News Update
September 3, 2014
TSCRA Statement on APHIS
Proposal to Allow Importation
of Beef from Argentina
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) President Pete Bonds made the following statement after the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a rule proposal in the Federal Register Friday, Aug. 29, that would allow the importation of fresh or frozen beef from Northern Argentina.
“The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association strongly opposes the APHIS rule proposal that would allow the importation of fresh or frozen beef from Northern Argentina,” said Bonds. “If this rule is implemented, it could have devastating effects on the United States’ cattle herd through the possible introduction of foot-and-mouth disease. While we support open trade markets, we must make certain these critical decisions are based on science-based standards and do not jeopardize the health and safety of the nation’s cattle herd. TSCRA urges cattle producers to submit comments in opposition to this rule.”
Instructions for filing comments are available at www.regulations.gov by typing into the search screen, APHIS-2014-0032-0001. Comments are due by Oct. 28, 2014.
Conservation Stewardship Program
Contract Renewal Deadline Approaches
Farmers and ranchers who enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) in 2010 have until Sept. 12 to re-enroll their farms for another five years by submitting a renewal application to the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).
CSP is a comprehensive working lands conservation program that provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and ranchers to actively manage and maintain existing conservation systems and to implement additional conservation activities on land in crop and livestock production. Through CSP, participants take steps to improve soil, water, air and habitat quality, and address water quantity and energy conservation issues.
CSP rewards advanced conservation across an entire farming operation and supports the continual improvement of such conservation systems through the contract renewal process. In taking the renewal option, producers agree to continue to integrate conservation activities across their entire operation, as well as undertake additional conservation measures. CSP contracts last for five years, at which time they are eligible for renewal. This is the first wave of contract renewals since the program was launched in 2009. There are approximately 20,000 farmers and ranchers with CSP contracts that will expire this year, totaling more than 20 million acres that can be re-enrolled to preserve and expand upon critical environmental benefits.
It is optional to renew an expiring contract, and participants who do not re-enroll can always re-apply and compete for funding in future annual CSP signups. The process for renewing is noncompetitive and much simpler than reapplying through the competitive process later, and participants will avoid any gaps in their CSP payments that would otherwise occur.
NRCS mailed letters to all CSP participants with contracts that are set to expire this year. Eligible contract holders must sign up for the renewal option by Sept. 12. Following this initial renewal period, eligibility determinations and obligations will be completed in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 (Oct.-Dec. 2014).
Renewal contracts will go into effect Jan. 1, 2015. For more information, contact your local NRCS office.
For the full version of this release, click here.
Livestock Producers Urged to Enroll in
Disaster Assistance Program by Oct. 1
The USDA is encouraging producers who have suffered eligible disaster-related losses to secure assistance by Sept. 30, 2014, as congressionally mandated payment reductions will take place for producers who have not acted before that date. Livestock producers who have experienced grazing losses since October 2011 and may be eligible for benefits but have not yet contacted their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office should do so as soon as possible.
The Budget Control Act passed by Congress in 2011 requires USDA to implement reductions of 7.3% to the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, 2014. However, producers seeking LFP support, who have scheduled appointments with their local FSA office before Oct. 1, even if the appointment occurs after Oct. 1, will not see reductions in the amount of disaster relief they receive.
USDA is encouraging producers to register, request an appointment or begin an LFP application with their county FSA office before Oct. 1, 2014, to lock in the current 0% sequestration rate. As an additional aid to qualified producers applying for LFP, the FSA has developed an online registration that enables farmers and ranchers to put their names on an electronic list before the deadline to avoid reductions in their disaster assistance. This is an alternative to visiting or contacting the county office. To place a name on the LFP list online, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/disaster-register.
Producers who already contacted the county office and have an appointment scheduled need do nothing more.
“In just four months since disaster assistance enrollments began, we’ve processed 240,000 applications to help farmers and ranchers who suffered losses,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Eligible producers who have not yet contacted their local FSA office should stop by or call their local FSA office, or sign up online before Oct. 1, when congressionally mandated payment reductions take effect. This will ensure they receive as much financial assistance as possible.”
The Livestock Indemnity Program, the Tree Assistance Program and the Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program Frost Freeze payments will also be cut by 7.3% on Oct. 1, 2014. Unlike the LFP, applications for these programs must be fully completed by Sept. 30. FSA offices will prioritize these applications, but as the full application process can take several days or more to complete, producers are encouraged to begin the application process as soon as possible.
For more information, please view the full release here.
NFU Statement on Rail Delays in Dakotas
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson called the ongoing rail delays in the upper Midwest ‘staggering’ and ‘unacceptable’ and urged the federal government to press “the local railway monopoly” for better results, in a recent Fargo Forum Op-ed.
“If the federal government, under the management of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), doesn’t start producing some impressive results from the local railway monopoly 3Z4 BNSF Railway (BNSF) and Canadian Pacific (CP) 3Z4 the area’s farmers, farm families and the rural economies they fuel are going to be feeling a whole lot of hurt,” Johnson points out.
He notes that in North Dakota, where shipping by rail is the only option for many, four different grain elevators indicate that their oldest orders are from early March — that’s four months behind — and shuttle orders are up to 2,000 cars behind. In South Dakota, farmers will soon be forced to pile wheat on the ground because elevators can’t accept the increased liability. At one particular elevator, 3 million of the yearly 15 million bushels of grain will not move before this year’s harvest comes in.
“The ethanol industry, with up to 61% of ethanol being transported in that fashion, has also been frozen out of rail shipping. Earlier this year, ethanol prices dramatically increased due to lack of supply brought on by the shipping delays. Failure to bring ethanol to market will hurt consumers because of higher gasoline prices and will work against our efforts to offset imports of foreign oil. Ethanol will only fuel the nation if it can get to the nation’s consumers.
“For most of the issues farmers face, they have tools in their belt that can help them deal with an impending disaster. For many weather and market related issues, they have crop insurance. For soil erosion, they can vary their tilling practices and plant cover crops. For train issues, the only place to turn is the STB. Clearly, someone there needs to wake up at the switch and get things back in order because innocent farmers are paying the price.”
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