Cotton Transition Assistance Program Enrollment Begins Today

Cotton Transition Assistance Program Enrollment Begins Today 07/06/2015 03:38 PM EDT Cotton Transition Assistance Program Enrollment Begins Today WASHINGTON, July 6, 2015 — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency Administrator Val Dolcini announced that beginning today farmers in eligible counties may enroll in the Cotton Transition Assistance Program (CTAP). The deadline for enrollment is Sept. 30, 2015. CTAP provides interim payments to cotton producers in counties where the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX), a new insurance product administered by the Risk Management Agency, is not yet available. Most cotton-producing counties and cotton producers have STAX available and are not eligible for CTAP. A list of counties eligible for CTAP in 2015 is available at www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/2015_ctap_map_list.pdf. “The Cotton Transition Assistance Program is for farms with former cotton base acres that are physically located in a county where the Stacked Income Protection Plan is unavailable,” said Dolcini. “To help us provide the best service possible, cotton producers are encouraged to schedule an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency office early in the application period.” The Cotton Transition Assistance Program and the Stacked Income Protection Plan were established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past six years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill. For more information, visit a local Farm Service Agency office. To find your local office, visit http://offices.usda.gov. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

Chile Peppers 101: NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute breaks down the science of the spicy fruit

Chile Peppers 101: NMSU’s Chile Pepper Institute breaks down the science of the spicy fruit DATE: 07/06/2015 WRITER: Justin Bannister, 575-646-5981, jbannist@nmsu.edu CONTACT: Danise Coon, 575-646-3661, hotchile@nmsu.edu >From sweet bell peppers, to spicy jalapenos and the super hot Trinidad Scorpion, chile peppers are popular around the world for their various shapes, sizes, colors and heat levels. According to New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute, that popularity goes back thousands of years. “The very first chile peppers evolved around Bolivia in South America,” said Paul Bosland, an NMSU Regents Professor and director of the Chile Pepper Institute. “The early wild peppers were very small and round and spread, probably by birds, for tens of thousands of years to the southern portion of the United States and all the way to the tip of Chile and Argentina.” Experts believe that when the first humans arrived in the Western Hemisphere, probably around 15,000 years ago, they began to cultivate chile peppers and select them for various traits. The plants also naturally cross-pollinate well, so new varieties are easily developed and constantly being made. Today, there are thousands of chile pepper varieties. “Early on, chile peppers were used mostly for medicinal purposes,” said Danise Coon, a senior research specialist at the Chile Pepper Institute. “Later, people started integrating them into their food and they started selecting for bigger pods, for different flavors, for colors, and from that is why we have so many different ones today.” Chile peppers have chemical compounds called capsaicinoids. When humans or other mammals eat or even touch capsaicinoids, it sends a sensation to the brain that the pepper is hot. In additional to food purposes, capsaicin can be used in pain relief patches to relieve muscle aches and pains. “We believe chile peppers evolved the capsaicinoids to keep mammals from eating them,” Bosland said. “It’s interesting that birds do not have the heat receptors, so they can eat the fruits of a very hot chile peppers and spread the seeds. We, as mammals, have the receptors the capsaicinoids attach to, so we taste chile peppers as being hot.” Today, chile peppers are used in a wide variety of cuisine, depending on the heat level produced. The bell pepper, or the sweet pepper, has no heat at all. Those can be used fresh in salads, or cooked in various dished. Mild to hot chile peppers include poblanos, New Mexico chile pepper varieties and jalapenos. Those can be eaten fresh, dried or cooked and used traditional Mexican dishes and salsas. Further up the heat scale are tabascos and similar peppers used in hot sauces. Habaneros and chiltepins, are considered very hot. Anything above one million Scoville Heat Units, including the Bhut Jolokia and the Trinidad Scorpion are considered super hot. “There’s a lot of people out there who love that burn,” Coon said. “We can make sauces out of those kinds of peppers, but they really are incredibly hot. The good news, every one of those is edible. As long as it’s a true capsicum, it’s edible. Even if it’s an ornamental chile pepper, it’s edible.” Chile peppers tend to be rich in vitamins A and C and have other nutritional values as well. The purple pigment present in some peppers is produced by anthocyanin, an antioxidant that can help prevent cell damage in the body. Red chile peppers are rich in carotenoids, which is considered good for eye health. “A green chile pepper, compared to a red chile pepper isn’t going to be as sweet,” Coon said. “Once you get into the red stage, it’s going to produce more sugar so it’s going to be a little sweeter.” Going forward, Coon says the Chile Pepper Institute’s efforts will focus on helping chile growers compete in an ever-changing environment, with economic, environmental and sustainability challenges. For years, their research has focused on disease resistance in plants and helping to breed other useful traits in chile peppers to make them better for growers.

New Mexico Seedling tree Order is open.

Ordering for fall 2015 will begin July 6, 2015 and end on October 9, 2015. Distribution of orders will be September 14 through October 16, 2015. For more than 40 years the Division has offered low cost seedlings to landowners to plant for reforestation, erosion control, windbreaks, or Christmas tree plantations. Since 1960, more than four million trees have been planted throughout New Mexico that were purchased through this program. The Forestry Division offers over 50 different species for sale over the course of the fall and spring sales. These seedlings are sold in small containers, large containers and bare root. Please note all containerized species are offered in the fall and bare root species and any remaining containerized species are offered in the spring. We switched to this schedule because it has been shown that fall is a highly successful time to plant containerized seedlings. Plants have time to establish roots over the winter while dormant before putting on top growth in the spring and as an added bonus the weather is better for planting. Select your shipping or pickup date so that you can plant your seedlings five to six weeks before your area of the state starts having hard freeze days. For questions about prices and minimum order size refer to ordering information. http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SFD/treepublic/ConservationSeedlings.html

Project aims to help New Mexico farmers’ markets sellers, customers

Project aims to help New Mexico farmers’ markets sellers, customers NMDA looks to recruit farmers’ market fans to help gather price information (LAS CRUCES, N.M.) – Fans of farmers’ markets, local food, and New Mexico agriculture are invited to participate in a project that aims to benefit small local farmers and their customers. New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) is looking for people across the state who frequent their local farmers’ market. The agency is asking them to take a few notes about the prices of the fruits and vegetables – as well as eggs and specialty items like honey and mushrooms – for sale there, then share what they learn so that a statewide clearinghouse of price information can be created. The goal is to help New Mexico growers and customers alike know the price range of produce at local farmers’ markets. “Some growers shy away from selling their produce at their local farmers’ market because they simply don’t know how to price their items,” New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said. “And on the customer side, people who think a trip to the farmers’ market is much more expensive than a trip to the grocery store, might be more likely to visit their local market if they could just see how comparable the prices are.” Witte said the project will also serve customers by letting them know the wide range of produce available at their local farmers’ market. Farmers’ market managers, vendors, market volunteers, board members, retired vendors, dedicated market “regulars”, and college or high school students are all examples of potential volunteers for the project. The information they gather will be combined and posted on NMDA’s website as a monthly report. Vendors’ and volunteers’ names and other identifying information will be kept confidential. NMDA is working on the pilot project on behalf of USDA, which is also working with a few other state departments of agriculture to gather similar data elsewhere in the country. In addition to helping both growers and customers know the range of prices at a farmers’ market, USDA’s other goal is to use the information to help create loan programs and crop disaster assistance programs for small growers. Genevieve Morgan, a former vendor at and manager of the farmers’ market in Silver City, is leading the project for NMDA. For more details on how the program works – and to sign up as a participant – please contact her at 575-646-1811 or gmorgan@nmda.nmsu.edu.

CES publications have been revised and are now available online in PDF format.

Good afternoon, The following CES publications have been revised and are now available online in PDF format. Guide A-129, “Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes,” revised by Robert Flynn and John Idowu http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129.pdf Guide A-130, “Inoculation of Legumes,” revised by Robert Flynn http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A130.pdf

EPA Proposes to Cancel Some Uses of an Insecticide Commonly Used for Residential, Industrial and Commercial Purposes

EPA Proposes to Cancel Some Uses of an Insecticide Commonly Used for Residential, Industrial and Commercial Purposes The agency found unacceptable risks to human health when sprayed indoors WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to cancel certain uses of the insecticide propoxur after preliminary human health assessment found risks from certain applications. “Today, we are taking strong steps to protect human health—especially the health of children—from this widely used insecticide,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “The agency will continue its work to reduce exposure from pesticides that pose the greatest risk to those who are the most vulnerable.” From 1995 to 2013, EPA has reduced exposure from carbamates, the class of insecticide that includes propoxur. The use of carbamates has fallen by 70 percent. EPA and the registrant reached an agreement to voluntarily cancel certain uses of propoxur. At the same time, EPA is proposing to cancel certain other pesticide registrations. Voluntary cancellation is the quickest way to fully address these risks, and best protect public health. EPA is proposing to cancel all indoor aerosol, spray and liquid formulations of propoxur inside hospitals and other commercial or institutional facilities where children may be present and all use in food-handling establishments. After these cancellations, there would be no remaining food uses, and no tolerances levels for propoxur. In 2007, EPA cancelled the use of propoxur sprays inside homes, day care facilities, and schools, and in 2014, EPA cancelled propoxur pet collars. Today’s action was conducted as part of the agency’s registration review program. EPA is requesting a 30 day comment period that will begin upon publication in the Federal Register at: www.regulations.gov and searching for EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0296. EPA is posting a pre-publication copy at: http://www2.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/proposed-cancellation-certain-uses-propoxur

STORM DAMAGES TREES

STORM DAMAGES TREES The recent storm caught many trees with full leaf capacity and as a result ton’s of wind pressure has damaged branches and pushed whole trees over. When tree branches split and break or whole trees are pushed over home owner and landscape managers must decide what to do. Branches should be pruned from the tree if excessive damage has occurred. This is best done by cutting the tree branch as close to the where it connects to the next larger branch or trunk. Do not cut the callus bump around the base of the limb because it makes the wound size larger. Always use the correct tool. You should never try to force pruning shears through a branch. If shears won’t cut a branch easily, use a pruning saw. When using a saw make an undercut slightly further from the branch or trunk then your final cut. Then cut just ahead of the undercut. This is done in order that when the branch falls it does not tare the bark all the way to the ground. Once the branch has been removed make your final cut in the appropriate place. Do not paint the pruning wound with paint or tar. Most pruning paint sealers are black and in our part of the world this builds up heat and fosters disease and fungus, causing more harm than good. The best treatment is a 10% bleach solution, 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Wash the tool blades in this solution prior to make the cut to sanitize them, you would not want a surgeon operating on you without do so right? You can also remove any dead branches as well. The result may make a unbalanced tree, do not try and balance the tree now but wait until dormancy to finish the job, this is just emergency stabilization right now. If branches or the trunk has split what can you do. Do not tape or wrap it back together for a long term treatment. The best thing to do is to pull it together the best you can drill a hole no lager the 25% the diameter of the branch or limb. On large branches and limbs I would not use less than a ½ bit. Obtain a large bolt or all thread shaft and place through the hole with large washers on both sides add the nut. Tighten until the bolt is secure, think of these as stitches and place as many as are need to pull the pieces together. Treat the wound with insecticide to prevent insect occupation and damage. Prune off about 25 to 30% of the weight to reduce stress. The tree should grow around the bolts and assimilates them into the tissue. Be sure and remove the extra length of bolt so as to prevent injury to people and pets. Make a drawing and from the ground or main trunk of where this was applied and keep in your files, if you sell the house give this to the next owner. It will be handy to have if the tree has to be removed; bolts are hard on chainsaws and people operating them. If a tree has blown over you have to consider a few things before proceeding. The first thing to consider is the current location really the best place? If it falls again will it damage property or endanger people? If so remove the tree. Next is the tree otherwise healthy, if it is unhealthy it will have a harder time recovering and will be more susceptible to insect and disease from this stress. What species of tree is it? Some species recover have a higher success rate than other. Once you have determined it is worth the time and expense to try and save this tree you may precede. First clean out the hole the roots came from and enlarge that hole by about a third. Place the chains or rope you are going to use to pull the tree back upright at least one third the height of the tree, the higher the better leverage you will have but the trunk has to be able to hold the weight as well. Do not place yourself or other where the tree may fall on you!! Have at least two anchor points to pull the tree up with a 30 to 40 degree angle. Using whatever power source you have chosen hoist the tree in place and back fill all the way around the tree and pack the fill. Then stake the tree to hold it in place for about one year. Be sure and pad whatever you use to tie on to the tree and do not leave it for more than one year. You may chose to stake the tree when sever wind is expected, but if you leave it staked all the time the root will not develop to hold the tree up. This brings to the question why did it fall in the first place? Unusually hard winds will do that, but most trees should have a good enough anchor in the roots to sustain most winds. If a tree is staked for a long period of time when planted the roots will be stunted in their growth. Stunted the roots are always stunted and the tree can suffer from blow over 20 years later. If a tree is watered shallowly the roots stay at the surface and do not move deep in to the soil to anchor the tree. The root mass should be 30 % larger than the above ground mass. Often trees are planted on to shallow of soil which results in poor root development these trees should not be attempted and should be removed. Large trees should not be attempted. A professional landscaper may be able to help you decide what to do and could possible do the work for you and do it safer. BE CAREFUL a tree even a small tree weighs tons and it is not worth getting hurt. Eddy County Extension Service, New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator. All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. New Mexico State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Eddy County Government Cooperating. Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited unless specifically provided for under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender and destroy all copies of this message. Este mensaje (incluyendo los archivos adjuntos) esta dirigido solo al receptor senalado y puede contener informacion de caracter privilegiada, privada o confidencial. Si usted no es el receptor senalado o bien ha recibido este mensaje por error, por favor notifique inmediatamente al remitente y elimine el mensaje original. Cualquier otro uso de este mensaje de correo electronico esta prohibido. Eddy County Extension Service and New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity employer and educator. Eddy County Government, New Mexico State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating, Extending Knowledge Changing Lives.