The United States Department of Agriculture accepted a petition from Idaho, Utah and Wyoming producers asking for a review of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program.
The Trade Adjustment Program provides assistance to U.S. producers of raw agriculture commodities who are affected by imports or competitive commodities. The program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from 2009. The petition is to review the process the USDA uses to determine is a producer is eligible for the program.
The petitions asks that the USDA look at the national average price, value or production or cash receipts of their commodity and if they have declined more than 15 percent in the current year compared to the 3-year average. It also wants the USDA to compare these to the increase in imports during the same time.
The Montana Farm Service Agency encourages other producers to join the petition. If changes are made producers will have 90 days to contact the FSA to apply for the program.
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The United States Department of Agriculture announced open enrollment for the federal Conservation Reserve Program. According to the Idaho Farm Service Agency, the federal government is offering to pay landowners higher payments to enroll land in the program.
Though the money would help many farmers during the current hard economic times, the higher payments may cause a problem or the agriculture industry in Idaho. More people will enroll land which means a large portion of Idaho’s farmland will be out of commission. Landowners have been offered three times as much for land this year than previous years.
Contracts with the Conservation Reserve program require that land lay fallow for 10 to 15 years. This is done voluntarily. The land is then seeded with grass or a ground cover to avoid erosion. The United States Department of Agriculture is looking to enroll 32 million acres across the United States.
The Idaho Farm Bureau is reminding farmers and producers that any potato seeds purchased for intended sales or distribution upon growth must be inspected and certified under the Idaho Seed Potato Law of 1996.
A number of agencies are eligible to certify these seeds and crops including the Idaho Crop Improvement Association. The certification assures that crops will be pure and healthy, leaving a good name for Idaho’s famous potatoes. Without inspection potato plants can be plagued with diseases which can be passed through potato tubers. Farmers should not use potatoes found in the super market for seeds because they are often infected and can prevent sprouting.
The certification goes beyond the seeds and crops, but to the cleanliness and efficiency of the farms as well. This helps assure that future crops will also be of the highest quality.
Anyone who violates this law can be fined as much of $10 per hundredweight of the potatoes in violation.
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Idaho farmers are now planning their seasons based off the USDA’s annual estimates for the upcoming growing season.
Every year the USDA releases a report of what the USDA thinks farmers are planning for the up-and-coming season. Although farmers were expecting higher numbers for Idaho, it works as a guide of what to plant, how much and how to market the crops.
“In a market based economy it’s supply and demand that set price and so one of the first things you need is an estimate of what the supply is going to be,” explained Paul Patterson, an Agricultural Economist at University of Idaho told KDIK.
The study focuses mostly on grains and corn, but a number of other crops are predicted as well.
The numbers will change over the season, especially once farmers start reporting back to the USDA. However, it is the ideal guide for farmers across the country.
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Blackfoot, Idaho will soon be the home of a 33-wind turbine farm stretched across 2,971 acres of farm land.
The proposal was approved by the Planning and Zoning committee at a meeting last week. The project was proposed by Western Energy of Utah. Melody Halstead, Planning and Zoning Administration told Idaho State Journal that no one opposed the idea at the meeting, but if an appeal is filed within ten days of the approval the project will be halted.
Wind farms are popping up across the country because they are an innovated way for farmers to add a new income from their land and make extra money. There are a variety of low-rate loans available from the USDA to cover expenses through programs such as the Rural Development Program. The government offers a number of subsidies as well for those generating renewable energy. For more information visit the USDA’s website.
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After California residents voted to tighten the regulations on poultry farms to avoid animal cruelty, Idaho’s senate is preparing for a large expansion of the state’s own poultry industry.
The Senate has passed a bill that restricts the size of poultry farms on the grounds of what impact it will have on the environment. Idaho leaders feel that many poultry farms will relocate from California to avoid the new law.
Senator Tim Corder (R-Mountain Home) and the chairman of the Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee proposed a 40-page bill on March 16. The bill asked that the poultry and swine regulations be moved from the Department of Environmental Quality and placed under the Idaho State Department of Agriculture.
As we go forward in these times, we find more and more groups that are critical of the state’s management of water quality and air quality, and we want to provide some assurances that we’re serious about that as a state and not only that, but the industry’s serious,” Corder said at Tuesday’s hearing
The bill puts a limit on the size of the farm, the permits allowed per poultry farm and groups the various operations across the state by size.
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Producers in Idaho are hoping for a cool, wet spring in order to have a successful growing season. Low snow fall has left the state at only 50 to 75 percent of its average water levels.
Officials fear that Idaho is at its driest since 1961. If the spring isn’t cool and wet, the state could end up in a drought. Idaho would be the next state on the ever growing list of drought states. California tops that list having been in a drought for the past three years.
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Idaho producers interested in participating in the USDA’S Natural Resources Conservation Services program must apply by February 12, 2010 to receive assistance for the 2010 year.
As part of The Farm Bill, the program is designed for producers interested in protecting or improving natural resources on their land.
“Whether they’re interested in improving irrigation efficiency, improving wildlife habitat, protecting water quality or reducing erosion,” said Jeff Burwell, NRCS State Conservationist, “chances are, we have a program that can provide both technical and financial assistance for qualifying applicants.”
In 2009 Idaho producers received $19 million in assistance.
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Tom Vilsack announced the requirements and steps to apply for The Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment and Idaho economists are skeptic to weather the plan will truly help farmers in the end.
Mike Brown, dairy economist for Glanbia Foods in Twin Falls, said the program is a one time payment to farmers that limits payments to no more than six million pounds annually. This covers only 40 percent of Idaho’s milk production.
He feels that the smaller farms in the northeast and Midwest states are the only ones who will really benefit from the new program. Idaho dairy will only receive 13 cents for every 100 pounds of milk produced.
Although the money will help, it is not nearly enough to help Idaho farmers in crisis.
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U.S. producers planted more potatoes this year than last according to industry officials.
933,000 acres of potatoes were planted this year, up from 931,000 in 2008. This number comes from the July 10 acreage estimate from the USDA.
Although it is early to have a definite answer, USDA estimates show there may be a good balance between supply and demand in the fall.
“At this point, acreage is in the ballpark of where it should be,” Lee Frankel, president of the United Potato Growers of America, said.
Idaho is the state who made the biggest jump this year planting 305,000 acres which is up from 320,000 last year.
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