News Update
March 8, 2012
USDA and Interior Announce Wildlife Conservation Efforts to Support Local Economies and Preserve Farm and Ranch Traditions
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced a new $33 million partnership with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to use innovative approaches to restore and protect the habitats for wildlife, including seven at-risk species and other vulnerable game species.
The announcement of the Working Lands for Wildlife partnership follows last week's White House Conference on Conservation that spotlighted community-driven conservation efforts as part of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative.
"America's natural resources play a significant role in building a strong and vibrant economy," Vilsack said. "Agricultural lands with healthy and abundant wildlife habitat support strong incomes for our farmers and ranchers and provide great opportunities for enhancing hunting and fishing, outdoor recreation and wildlife viewing."
"This innovative partnership aligns our goals of empowering America's farmers and ranchers to continue working their lands, while furthering conservation of imperiled species, such as the greater sage grouse, through voluntary measures," Secretary Salazar said. "The Working Lands for Wildlife initiative will allow us to focus our resources where we can do the most good and will serve as a model for a more efficient, more effective and more cooperative way to improve the health and diversity of working landscapes and strengthen local economies."
Under this strategy, Federal, state and local wildlife experts jointly identify at-risk species that would benefit from targeted habitat restoration investments on private lands. Using the best available science, the partners will prioritize restoration actions on a large regional scale to most cost effectively focus assistance. In return for voluntarily making habitat improvements on their lands, the Federal government will provide landowners with regulatory certainty that they will not be asked to take additional conservation actions.
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will jointly prepare species recovery tools such as informal agreements, safe harbor agreements and habitat conservation plans to provide regulatory certainty to landowners. The goal is to have these tools in place for all priority species by the end of the year. The seven species initially selected for this expanded campaign are: greater sage grouse, New England cottontail, bog turtle, golden-winged warbler, gopher tortoise, lesser prairie chicken and the Southwestern willow flycatcher.
Today's announcement kicks-off the sign-up for Working Lands for Wildlife. Landowners can sign-up to manage and restore high-priority habitats for the seven specific wildlife species that are located across the country. Applications within the priority habitat areas will receive highest consideration.
Interested producers and landowners in targeted areas can enroll in the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) on a continuous basis at their local NRCS field office. NRCS funds from WHIP will share the cost of conservation practices with landowners in areas known to support one or more of the selected species. For example, two conservation practices that improve sage grouse habitat are prescribed grazing and brush management. In the past two years, ranchers implemented grazing systems on 1.3 million acres of large sagebrush to improve cattle forage and increase hiding cover for nesting birds. The additional grass cover is projected to increase sage-grouse populations by 8% to 10%.
Farm Safety 4 Just Kids Celebrates 25 Years
2012 marks the 25th anniversary of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids (FS4JK). The organization has promoted farm safety to more than 6 million people through local programs and education since 1987.
During the past 25 years, FS4JK has established a network of more than 120 chapters across the United States and Canada that offer farm-safety presentations on a local level. In that time, 35,600 volunteers donated 280,000 hours of their time to help promote safety on the farm.
Marilyn Adams founded the nonprofit organization in 1987 after the death of her 11-year-old son in a gravity-flow grain-wagon accident. Its mission is to promote a safe farm environment to prevent health hazards, injuries and fatalities to children and youth. What started as a tribute to her son has touched nearly 6 million people so far.
"I didn't really know what to expect when I started FS4JK," said Adams. "The organization has grown and evolved so much in the past 25 years. It's exciting to think about what lies ahead for the farm safety movement."
FS4JK focuses on prevention through education. The organization has created a spectrum of nearly 100 educational resources on a variety of farm safety related topics. All resources are available to the public via an online catalog.
"Our goal is to teach the next generation of farmers to be safe," said Shari Burgus, education director. "The entire industry depends on it."
Education is paying off. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, from 1998 to 2009, the rate of all farm youth injuries has decreased by 59%. FS4JK was specifically mentioned as a contributing factor to the decline. Additional influences included other organizations, governmental agencies, educational institutions and private corporations.
FS4JK utilizes a system of local outreach chapters to spread farm safety education throughout the country. Amy Rademaker, an outreach coordinator in Illinois, expressed how being a part of FS4JK has impacted her life.
"I grew up in a farm family. Being a part of this organization has changed the way I look at what we did growing up on the farm," said Rademaker. "I think FS4JK has made me think of how things will be different for my son in a farm environment. It's about finding a balance while still honoring family and tradition."
Corporate sponsors and individual donors fund FS4JK. Current projects include overhauling the current ATV safety packet, plus working with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health to research how safety needs are impacted in the changing demographics of agriculture as small, part-time farms are on the rise.
"We're excited to step back and recognize our past success and the tremendous support we've seen from sponsors over the past 25 years that has helped us with our mission," said Dave Schweitz, FS4JK executive director. "It's a true testament to the importance of the farm safety movement and their dedication to their customers and agriculture. We look forward to building on those partnerships as we continue to build the organization."
For more information on farm safety, or to learn how to start a chapter, visit www.fs4jk.org.
Improved Wheat and Clover Pastures Raise Risk Of Bloat
It's a big shift from worrying about not enough forage to worrying about too much and the resulting cattle-bloat issues, noted Texas AgriLife Extension Service personnel, but that's what's happening in some parts of the state.
Winter wheat and cool-season forages continued to greatly improve thanks to more rain during early March, lessening the need for feeding expensive hay, according to weekly reports from AgriLife Extension county agents.
"Calving season is in full swing," said Missy Hodgin, AgriLife Extension agent for Clay County, east of Wichita Falls. "Cows are in decent condition. Bloat is a big concern, especially with cows and calves on wheat pasture. Some producers are reporting death loss to bloat as high as 10%."
"Dry and windy conditions the past week have farmers in the fields planting," said Pasquale Swaner, AgriLife Extension agent for Falls County, southeast of Waco. "Bloat on cattle has been reported due to all the clover growing."
"Weeds are becoming a problem this year, bloat due to overconsumption of clover is a great concern," said Steve Sturtz, AgriLife Extension agent for Tom Green County, San Angelo. "Yearling cattle were doing very well on small grains, and cows are regaining body condition where winter grasses are available."
"Overall pasture conditions continue to improve as soil moisture increases, and livestock condition has seen dramatic improvement in recent months," said Michael Haynes, AgriLife Extension agent for Caldwell County, south of Austin. "However, due to substantial forage loss from drought and overgrazing in the previous year, many pastures are seeing excessive clover growth, leading to producers having to purchase bloat preventatives. Some producers have been experiencing livestock loss due to bloat and tetany."
"Fields are still a little wet to plant; getting close though," said Travis Franke, AgriLife Extension agent for Guadalupe County, east of San Antonio. "Clover abundance in pastures is causing some problems with bloat, but pastures have been recovering nicely with recent rains."
More information on the current Texas drought and wildfire alerts can be found on the AgriLife Extension Agricultural Drought Task Force website at http://agrilife.tamu.edu/drought/.
I Am Angus airs tonight on RFD-TV
In the final episode of the season, I Am Angus will celebrate the country's rural heritage by sharing the stories of Angus ranchers and farmers — and the people who prepare their product for consumers.
The episode, which airs at 10 p.m. EST (9 p.m. CST) tonight, March 8, on RFD-TV, is titled "A Day in the Life of America." The program is produced by the American Angus Association and will show the full spectrum of people whose lives are defined by Angus cattle — from mountain ranch to Texas restaurant.
"This program marks the sixth and final show for us this winter," says Eric Grant, Association director of public relations and communications. "It's been a great journey for our team to share these stories with our audience. We're not only including segments that have never been seen before, but we'll also re-air some of our more popular segments to cap off the season."
I Am Angus focuses on the heart of the cattle business — its people, their heritage and why they've chosen to be involved in agriculture. The documentary series explores each sector of the industry and how animal agriculture meets the challenge of feeding a growing population.
I Am Angus is sponsored by the Igenity Profile for Angus. The program airs on RFD-TV, which is distributed by more than 625 cable operators. The network can be found on DirecTV channel 345 and Dish Network channel 231. Check local listings for more information.
To watch segments from past episodes, visit www.angus.org.
Editor’s Note: The articles used within this site represent a mixture of copyrights. If you would like to reprint or repost an article, you must first request permission of Angus Productions Inc. (API) by contacting the editor at 816-383-5200; 3201 Frederick Ave., Saint Joseph, MO 64506. API claims copyright to this web site as presented. We welcome educational venues and cattlemen to link to this site as a service to their audience.