Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Guide E-324: Processing Fresh Chile Peppers

The following CES publication has been revised and is now available online in PDF format. Guide E-324: Processing Fresh Chile Peppers Revised by Nancy C. Flores (Extension Food Technology Specialist, Dept. of Extension Family and Consumer Sciences) And Cindy Schlenker Davies (County Program Director/Extension Home Economist, Bernalillo County Extension Office) http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E324.pdf

USDA Removes Farm Program Payments to Managers Not Actively Engaged in Farming

USDA Removes Farm Program Payments to Managers Not Actively Engaged in Farming WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today finalized a rule to ensure that farm safety-net payments are issued only to active managers of farms that operate as joint ventures or general partnerships, consistent with the direction and authority provide by Congress in the 2014 Farm Bill. The action, which exempts family farm operations, closes a loophole where individuals who were not actively part of farm management still received payments. "The federal farm safety-net programs are designed to protect against unanticipated changes in the marketplace for those who actively share in the risk of that farming operation," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "To ensure that help goes to those who genuinely need it, such as America's farm families, the Farm Bill authorized USDA to close a loophole and limit payments from those not involved on a daily basis in nonfamily farm management." Since 1987, the broad definition of "actively engaged" resulted in some general partnerships and joint ventures adding managers to the farming operation, qualifying for more payments, that did not substantially contribute to management. The rule applies to operations seeking more than one farm manager, and requires measureable, documented hours and key management activities each year. Some operations of certain sizes and complexity may be allowed up to three qualifying managers under limited conditions. The changes apply to payments for 2016 and subsequent crop years for Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Programs, Loan Deficiency Payments (LDP) and Marketing Loan Gains (MLG) realized via the Marketing Assistance Loan program. As required by Congress, the new rule does not apply to family farms, or change regulations related to contributions of land, capital, equipment, or labor. The changes go into effect for the 2016 crop year for most farms. Farms that have already planted fall crops for 2016 have until the 2017 crop year to comply. For more details, producers are encouraged to consult their local Farm Service Agency office. Today's announcement was made possible by the 2014 Farm Bill, which builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past six years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for the taxpayer. 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. To learn more about Farm Service Agency, visit www.fsa.usda.gov. #

Monday, December 14, 2015

A Horseshoers Christmas.

A HORSESHOER’S CHRISTMAS By Woods E. Houghton It was the day before Christmas and just my luck, My calendar told me I had ten horses to shoe in all of this muck. Oh, this cold weather is hard on my bod. But they had to be shod. I finished the last one, in the barn light. And it was way past dark thirty, as I settled down for the night. The wood burner stove was lit and a glow. I was thawing out but it was slow. When all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. Who could that be, I thought as I crawled from the floor. I opened it to see. A tall lean cowboy looking at me. With a long soft southern drawl he asked of me. “Are you the horseshoer, here and about.” Something told me to say nay, But I heard myself say, “Sur, I am the only one about” This old cowboy he was quite a sight, with his mustachio that was all curly and white. I am in a hurry tonight, and what he said next gave me quite a fright. My lead pack mule has thrown a shoe. It was a quarter till dawn, and it was dark. And cold, but what else was there to do. He needed my help regardless of my desire, We went to the barn and I set the forage with fire. When he look at me with eyes full of glee, “Use one of these, if you will please. The shoe that he handed me was light, as light as a feather. I took it and shaped it to fit, The mule was well behaved and did not mind a bit. When I was finished, the job done right That shoe nailed down good and tight. I asked, “What made that shoe so light?” As he mounted his horse with one smooth swing He started off in a trot, “Star dust my friend, without it you see, these mules cant fly with me. I chuckled to myself and turned to see, that string of pack mules above my tree. As the cowboy above shouted out with glee, To all the children, ranchers and the like Feliz Navidad, and to you all good night.

Poinsettias: year after Year

Poinsettias: year after Year I know this is a repeat article but if I don’t publish it each year a number of people are disappointed, so have a Merry Christmas. There are two green houses in New Mexico which supply the majority of Poinsettias across the nation; it is one of New Mexico’s major agriculture exports. Poinsettias can be kept year after year, and they will bloom each year if you give them proper care. When the leaves begin to yellow or when the plan is no longer desired as an ornamental, gradually withhold water. The leaves will pale and fall and the colorful bracts will be the last to go. After all the leaves have fallen, store the plant in its pot, in a cool dry dark area. Keep the plant on the dry side, water only to keep the stems from withering. In April or May, bring the plant out of storage. Cut the main stems six inches above the soil level. Remove the pot and old soil from the roots. Repot the plant in fresh medium having good drainage. Place the pant in a warm, sunny spot for renewed growth. Keep the humidity high to encourage rapid new growth. In our dry climate this can be done by placing a clear plastic bag over the plant, but don’t let it over heat it. Once the plant is active apply a week fertilizer once a month. After frost danger is past, sink the pot into a protected and sunny bed. Light shade is ideal during the hottest part of the day. Lift the pot occasionally to prevent root growth into surrounding soil. Keep the poinsettias actively growing all summer by watering and fertilizing regularly according to your soil conditions this can be quite variable. To obtain a bushy plant pinch new shoot back so that at least two nodes remain on each until late August. Remove week stems completely, so only a few of the stronger one develop. As cool fall weather begins, take the plant inside to a south window with full sun. Poinsettias do best in full fall sun and the bracts (apparent petals) obtain their deepest color in good light. The poinsettia is known as a true long-night plant. This means that the plant must be in total darkness for about 14 hours out of every day for a four-week period to form flower buds. In late September or early October make certain the poinsettia receives no artificial light after nightfall. For more information Contact your Local County Extension office and ask for guide H-406. This and all programs are available to everyone regardless of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, or veteran status. New Mexico State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Eddy County Government Cooperating to put knowledge to work.

Keeping Your Agricultural Tax Exemption in this Time of Transition

Keeping Your Agricultural Tax Exemption in this Time of Transition by lajicarita By KAY MATTHEWS For the past several years folks in Taos have been working—and struggling—with the state and county to expand agricultural property tax statutes and regulations to accommodate changing climate and demographics and keep as much land as possible in agricultural production. During last year’s legislative session TaoseƱos—including County Commissioner Candyce O’Donnell, New Mexico Acequia Association (NMAA) lobbyist Patricia Quintana, and members of the Agricultural Resolution Team—helped pass Senate Bill 112 , which amends the definition of agricultural use for property tax valuation to include resting the land under certain conditions. Those conditions are “moderate drought conditions as designated by the United States Department of Agriculture, if the drought conditions occurred in the county within which the land is located for at least eight consecutive weeks during the previous tax year.” Over the course of the last few years the Taos County Assessor’s Office, at the direction of the state, has been reviewing properties that claim the agricultural exemption to ascertain if they actually qualify. Of the hundreds of properties that have been visited thus far (mostly in the immediate town of Taos area) a large percentage has lost the exemption, resulting in very large increases in property taxes based on market value. Last Thursday, December 10, the NMAA, the Taos Valley Acequia Association, and Taos Soil and Water Conservation District sponsored a workshop to familiarize folks with the state statues and county regulations that govern an agricultural tax exemption, updates on these exemptions, and how to protest the revocation of an exemption. Enrique Romero, a native of Nambe who works for the Land and Water division of New Mexico Legal Aid, laid out the specifics of the regulations that govern agricultural property tax exemptions that county assessors must follow. These regulations are laid out in the New Mexico State Statutes Section 7-36-20. Lands that meet these criteria are taxed at a third of their market value. The agricultural valuation is based on the “land’s capacity to produce agricultural products,” not their actual production. Agricultural products include: plants, crops, tress, forest products, orchard crops, livestock, poultry, fish, captive deer or elk, wool and mohair, hides and pelts, and dairy products and honey. Landowners need to provide evidence that any of these products were used for sale, subsistence, resale by others, or as feed, seed, or breeding stock. The ag land must be at least one acre in size except if the products produced are orchard fruit, poultry, or fish. There are three types of agricultural lands: irrigated, dry land, and grazing, which are assessed at different rates in different counties. In Taos, irrigated land is assessed at $491 per acre; dry land at $120 per acre; and grazing at $4 per acre. Taos County Chief Appraiser Nick Salazar was present to answer questions that pertain to Taos County. He and his staff, which according to Salazar is woefully inadequate, “hit the ground running” in January to try to look at all properties in the county that claim the agricultural exemption. Of the 600 properties they’ve inspected this year 60 percent were disqualified. In 2014 the disqualifications added nearly $51 million to the county’s tax base. “We’re not going out and attacking land owners,” Salazar said, but trying to weed out those properties that are obviously not capable of production and trying to help those landowners whose property has the potential to be productive find ways to be in compliance with the regulations. He explained that if property is undervalued it places a disproportionate burden on other market property that must be taxed to meet county value levels. Rectifying the values could result in lower tax rates and lower taxes for all county residents. While taxation values need to be equalized, several people pointed out that the definition of what qualifies as agricultural land needs to be broadened to include categories of open space or greenbelts that will help prevent the development of agricultural lands. They also pointed out that just as the 2015 state legislature recognized the impacts of drought on agriculture, so too should it recognize the changing demographics that make it harder for folks to keep their lands productive: the aging of the farming community; the economic pressures that force our children to leave; and the lack of equipment and resources available for folks to grow food or raise cattle on their lands. Salazar told the group that for the second year he has approached the state legislature with a proposed regulation that would help the elderly retain their agricultural exemption by freezing the amount of tax paid after the age of 65. He also pointed out that his office allows people to combine non-contiguous lands to meet the minimum requirement of one acre in size. “We bend as much as we can but we don’t break the law.” Salazar came out to my property last summer after I discovered that my agricultural exemption had been revoked and I filed a protest (protests for next year must be filed by April 30; forms are available online or call the county assessor’s office at 575 737-6360). I have eight acres of irrigated land in two parcels; my house, garden, orchard, and hay field comprise the upper parcel, fed by an acequia; my lower parcel consists of a hay field, fed by another acequia. When I filed the protest I discovered that horses do not qualify as stock in the agricultural regulations (based on a 1999 state court decision). After raising a hay crop on both parcels for more than 20 years I continued to irrigate but let the pastures rest the last two years; my horse and a neighbor’s mules ate the standing grass. Salazar told me I needed to either cut the hay as a crop or put cows in the pastures to re-qualify for the agricultural exemption as my three years under the new drought regulation are up this year. I asked another neighbor who still raises cattle to put them in the field in the fall and will try to find someone to cut the hay next summer. My situation reflects that of many other folks in the villages of el norte: I’m 65 and hard pressed to do all the irrigating and orchard and garden work by myself (my co-editor and domestic partner Mark Schiller died in 2010). My kids don’t live here. The neighbor who cut my hay and put his cows in my fields for those twenty years died in 2009; his son sold the cows the following year. The drought makes it more difficult to get the irrigation water to the areas of the field usually kept in good shape by the monsoon rains. Paula Garcia, executive director of the NMAA, told the crowd that the Agricultural Resolution Team (Peggy Nelson and Toby Martinez) and the Assessor’s Office will continue to work with the legislature to advocate for policy changes that will help us maintain our agricultural lands in this time of transition.

Friday, December 11, 2015

NRCS delays overhaul of CSP until 2017 sign-up

Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. By Whitney Forman-Cook USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) says its plan to have a new and improved Conservation Stewardship Program up and running by January has been delayed. Now, the CSP's new features won't be fully rolled out until the beginning of 2017. Mark Rose, the acting deputy chief of programs with NRCS, told Agri-Pulse Tuesday that implementation of the CSP upgrades would start in October 2016 and should be complete by the 2017 sign-up period. "The decision to change the target date to the beginning of the next fiscal year will allow the time necessary to fully field test the new tools with our employees and partners, ensuring that we are well prepared to best serve the farmers, ranchers and forestland owners who are working to achieve their stewardship goals," Rose said in an email. CSP is a working lands conservation program that provides farmers and ranchers who enter into five-year contracts with NRCS up to $40,000 a year in funding to implement best management practices on their land. Currently, CSP has about 49,000 active contracts that cover over 65 million acres. In a recent interview, NRCS Chief Jason Weller said the program is "very popular" and "way over-subscribed." For instance, in fiscal 2015, NRCS received over 21,000 applications for CSP contracts, but was only able to offer assistance to about 6,000 applicants. The CSP "makeover" was designed to make the program "easier to use" and to make the application process "more transparent and effective," Weller said. It will help NRCS agents develop more individualized conservation plans for producers more focused on specific "enhancement" objectives, like improving wildlife habitat and soil health or managing for pests, he said. It will also combine the predicative power of NRCS' portfolio of modeling tools, including edge-of-field monitoring, soil health assessments and others. Weller said the way CSP has been run the past five years has made the program "pretty complex" with a "black box element to it" that "is very difficult for our field people to use (and) explain to a person" interested in entering into a CSP contract. The new CSP is "going to look and feel a lot like EQIP (NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program). Something people trust and use all the time," Weller said. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition released a statement Monday applauding NRCS's decision to extend the "overhaul" timeline. NSAC said the delay will not only more time for training NCRS employees on the changes, "but it also allows stakeholders to provide input before these changes go into effect."

Udall, Heinrich Announce Over $63 Million to Repair Eddy County Roads Damaged by September 2014 Storms, Floods

Udall, Heinrich Announce Over $63 Million to Repair Eddy County Roads Damaged by September 2014 Storms, Floods WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich announced more than $63.6 million for Eddy County for hazard mitigation and to repair roads damaged by severe storms and flooding caused by Hurricane Odile in September 2014. The funding will help to permanently repair 24 aggregate, asphalt, and chip and seal roads, which suffered significant damage. "This $63 million in disaster funding for Eddy County is a much-needed boost that will help repair damage caused by last year's severe storms from Hurricane Odile," Udall said. "I met with Eddy County community leaders shortly after the storms, and they told me that the magnitude of the damage was devastating — the hurricane disrupted oil and gas development, affected farms, damaged roads, and took a real toll on the economy. This needed funding will help Eddy County finally recover and rebuild." “This is outstanding news for Eddy County,” Heinrich said. "Last year’s extreme weather conditions severely damaged roads and other critical infrastructure that New Mexicans rely on. The local economy depends on the oil and gas industry, WIPP, and potash mining, which all require functional roads to operate. This much-needed federal assistance will help restore our communities and businesses, and is a critical step toward the recovery effort.” The $63,602,780 grant will be provided to the state of New Mexico to distribute to Eddy County. Udall and Heinrich supported the state's request for disaster recovery assistance following Hurricane Odile. The funding for Eddy County was awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. ### Contacts: Jennifer Talhelm (Udall) 202.228.6870 / Whitney Potter (Heinrich) 202.228.1578