Breaking News

National Ag Week will be celebrated March 15-21, 2009, with the 36th anniversary of National Ag Day on March 20. National Ag Day is organized by the Agriculture Council of America (ACA). ACA is a nonprofit organization composed of leaders in the agricultural, food and fiber community, dedicating its efforts to increasing the public's awareness of agriculture's role in modern society. Two events on March 12 in Washington D.C. will kick off National Agriculture Week and mark a nationwide effort to recognize the importance and contribution of agriculture every day in the lives of Americans.

Too much supply and too little demand in a recession have caught up with the fast-growing organic milk industry, dealing a harsh blow to Maine producers. Bangor Daily News reported eight of the 72 farms in Maine producing organic milk have been told their contracts won't be renewed. Other organic producers have been told they must cut their production by 15 percent. “They told us they have too much milk,” organic dairyman Vaughn Chase of Chase Farms in Mapleton said. “It is the worst possible news at the worst possible time.”

Current research shows that with the right management practices, farmers could effectively grow crops while maintaining, and in some cases even enhancing, ecosystem services, according to coverage in the Cornell Chronicle. Cornell professor Alison Power addressed the American Association for the Advancement of Science in February on the topic "Food Security, Agricultural Systems and the Provision of Diverse Services." Power pointed to preserving habitat for beneficial insects and retaining soil nutrients as practices that both preserve yields and promote ecosystem services.

Groups at George Washington's Mount Vernon home, and Colonial Williamsburg, Virgina maintain flocks of heirloom sheep. The rare and unique genetic traits of these sheep are being preserved by ARS scientists at the National Animal Germplasm Program (NAGP) in Fort Collins, Colorado. NAGP has singled out two rare breeds of sheep—Hog Island and Leicester Longwool—for genetic preservation. Both Hog Island and Leicester Longwool sheep descended from breeds raised during the colonial era, before the advent of modern breeding techniques. These rare breeds have regional and historical value, but conserving them is particularly important because of their genetic uniqueness. The sheep germplasm collection was initially set in motion by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

For the first time ever, USDA is conducting a Census of all known producers of organic crops, livestock and livestock products, as a follow-up to the 2007 Census of Agriculture. "NASS will be asking producers to respond to a survey during the May-June 2009 timeframe, with results being available in December 2009," reports Gene Danekas, Director of USDA-NASS Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service. Information will be requested that includes the amount of acreage, production and value of sales of all types of organically produced products during 2008 reports Missouri Ag Connection.

Field to Market, The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, is introducing the Fieldprint Calculator, a free, confidential online tool to help farmers evaluate natural resource use on their operation compared to industry averages. The tool, developed with input from grower organizations, agribusinesses, food companies, economists and conservation groups, is designed to help growers tell the positive story about environmental improvements being made in production agriculture. The calculator will be available online beginning March 15 for grower testing and feedback.

A free fact sheet from Montana State University Extension explains that knowledge and access to appropriate technology are key factors in the conversion to organic agriculture, and provides some guidelines and references that may ease the pathway. "From conventional to organic cropping: what to expect during the transition years" is available free in hard copy in Montana or may be downloaded online.

The Organic Agriculture and Products Education Institute (Organic Institute) has launched "Organic. It’s worth it.", the non-profit organization’s first national consumer education and marketing campaign. The three-month web-based campaign uses banner ads as its primary educational tool, seeking to reach new mothers and families with young children at home. Banner ads lead to a micro-site that speaks to consumers about organic agriculture and products.

The 20th annual Organic Farming Conference underway in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, has drawn more than 2,300 registrants this year, according to WisBusiness.com. Today's agenda includes keynote speaker Vandana Shiva, as well as the announcement of the recipient of the MOSES Farmer of the Year, presented by conference sponsor Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service. Saturday's general session will celebrate the conference's 20th anniversary.

The Native Pollinators in Agriculture Work Group hosted the first National Agriculture Pollinator Forum this week in Virginia. National agriculture and conservation leaders gathered to explore ways to stabilize and enhance threatened native pollinator populations that contribute to a $20 billion fruit, nut, vegetable and field crop production industry in the United States. The aim of the forum was to detail steps that the agriculture community can take to capitalize on the services provided by native pollinators.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture has issued an Agriculture Innovation Grant Report highlighting innovative financing assistance to nearly 40 processors, producers, agri-businesses, local units of government and legislatively-authorized commodity boards in Michigan. MDA received authorization from the state Legislature for $10 million and has issued $5 million in grants. Grants from the Agricultural Innovation Fund are competitive and designed to establish, retain, expand, attract or develop valued-added agricultural processing and related production operations in Michigan. The 14-page report is available online in PDF (258k).

The Indiana State Soil Conservation Board is currently seeking input, via a web survey, from the Indiana agriculture community and stakeholders on the state's Clean Water Indiana programs. The goal is to incorporate the agriculture community's feedback to more effectively and positively prioritize where the limited Clean Water Indiana resources and programs are allocated. Indiana State Department of Agriculture, through the guidance of the State Soil Conservation Board, administers the Clean Water Indiana Grants program to provide funding resources and programs to improve Indiana's water quality and reduce erosion and sediment in our streams and rivers reports Indiana Ag Connection.

A new University of California online publication outlines strip-tillage, a management practice with potential to save farmers money in fuel, labor and equipment costs while decreasing the amount of soil disturbed and dust generated as fields are prepared for planting. The eight-page publication, Strip-Tillage in California's Central Valley, may be downloaded in pdf format free at http://ucanr.org/strip-till. Strip-tillage is a form of conservation tillage that breaks up subsoil layers while leaving the soil surface and crop residue relatively undisturbed. "Less disturbed soil allows beneficial soil food web communities to thrive, which can improve soil conditions and potentially reduce herbicide use," said Dennis Bryant, a co-author of the publication.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that its Market News Portal has been expanded to include Dairy Market News. The portal, operated by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), significantly enhances Market News web site services. The Market News web portal provides instant, real-time access to daily and historical reports on agricultural commodity markets. USDA Market News reports provide timely, unbiased and reliable information to producers, shippers and handlers, manufacturers and processors, wholesale and retail marketers, market analysts and others.

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA) has financial programs available for new and existing agricultural producers. In an effort to assist young people to stay in South Dakota and carry on their family's farming/ranching operations, the SDDA participates with the Value Added Finance Authority's (VAFA) Beginning Farmer Bond Program. This bonding authority enables beginning farmers to acquire agricultural property for lower interest rates on a bank or contract for deed loan. The SDDA also offers loans for buying livestock, financing value-added production, processing, and marketing business ventures.

Without knowing how much the state will save, Utah is eliminating its nationally recognized organic certification program that has provided small farmers and processors a niche market reports The Salt Lake Tribune. State officials say private inspection companies can fill the void. But farmers worry that private labels will not have the clout with consumers that the Utah state seal does, and hiring outside firms will be a costly burden to local businesses. Larry Lewis, spokesman for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, said that like the state of Utah, private companies can certify organic products, using standards developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Lewis said that if growers and consumers want the state program to continue, they should contact state lawmakers or the Agriculture Department.

The University of Maryland’s 5.5 acre equine rotational grazing demonstration site is set to open its gates in April 2009 to a small herd of grazing horses and hundreds of horse farm operators interested in learning about pasture best management practices. The site, located at the Central Maryland Research and Education Center in Ellicott City, Md., features four rotational pastures, a laneway that guides horses into a sacrifice area and two smaller paddocks that will be used to test how well bermudagrass and bluegrass/fescue turfgrass species hold up to grazing. Another feature of the site is its four different types of permanent perimeter fencing and three different types of removable internal fencing.

President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate Kathleen A. Merrigan to be Deputy Secretary of Agriculture. Merrigan currently is an assistant professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment M.S. and Ph.D. Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. In 1999, she was appointed administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service by then-President Clinton. According to Reuters coverage of the appointment, Merrigan worked to develop U.S. regulations regarding organic food. Ferd Hoefner of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition was quoted, "Sustainable and organic farmers are excited ... that someone who has been associated with these issues her whole career is going to be at that level in the department."

Research published in the journal Science says scientists have pinpointed two genes that protect wheat against leaf rust, stripe rust and powdery mildew, according to a Planet Ark news story. One gene was isolated in a resistant wheat line; another was identified in wild wheat. Making use of the two genes in breeding programs could result in reduced fungicide use to protect wheat crops and other crops susceptible to the diseases, such as barley.

The Organic Agriculture and Products Education Institute, a non-profit organization founded by and affiliated with the Organic Trade Association, is making a guide available online for students who want to bring organic dining to campus. Taste the Change: How to Go Organic on Campus is described by its author as "an activist’s guide for students who want to join the growing national movement to bring organic food into college dining halls." The guide begins with an introduction to organic, and presents an overview of the organizational tools needed for getting started on campus. Tips for working with food service and building relations with organic vendors are covered in detail. The guide also offers tips on how to raise awareness and support for organic on campus, as well as ways to showcase organic through special events and interactions with the media.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the final rule for the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) program will go into effect as scheduled on March 16th. The rule, published in the Federal Register on Jan.15, 2009, has been under regulatory review by USDA. Secretary Vilsack determined that allowing the rule to go into effect and carefully monitoring implementation and compliance by retailers and their suppliers would provide the best avenue to evaluate the program. This evaluation period will inform the Secretary's consideration of whether additional rulemaking may be necessary to provide consumers with adequate information. The COOL regulation requires country of origin labeling for muscle cuts and ground beef, pork, lamb, goat, and chicken; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng sold by designated retailers.

In Wisconsin a new website is helping local producers and growers find grocery stores looking for local products to stock their aisles. The site was developed with funding provided to the Wisconsin Grocers Association by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Its main feature is an interactive map of Wisconsin which, when a user clicks on a county, produces a list of grocery stores in that county that buy and sell local products. The site will add listings of additional stores interested in buying local products including produce, dairy, meat, processed foods, baked goods, mixes, and even personal care products. A recent study of the Buy Local Buy Wisconsin program by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection showed that the state's support of the program is bearing fruit, with $2 returned in increased local food sales for every $1 of state funds invested.

Farmers' Legal Action Group (FLAG) has released a second edition of Farmers' Guide to GMOs. This guide is a tool to assist farmers in understanding the complex framework of laws surrounding the planting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The guide explains farmers’ legal obligations under GMO contracts and the very real possibility that farmers may be held legally liable to pay tens of thousands of dollars to biotech companies for violations of those contracts or to neighboring farmers whose fields become contaminated with GMOs. The complete book may be downloaded online in PDF.

Maximizing water resources is a critical concern for cities, farms, and habitats. Land-grant university researchers are studying conservation of Earth's most precious product. Researchers have created a video, Fluid Planet, that highlights a few water conservation projects from all over the country.

Erica Hellen, an intern at the Kerr Center Stewardship Ranch recently studied the impact of idling farm vehicles vs. turning them off. Read Idle Impacts (PDF/838KB) for the results of her study. She looked at the environmental and economic impacts, as well as the wear and tear on the vehicle. Hellen found that over the course of a year, a vehicle will accrue only about $10 worth of damages if it is turned off and on instead of left idling, and it results in a $30 to $50 savings in fuel costs and fewer emissions in the air.

The Renewable Energy site offers an array of resources on environmentally friendly energy sources and conservation. "The Web site provides information on various sustainable energy technologies and energy efficiency, based on research conducted at Purdue and other universities and government agencies," said Klein Ileleji, a Purdue Extension agricultural engineer. When you go to the Web site you'll find pages devoted to wind and solar energy, biofuels, and corn ethanol co-products, as well as on-farm energy efficiency systems. There also are topical pages that include Purdue Extension publications, tools and spreadsheets that are used for analysis of various renewable energy systems, and links to other Web sites.

In the past half century, topsoil in Iowa has lost much of what made it special, says a researcher at Iowa State University. Topsoil depth, referred to by researchers as A Horizon soil, has remained the same over 50 years, but the quality of the A Horizon soil has decreased. That's according to Jessica Veenstra, a researcher in ISU's Agronomy Department, who looked at soil studies from 50 years ago and compared them to her current readings. Veenstra looked at 89 different locations from all around the state that were described in soil studies done by National Resource Conservation Service in the 1950s and 1960s. USAgNet reports she located the same sites and took the same readings using the same protocols as the earlier studies. Due to years of tillage, the soil is now much denser and water and roots don't move through it as easily, her research shows.

The Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network is hosting a webinar to discuss poultry processing exemptions. The webinar will discuss federal and state poultry processing regulations, and clarify some of the confusion that surrounds poultry processing exemptions. The webinar will overview and focus on the following 4 exemptions: Producer/Grower 1,000 Bird; Producer/Grower 20,000 Bird; Producer/Grower or Other Person; and Small Enterprise. Federal regulations permit resale of poultry processed under all of these exemptions, but with many caveats, and thus they are the most confusing. The webinar will be Tuesday, March 10th from 2:30 to 4 p.m. EST (11:30 to 1 p.m. PST). Go to: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/nichemeat/ to connect.

The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems has published a Research Brief on two on-farm studies by researchers from UW-Madison that examined techniques for increasing warm-season grasses in Wisconsin pastures and assessed some of the tradeoffs inherent in using these grasses. Compared to cool-season pasture, warm-season native grasses can potentially balance forage production during hot summer months, restore native plants to the land, increase soil carbon sequestration, enhance wildlife habitat, and promote land stewardship. The first study tested the establishment of native, warm-season grasses into existing cool-season pastures. The second study investigated different mixtures of warm-season and cool-season grasses that had been established for over ten years. Results are posted online in the Research Brief.