News Update
May 16, 2013
NCBA Statement on Failure
of Clean Water Act Amendment
Passage in the Senate
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Deputy Environmental Counsel Ashley McDonald issued the following statement on the non-passage of Amendment 868 to the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which would have prevented the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) from finalizing the Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdictional guidance document:
“Unfortunately, the Senate failed to pass an important piece of legislation, introduced by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), which would have stopped an overreaching jurisdictional guidance by the EPA and Corps which attempts to federalize all waters. That guidance is at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and could come out in final form any day.
“It is a tragedy that those who voted against this amendment refuse to recognize the devastating effect this guidance will have on farmers and ranchers across the country. If finalized, it would be the biggest federal land grab in history, requiring cattlemen to apply for permits to conduct everyday activity such as cleaning out a ditch.
“Congress, to date, has refused to clarify what constitutes a ‘water of the United States,’ despite the Supreme Court’s multiple calls to do so. Without such clarification, the Obama administration has taken great liberty in crafting guidance that through ambiguous and ill-defined terms allows EPA to claim that any water body is a ‘water of the U.S.’
“This administration has taken the phrase ‘what you can’t legislate, regulate’ to new heights. Their current interpretation of what constitutes a ‘water of the U.S.’ is not only incorrect based on Supreme Court precedent, but flies in the face of the CWA’s plain language. Although the Senate failed to address this extremely important issue, NCBA hopes that at some point Congress will start to do its job and clarify the jurisdictional limits to the CWA.”
USDA Announces Conservation Reserve Program Sign-up
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today reminded farmers and ranchers that the USDA will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up beginning May 20 and ending June 14. Vilsack also announced the restart of sign-up for continuous CRP, including the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement Initiative, the Highly Erodible Land Initiative, the Grassland Restoration Initiative, the Pollinator Habitat Initiative and other related initiatives. Sign-up for continuous CRP began May 13 and will continue through Sept. 30, 2013.
“As always, we expect strong competition to enroll acres into CRP, and we urge interested producers to maximize their environmental benefits and to make cost-effective offers,” said Vilsack. “CRP is an important program for protecting environmentally sensitive lands from erosion and sedimentation, and for ensuring the sustainability of our groundwater, lakes, rivers, ponds and streams. Through the voluntary participation of our farmers and ranchers, CRP helps us to protect our natural resources, preserve wildlife habitat and bring good-paying jobs to rural America related to hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation.”
Vilsack encouraged producers to look into CRP’s other enrollment opportunities offered on a continuous, non-competitive, sign-up basis.
CRP has a 27-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation’s natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United States. Producers enrolled in CRP plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve the quality of water, control soil erosion and develop wildlife habitat.
In return, USDA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years. Currently, 27 million acres are enrolled in CRP through 700,000 contracts on 390,000 farms throughout the United States, with enrollment in 49 states and Puerto Rico. Contracts on an estimated 3.3 million acres will expire on Sept. 30, 2013. Enrollment authority for all types of CRP, which had expired Sept. 30, 2012, was extended through 2013 by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.
To read the entire release, click here.
For more information on CRP and other FSA programs, visit a local FSA service center or www.fsa.usda.gov.
NSAC Comments On House Farm Bill Markup
The House Agriculture Committee May 14 voted a new five-year farm bill out of committee by a vote of 36-10. The bill includes a variety of major priorities of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), along with several serious setbacks for farmers, natural resource conservation and rural development.
In good news, it would restore funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, and restore and increase funding for the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program. Funding for all three programs is higher in the new House bill than in the bill reported by the Senate Agriculture Committee earlier this week.
The new House Committee bill also improves upon the Senate version by adopting new Farm to School pilot projects for school districts in the USDA Foods and the Department of Defense “Fresh” programs. Like the Senate bill, the new House bill would also direct USDA to create a new Whole Farm Diversified Risk Management insurance program for farms growing a diversity of crops and livestock. The bill includes a variety of other provisions based on the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act and the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act.
On many other scores the bill is a major disappointment. Despite its name — The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act — the bill includes no major reforms beyond the preordained elimination of direct payments. It reinvests most of the savings from direct payments back into new commodity and crop insurance subsidies. It increases the per-farm commodity subsidy limitation by 92% and leaves in place current loopholes that allow individual farms to collect unlimited payments. It places no caps whatsoever on farm-insurance subsidies.
NSAC will continue to work through the reauthorization process to strengthen the farm bill so that it further expands opportunities for family farmers to produce good food, sustain the environment, and contribute to vibrant communities.
For more information and to read the full release, click here.
House Ag Committee Concludes Markup,
NFU Encouraged by 2013 Farm Bill Momentum
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued a statement following the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture’s passage of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (2013 Farm Bill) by a 36-10 vote the evening of May 15:
“We are very pleased with the passage of the Farm Bill out of the House Agriculture Committee. This puts us one step closer to having a five-year farm bill signed into law before the approaching September 30 deadline.
“Today’s markup included several significant accomplishments that are important to our members. The language included in the commodity title that provides protections to family farmers both when disasters strike and during times of long-term price collapse is crucial. We strongly support House language providing for price protection.
“We are also happy that the Committee streamlined the conservation title, which included provisions that combined certain programs while making them more efficient.
“We are happy that the committee rejected the Goodlatte amendment that would have eliminated the stabilization portion of the Dairy Security Act. It would be irresponsible, and expensive for American taxpayers, to include the margin-protection program without the stabilization program to serve as a safety valve to prevent over-production and a resulting price collapse.”
To read the full release, click here.
Advanced Kentucky Grazing School
Coming to Western Kentucky
Forage and animal specialists with the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture will host an Advanced Kentucky Grazing School June 18 at the UK Research and Education Center in Princeton.
This is the second year for the one-day event that targets producers who have participated in at least one other UK grazing program. It is the first time the program has been offered in Western Kentucky.
During the program, participants will receive in-depth information on forage and animal topics, as well as reminders about important grazing concepts. The school begins at 8:30 a.m. CDT.
UK ag specialists will present the latest research and information on the following topics: managing profitability in grass-clover pastures, grazing alfalfa, new tall fescue varieties, advantages of grazing warm-season grasses, managing a year-round grazing system, minerals for grazing cattle, managing livestock on warm-season forages and the grazing-wedge concept. The program will also include demonstrations and hands-on activities.
Participants must preregister by June 10. The registration fee is $20.Registration forms are available on the UK Forages website at www.uky.edu/Ag/Forage/ or at local offices of the UK Cooperative Extension Service. Mail registration forms and a check payable to the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council should be sent to Kelly Kramer, 804 W.P. Garrigus Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0215.
AgriLife Extension Sets May 28 Spring Beef Cattle Meeting
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Andrews County will conduct their Spring Beef Cattle Meeting: “Focus on the Female” program from 5:45 p.m.-8:30 p.m. May 28 at the AgriLife Extension office, 851 East Broadway Street in Andrews.
“As the name implies, this program deals specifically with the health and well-being of the cow component of the beef cattle herd,” said Josh Blanek, AgriLife Extension agent in Andrews County.
“Problems with maintaining a top breeding herd as economically as possible intensify during a drought. Our goal is to offer producers options to stretch their overhead dollars as far as possible through the use of specific management and nutritional tools and strategies.”
Topics and speakers will include: Meeting Nutritional Requirements for Reproductive Efficiency During Drought: 20 Years of Forage Quality Research, Kent Mills, nutritionist, Hi-Pro Feeds Inc., Snyder; and Calving Season Management: Getting the Most From My Herd, Bruce Carpenter, AgriLife Extension livestock specialist, Fort Stockton.
A sponsored meal is included with the event, so those planning to attend should RSVP by May 24 to the AgriLife Extension office in Andrews County by calling 432-524-1421.
For more information, visit the Angus Journal Virtual Library’s calendar of upcoming meetings here.
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