Notice of Availability of Draft Scientific Assessment for Public Comment

Notice of Availability of Draft Scientific Assessment for Public Comment A Federal Register Notice entitled "Notice of Availability of Draft Scientific Assessment for Public Comment" was published in the Federal Register on November 8, 2017. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is publishing this notice on behalf of the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG)/U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program and the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) to announce the availability of a draft assessment, the 2nd State of the Carbon Cycle Science Report (SOCCR-2), for a 60-day public review. Collected comments will be carefully reviewed by the relevant chapter author teams. Following revision and further review, a revised draft will undergo final Federal interagency clearance. Written comments on this notice must be received by 11:59 p.m. on January 8, 2018.

Secretary Perdue Launches Veteran Resources at USDA

Release No. 0147.17 Contact: USDA Press Phone: (202) 720-4623 Email: press@oc.usda.gov Secretary Perdue Launches Veteran Resources at USDA (Washington, D.C., November 9, 2017) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the launch of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) resources to provide comprehensive and timely support to veterans interested in opportunities in agriculture, agribusiness, and in rural America. The resources include a new website and a USDA-wide AgLearn curriculum to allow all employees to understand the unique opportunities offered to our nation’s veterans. “From the beginning of this Administration, USDA has focused on how to best serve our veterans,” said Secretary Perdue. “These men and women of the United States military have kept America free and deserve the utmost respect. Across the country, these veterans are beginning to fill roles that preserve rural communities while providing for their livelihood. Through these resources, USDA is committed to helping veterans in agricultural areas so we can strengthen the American economy and provide assistance for those who have served. Veterans and agriculture are just a great fit.” USDA supports veterans in the areas of the “three Es” – employment, education, and entrepreneurship, and pulls together programs from the Department’s 17 agencies that veterans may use. Watch this video or view below to learn more about USDA’s new veterans resources.

Help Your Horse Handle Heat Stress

The following CES publication has been revised and is now available online in PDF and HTML formats. Guide B-711: Help Your Horse Handle Heat Stress Jason L. Turner (Professor/Extension Horse Specialist, Dept. of Extension Animal Sciences and Natural Resources) Sandra Barraza (Extension Agriculture Agent, Chaves County Extension Office) PDF: http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_b/B711.pdf HTML: http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_b/B711/welcome.html

USDA to Re-engage Stakeholders on Revisions to Biotechnology Regulations

USDA to Re-engage Stakeholders on Revisions to Biotechnology Regulations WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2017 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced it is withdrawing a proposed rule to revise the Agency’s biotechnology regulations and will re-engage with stakeholders to determine the most effective, science-based approach for regulating the products of modern biotechnology while protecting plant health. “It’s critical that our regulatory requirements foster public confidence and empower American agriculture while also providing industry with an efficient and transparent review process that doesn’t restrict innovation,” said Secretary Sonny Perdue. “To ensure we effectively balance the two, we need to take a fresh look, explore policy alternatives, and continue the dialogue with all interested stakeholders, both domestic and international.” APHIS oversees the importation, interstate movement and environmental release of genetically engineered organisms to ensure they do not pose a plant pest risk. This important work will continue as APHIS re-engages with stakeholders. “Today, we need to feed some 7 billion people. By the year 2050, that population will swell to 9.5 billion, over half of which will be living in under-developed conditions. To put the demand for food into perspective, we are going to have to double our production between now and 2050. We will have to produce more food in the next 30 years than has been produced in the last 8,000 years. Innovations in biotechnology have been helping American farmers produce food more efficiently for more than 20 years, and that framework has been essential to that productivity,” Perdue said. “We know that this technology is evolving every day, and we need regulations and policies that are flexible and adaptable to these innovations to ensure food security for the growing population.” More information will be posted at our webpage below as it becomes available: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/news.

PESTICIDE TRAINING PROGRAM OFFERED

PESTICIDE TRAINING PROGRAM OFFERED Eddy County Extension Service will be conducting pesticide applicator training on November 16 from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. Cost is $10 per person. This class is good for 5 CEU’s. Private applicator testing will not be available if you need to test call and arranged with NMDA 575-646-3007. The information presented may help you prepare for the exams however. These will be in Carlsbad at the Eddy County Extension Office. Dr. Sam Samallidge Extension Wildlife Specialist will be presenting information on gopher control, rodent control, keeping pack rats out of trucks, rattle snakes and more. There is limited space so if you wish to pre-register or if you are in need of special assistance due to a disability please contact the Eddy County Extension Office 887-6595 at least 7 days before the class. 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”.

November 15 Sales Closing Date Approaches for USDA Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) Program

November 15 Sales Closing Date Approaches for USDA Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) Program New Mexico producers are reminded of the November 15 sales closing date for the Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) Program, administered by the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA). The PRF program has become widely used by New Mexico producers in recent years. In fact, for 2017, the PRF Program covers over $84M in liability across more than 7M New Mexico acres. The PRF program is an area-based plan of insurance designed to give forage and livestock producers the ability to buy protection for losses of forage produced for haying and/or grazing. The program is based on a rainfall index approach for determining losses and triggering indemnities. The flexible program allows producers to personalize their policy by choosing at least two specific 2-month coverage intervals, a coverage level between 70 to 90 percent, and a productivity factor anywhere between 60 and 150 percent of the county base value. When applying for coverage, producers will also need to allocate the percentage of the total value for their operation. Program payment are not based on individual rain gauges or on a single local weather station. Online tools are available to assist producers in determining how well the PRF program correlated with their past forage production. Specifically, history for each grid and interval across covered areas can be accessed using decision support tools found on RMA’s PRF web page (http://www.rma.usda.gov/policies/pasturerangeforage/). The tools allow producers to see which years and coverage periods would have paid indemnities in past years based on hypothetical coverage levels in selected grids. Producers are strongly encouraged to use the available tools to help make purchase and coverage level decisions. Not all acres that are grazed need to be insured, but producers must have an insurable interest in the acres covered. An insurable interest, defined as the right to graze the property, must be documented. The PRF Program is available in the 48 contiguous states. Interested producers are encouraged to visit with their crop insurance agent to learn additional program details. An agent locator tool is also available on the RMA website (http://www.RMA.USDA.gov). To speak with a rancher who has analyzed and purchased this product, producers are encouraged to contact Brett Crosby, President of Wyoming-based Custom Ag Solutions (CAS), and Wyoming cow calf operator who is well versed in the complex risk management decisions facing livestock producers. Crosby can be reached at 307-548-9636. Custom Ag Solutions works with RMA and other partner organizations to educate producers about risk management and Federal crop insurance programs. More information about Federal crop insurance programs, including RMA’s Pasture, Rangeland, Forage Program, can be found at the RMA website, www.rma.usda.gov. To receive information by mail, call CAS at 877-227-8094. USDA, RMA, and CAS are equal opportunity providers.

ACES and ACE high certified calf Sale.

Our first certified sale is scheduled for November 15th at Clovis. I spoke with Charlie and the tentative plan is to stop the sale at about 11:00 am, announce the program, and then start selling program calves. Patrick brought up a good point about having a presence there. I’ll try to get a banner made with the logos and we thought about setting up a table with information. I can also see if we can get some funds for coffee and donuts? I don’t know if it is a concern about giving something out that the might be selling in their café (if they have a café). Either way, I think banner, table with information, brochures, etc. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know and also if you’d like to help out. We’ll have some grad students there trying to collect data, so I think between what Charlie will have and what the students get, we should be able to generate a full economic report to share with everyone. Thanks a ton for all of the help! Craig.