News Update

News Update
June 11, 2008

Flooding Continues

The nation continues to experience wet weather conditions this week, exacerbating flooding conditions along rivers and streams.

Damage estimates from flooding appear likely to reach hundreds of millions of dollars, the National Weather Service (NWS) reports this week.

Roads and bridges have been shut down, crops have been damaged, and officials in some areas fear the worst flooding since 1993, NWS officials stated. Thousands of homes and hundreds of businesses have been flooded, with numerous evacuations. Countless roads are flooded and closed, road damage is extensive, and many levees and earthen dams have failed or are in jeopardy of failing. An above-average flood risk is present in the Midwest, Northeast and parts of the West.

Meanwhile, flooding-related corn losses pose an imminent threat to grain prices, writes Steve Meyer in the Chicago Mercentile Exchange’s (CME’s) Daily Livestock Report. While flooding conditions emulate 1993, Meyer points out that 1993 flooding occurred in mid-July to early August after a long period of constant and heavy rains in the upper Mississippi River valley. This year’s earlier flooding could provide some hope of a respite.

Visit www.weather.gov/ahps/ for a detailed flood map, and individual river stages and forecasts, available from NWS through the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service.

Montana to Lose Brucellosis-Free Status

A Paradise Valley heifer has tested positive for brucellosis, making it Montana’s second case of brucellosis in a little more than a year, according to state officials. The state is now set to lose its brucellosis-free status, effective with the publication of the next Federal Register in four to eight weeks, the Billings Gazette reports.

Montana producers are bracing for more stringent testing requirements — and the costs that come with them.

According to the Billings Gazette, the state’s cattle industry will take a $6 million hit, testing 100% of animals 18 months of age or older, compared to previous testing that sampled about 2% of cattle. A Montana State University official told the Billings Gazette that tests for culled cows will cost producers about $15 per head, including a $1.50-brucellosis test as well as costs associated with rounding up cattle for testing.

State officials suggested Monday the brucellosis-positive animal was most likely infected through contact with elk, according to the article.

FSA County Committee Nominations Start June 15

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced farmer and rancher candidate nominations begin June 15 for local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees. The nomination period continues through Aug. 1. Elections take place this fall.

“I encourage all producers to participate in the county committee election process by nominating candidates by the Aug. 1 deadline,” Schafer said. “We are counting on as much participation as possible, because county committees are an important link between the farm community and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We have seen a trend in recent years of increased nominations of minority and women producers, and we hope that will continue.”

To be eligible to serve on an FSA county committee, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and reside in the local administrative area in which the person is a candidate.

Producers may also nominate themselves, and organizations representing minority and women may also nominate candidates.

To become a nominee, eligible individuals must sign form FSA-669A. The form and other valuable information about FSA county committee elections are available online at www.fsa.usda.gov; click on News & Events, then County Committee Elections.

Nomination forms for the 2008 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by close of business on Aug. 1.

FSA county committee members make decisions on disaster and conservation programs, emergency programs, commodity price support loan programs and other important agricultural issues. Members serve three-year terms. Nationwide, there are more than 7,800 farmers and ranchers serving on FSA county committees. Committees consist of three to five members who are elected by eligible local producers.

FSA will mail ballots to producers beginning Nov. 3. The voted ballots are due back to the local county office either via mail or in person by Dec. 1. Newly elected committee members and alternates take office Jan. 1, 2009. Between 2003 and 2006, the number of minority and women farmers and ranchers nominated as candidates to FSA county committees nationwide increased 35%. Additionally, the number of African-American producers nominated as candidates tripled during the same period. Find FSA news releases on the agency’s web site at www.fsa.usda.gov.

— compiled by Crystal Albers, associate editor, Angus Productions Inc.