroeconomic conditions, GDP growth, and farm policy. An important projection from the early release is the overall number of planted acres. Total planted acres for the eight principal crops and land in the Conservation …

Financial Assistance Available to West Alabama Landowners Interested in Forestry Initiative

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Alabama State Conservationist Ben Malone announced a collaborative effort to reach forestry landowners will continue in West Alabama. NRCS Alabama will partner with the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC), the Limited Resource Landowners Educational and Assistance Network (LRLEAN), and the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) to provide assistance to …

NIFA-Support for Education, Mentoring, and Technical Assistance Programs to Help New Farmers and Ranchers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced $17.7 million in available funding to support the delivery of education, mentoring, and technical assistance programs that help beginning farmers and ranchers in the U.S. and its territories. Funding is made through NIFA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. “BFRDP …

GAO: USDA Should Increase Checkoff Program Oversight

At the request of House Minority Leader and California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepared a report regarding the Agricultural Marketing Service and its oversight of national checkoff programs. The Hagstrom Report says the AMS should increase its oversight of the 22 national checkoff programs that producers pay fees to for industry research and promotion to expand …

Alabama’s Beginning Farmer Program

The Beginning Farmer Program has come to Alabama. The Alabama Beginning Farmer Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Grant, aims to provide a knowledge infrastructure for new and developing farmers. Ayanava Majumdar, Auburn University Extension entomologist, is working on the program, which he calls a “very important project.” The Alabama project started …