USDA Provides Targeted Assistance to Cotton Producers to Share in the Cost of Ginning

USDA Provides Targeted Assistance to Cotton Producers to Share in the Cost of Ginning 06/06/2016 05:00 PM EDT USDA Provides Targeted Assistance to Cotton Producers to Share in the Cost of Ginning One-time Payments to Begin in July to Assist with 2016 Ginning Season WASHINGTON, June 6, 2016 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will provide an estimated $300 million in cost-share assistance payments to cotton producers through the new Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program, in order to expand and maintain the domestic marketing of cotton. "Today's announcement shows USDA continues to stand with America's cotton producers and our rural communities," said Vilsack. "The Cotton Ginning Cost Share program will offer meaningful, timely and targeted assistance to cotton growers to help with their anticipated ginning costs and to facilitate marketing. The program will provide, on average, approximately 60 percent more assistance per farm and per producer than the 2014 program that provided cotton transition assistance." Through the Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program, eligible producers can receive a one-time cost share payment, which is based on a producer's 2015 cotton acres reported to FSA, multiplied by 40 percent of the average ginning cost for each production region. With the pressing need to provide assistance ahead of the 2016 ginning season this fall, USDA will ensure the application process is straight-forward and efficient. The program estimates the costs based on planting of cotton in 2015, and therefore the local FSA offices already have this information for the vast majority of eligible producers and the applications will be pre-populated with existing data. Sign-up for the program will begin June 20 and run through Aug. 5, 2016 at the producer's local FSA office. Payments will be processed as applications are received, and are expected to begin in July. Since 2011, cotton fiber markets have experienced dramatic changes. As a result of low cotton prices and global oversupply, cotton producers are facing economic uncertainty that has led to many producers having lost equity and having been forced to liquidate equipment and land to satisfy loans. The ginning of cotton is necessary prior to marketing the lint for fiber, or the seed for oil or feed. While the Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program makes payments to cotton producers for cotton ginning costs, the benefits of the program will be felt by the broader marketing chain associated with cotton and cottonseed, including cotton gins, cooperatives, marketers and cottonseed crushers and the rural communities that depend on them. The program has the same eligibility requirements as were used for the 2014 Cotton Transition Assistance Program, including a $40,000 per producer payment limit, requirement to be actively engaged in farming, meet conservation compliance and a $900,000 adjusted gross income limit. To learn more about the Cotton Ginning Cost-Share program, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/cgcs or contact a local FSA county office. To find your local FSA county office, visit http://offices.usda.gov. Since 2009, USDA has worked to strengthen and support American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other countries, and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials. USDA has also provided $5.6 billion in disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; expanded risk management tools with products like Whole Farm Revenue Protection; and helped farm businesses grow with $36 billion in farm credit. The Department has engaged its resources to support a strong next generation of farmers and ranchers by improving access to land and capital; building new markets and market opportunities; and extending new conservation opportunities. USDA has developed new markets for rural-made products, including more than 2,500 biobased products through USDA's BioPreferred program; and invested $64 billion in infrastructure and community facilities to help improve the quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results. #

State’s animal health agency: Horse owners should vaccinate against West Nile virus

State’s animal health agency: Horse owners should vaccinate against West Nile virus (ALBUQUERQUE) – As mosquito season approaches, the New Mexico Livestock Board is encouraging horse owners across the state to vaccinate their horses against West Nile virus (WNV). “Horse owners are encouraged to contact their veterinarian about vaccinating their horse or horses,” said acting state veterinarian Dr. Alexandra Eckhoff. According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners, horses represent 96.9 percent of all reported non-human cases of West Nile virus in mammals. Symptoms include fever, lack of coordination, difficulty or inability to rise, drooping lips, weakness, muscle twitching, and sensitivity to sound and/or touch. Approximately one-third of horses affected can die from the virus, and those that survive may have permanent neurological damage. The virus is carried by many different mosquito species, which transmit it from infected birds to horses, humans, and other mammals. It is not transmissible from horse to horse or from horse to human. Both horses and humans are dead-end hosts for WNV, meaning they cannot pass the virus on to other biting mosquitoes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WNV is not transmitted: • From person to person or from animal to person • From handling live or dead infected birds. (Wear gloves to dispose of dead birds in a garbage can.) • By consuming infected birds or animals. (Cook bird meat and any other meat fully.) For more information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/transmission/index.html and http://www.aaep.org/custdocs/West%20Nile%20Virus.pdf. The New Mexico Livestock Board works to protect New Mexico livestock free of disease and safe from theft. To carry out this work, the agency’s 60 full-time inspectors and another 60 full- and part-time deputies continuously patrol and perform inspections around the state to help. The agency also houses the Office of the State Veterinarian, whose team collaborates with various government and private-sector partners to ensure that New Mexico remains free of animal disease.

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Help Socially Disadvantaged Rural Businesses

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Help Socially Disadvantaged Rural Businesses WASHINGTON, June 6, 2016 - USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Administrator Sam Rikkers today announced that USDA is seeking applications for grants to provide assistance to socially-disadvantaged business groups in rural areas. "Rural America is an incredibly diverse place with many types of businesses and business owners participating in the economy," Rikkers said. "This funding will give small, rural businesses the technical assistance they need to compete in the global marketplace." The funding is being provided through the Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant (SDGG) program. USDA provides grants to local cooperatives and other organizations that provide technical assistance to socially disadvantaged groups in rural areas. Examples of technical assistance include providing leadership training, conducting feasibility studies and developing business and strategic plans. Recipients eligible for these grants include groups of cooperatives, individual cooperatives and cooperative development centers that serve socially-disadvantaged groups. The cooperatives or development centers can be based in any area, but the groups that receive technical assistance must be located in an eligible rural area. USDA is encouraging applications for projects in census tracts with poverty rates of 20 percent or higher. USDA is making $3 million in grants available. The maximum award a recipient may receive is $175,000. All grants are awarded through a national competition. More information on how to apply can be found on page 36254 of the June 6, 2016 Federal Register. Applications must be submitted by August 5, 2016, or electronically by August 1, 2016. USDA awarded 126 grants totaling $19.5 million through the Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant program between 2009 and 2015. Past recipients of these grants have been able to make life-changing improvements in rural areas. For example, in 2013, the Southern California Focus on Cooperation received a $200,000 SDGG grant to provide technical assistance to 95 immigrant and minority farmers. The technical assistance helped the farmers improve their productive capacity, helped them better manage their cooperative business and increased their revenue. Many of the farmers helped by this project had spent years suffering from persecution and oppression and had had no access to formal schooling in their native lands. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development (@USDARD) has invested $11 billion to start or expand 103,000 rural businesses; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes; funded nearly 7,000 community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care facilities; financed 185,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines; and helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results. #

USDA Expands Access to Capital for Rural Businesses

USDA Expands Access to Capital for Rural Businesses BLOOMINGTON, Ill., June 3, 2016 – USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Sam Rikkers today unveiled new rules to expand access to capital for rural businesses. "Access to capital is one of the most important needs for businesses," Rikkers said. "USDA is partnering with the Treasury Department and other agencies to ensure that rural businesses have the resources they need to prosper and grow. The regulatory changes I am announcing today will help businesses expand their operations and create jobs." The changes, published in today's Federal Register, make it easier for rural businesses to qualify for loans in USDA's Business & Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program. They allow businesses to use the New Markets Tax Credit as a form of equity, and allow, for the first time, employees of a business to qualify for loan guarantees to purchase stock in a business by forming an Employee Stock Ownership Plan or worker cooperative. Other improvements include: • New, loan application scoring criteria, including priority for loans to businesses that will create quality jobs, such as those with health care benefits; • Reduced paperwork requirements to refinance loans; • Strengthened eligibility criteria for non-regulated lenders (such as privately owned finance companies) to participate in the B&I program; • Expanded loan eligibility, including in urban areas, for projects that process, distribute, aggregate, store and/or market locally or regionally produced foods. The stock ownership provisions are modeled after rural cooperative businesses. Co-ops have been economic development partners with USDA for decades. A January 2016 USDA report indicated that cooperatives earned $6.5 billion in net income and generated $246.7 billion in total revenue in 2014. For a complete overview of the new rules, see page 35984 of the June 3, 2016 Federal Register. USDA awarded more than 3,500 Business & Industry program loans totaling $9.7 billion between 2009 and 2015 to help rural businesses create or retain jobs. One of these loans – for $1.8 million in 2013 – helped White Rock Specialties, LLC buy equipment and convert an old school in Mosca, Colo., into a potato packing facility. White Rock has a large supply of potato growers in the San Luis Valley and focuses on locally grown organic specialty potatoes. Another B&I loan from 2013 helped DeVilbiss Healthcare, LLC relocate its manufacturing facility from China to Somerset, Pa., preserving 92 jobs and creating an estimated 20 new full-time, living-wage jobs. By providing access to capital and opening up new markets, USDA is helping American businesses compete and win in the tough arena of international trade. For more information, visit Chapter 6 of https://medium.com/usda-results. The expanded loan eligibility for projects that process, distribute, aggregate, store and/or market locally or regionally produced foods is part of USDA's broader effort to support strong local and regional food systems that connect rural and urban communities. USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative coordinates the Department's work to help farmers, ranchers and businesses access the growing market for local and regional foods, which was valued at $12 billion in 2014 according to industry estimates. Under this Administration, USDA has invested $1 billion in more than 40,000 local and regional food businesses and infrastructure projects. Since 2009, USDA Rural Development (#USDARD) has invested $11 billion to start or expand 103,000 rural businesses; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes; funded nearly 7,000 community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care facilities; financed 185,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines; and helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results. #

EPA Releases Draft Triazine Ecological Risk Assessments for Comment

EPA Releases Draft Triazine Ecological Risk Assessments for Comment EPA is releasing the draft ecological risk assessments for atrazine, propazine and simazine, which evaluate risks to animals and plants including, amphibians, birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, aquatic invertebrates, aquatic plant communities, and terrestrial plants. All three pesticides are in the triazine class of pesticides. EPA invites stakeholders to comment on the draft ecological risk assessments when the Federal Register notice publishes and the public comment period opens within a week. The draft assessments are currently available on the agency’s website. EPA will be accepting public comments for 60 days after the Federal Register publishes. After receiving and reviewing public comments, the agency will amend the assessments, as appropriate. EPA will have atrazine's assessment peer reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Panel in 2017. With regard to atrazine, the herbicide is one of the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the United States. It is used primarily on corn and sorghum in the Midwest and sugarcane in the South Central and Southeastern United States to control broadleaf and grassy weeds. EPA’s human health assessment for the three triazines is currently under review, and we expect to release it later in 2016. Read the triazine draft ecological risk assessments on EPA’s Website. On this page, you will find a pre-publication copy of the Federal Register notice and the draft risk assessments until the public comment period begins. Once the Federal Register notice publishes, the assessments and all related materials will be available on and comments can be submitted at www.regulations.gov in dockets EPA-HQ-OPP-2013-0266 (atrazine); EPA-HQ-OPP-2013-0250 (propazine); and EPA-HQ-OPP-2013-0251 (simazine).

USDA Unveils New Improvement to Streamline Crop Reporting

USDA Unveils New Improvement to Streamline Crop Reporting Update Lets Farmers and Ranchers Report Common Acreage Information Once WASHINGTON, May 31, 2016 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that farmers and ranchers filing crop acreage reports with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and participating insurance providers approved by the Risk Management Agency (RMA) now can provide the common information from their acreage reports at one office and the information will be electronically shared with the other location. This new process is part of the USDA Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI). This interagency collaboration also includes participating private crop insurance agents and insurance companies, all working to streamline the information collected from farmers and ranchers who participate in USDA programs. “If you file your report at one location, the data that’s important to both FSA and RMA will be securely and electronically shared with the other location,” said FSA Administrator Val Dolcini. “This will avoid redundant and duplicative reporting, and we expect this to save farmers and ranchers time.” “Accuracy in crop reporting is a key component for crop insurance, because an error in this information can affect premiums or claims. This is going to greatly improve efficiencies and reduce mistakes,” said RMA Administrator Brandon Willis. Since 2009, USDA has been working to streamline the crop reporting process for agricultural producers, who have expressed concerns with providing the same basic common information for multiple locations. In 2013, USDA consolidated the deadlines to 15 dates for submitting these reports, down from the previous 54 dates at RMA and 17 dates for FSA. USDA representatives believe farmers and ranchers will experience a notable improvement in the coming weeks as they approach the peak season for crop reporting later this summer. More than 93 percent of all annual reported acres to FSA and RMA now are eligible for the common data reporting, and USDA is exploring adding more crops. Producers must still visit both locations to validate and sign acreage reports, complete maps or provide program-specific information. The common data from the first-filed acreage report will now be available to pre-populate and accelerate completion of the second report. Plans are underway at USDA to continue building upon the framework with additional efficiencies at a future date. Dolcini also reminded farmers and ranchers that they can now access their FSA farm information from the convenience of their home computer. “You can see your field boundaries, images of your farm, conservation status, operator and owner information and much more,” said Dolcini. The new customer self-service portal, known as FSAFarm+, gives farmers and ranchers online access to securely view, print or export their personal farm data. To enroll in the online service, producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA office for details. To find a local FSA office in your area, visit http://offices.usda.gov. Since 2009, USDA has worked to strengthen and support American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other countries, and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials. USDA has also provided $5.6 billion of disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; expanded risk management tools with products like to Whole Farm Revenue Protection; and helped farm businesses grow with $36 billion in farm credit. The Department has engaged its resources to support a strong next generation of farmers and ranchers by improving access to land and capital; building new markets and market opportunities; extending new conservation opportunities. USDA has developed new markets for rural-made products, including more than 2,500 biobased products through USDA's BioPreferred program; and invested $64 billion in infrastructure and community facilities to help improve the quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results. # USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil

USDA Extends Deadline for Recording Farm Structure

USDA Extends Deadline for Recording Farm Structure Gives Non-Family Farming Operations More Time to Restructure in Response to ‘Actively Engaged’ Farm Management Rule WASHINGTON, May 27, 2016 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a one-time, 30-day extension to the June 1 deadline for recording farm organization structures related to Actively Engaged in Farming determinations. This date is used to determine the level of interest an individual holds in a legal entity for the applicable program year. Farming operations will now have until July 1 to complete their restructuring or finalize any operational change. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the extension in response to farmers and ranchers who requested more time to comply, and to assure that everyone has enough time to provide their information under the new rules. “Most farming and ranching organizations have been able to comply with the actively engaged rule,” said Vilsack. “This one-time extension should give producers who may still need to update their farm structure information the additional time to do so.” The 2014 Farm Bill provided the Secretary with the direction and authority to amend the Actively Engaged in Farming rules related to management. The final rule established limits on the number of individuals who can qualify as actively engaged using only management. Only one payment limit for management is allowed under the rule, with the ability to request up to two additional qualifying managers operations for large and complex operations. The rule does not apply to farming operations comprised entirely of family members. The rule also does not change the existing regulations related to contributions of land, capital, equipment or labor, or the existing regulations related to landowners with a risk in the crop or to spouses. Producers that planted fall crops have until the 2017 crop year to comply with the new rules. The payment limit associated with Farm Service Agency farm payments is generally limited annually to $125,000 per individual or entity. Since 2009, USDA has worked to strengthen and support American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other countries, and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials. USDA has also provided $5.6 billion of disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; expanded risk management tools with products like to Whole Farm Revenue Protection; and helped farm businesses grow with $36 billion in farm credit. The Department has engaged its resources to support a strong next generation of farmers and ranchers by improving access to land and capital; building new markets and market opportunities; extending new conservation opportunities. USDA has developed new markets for rural-made products, including more than 2,500 biobased products through USDA's BioPreferred program; and invested $64 billion in infrastructure and community facilities to help improve the quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results. #