News Update
March 31, 2015
Complete a Survey for K-State Research
The Beef Cattle Institute and the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State University are seeking cattle producers to complete a survey about information sources they use to learn about strategies they can use to control E. coli contamination on their operation. Completing the survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes. Your responses will be confidential and identifying information about you (such as your name, email address, etc.) will not be collected. To participate in the survey, follow this link.
New Leaders Elected at 138th Cattle Raisers Convention
The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) elected new members to their board of directors at the 138th Cattle Raisers Convention, which took place March 27-29. Cattle Raisers set a new record at their Convention with more than 3,700 ranchers and friends in attendance.
New directors include Deborah Clark, Henrietta, Texas; Lynn Cowden, Skellytown, Texas; Ford Drummond, Pawhuska, Okla.; Dan Gattis, Georgetown, Texas; Claude Koontz, San Antonio, Texas; Frank Price, Sterling City, Texas; and Robert J. Underbrink, Houston, Texas.
Jay Evans, Austin, Texas; Steve Sikes, Fort Worth, Texas; and Dennis Webb, Barnhart, Texas, were elected as executive committee members.
New TSCRA honorary directors include Emry Birdwell, Henrietta, Texas; Richard Gates, Marfa, Texas; Alan Lewis, Olney, Texas; Frank H. Lewis Jr., Bay City, Texas; John L. Sullivan, Galveston, Texas; and Rick Tate, Marfa, Texas.
All members with honorary titles serve as ex officio members of the board.
TSCRA also re-elected their officers, President Pete Bonds, Saginaw, Texas; First Vice President, Richard Thorpe, Winters, Texas; Second Vice President Robert McKnight, Fort Davis, Texas; and Executive Vice President/CEO Eldon White, Fort Worth, Texas.
“This year’s Convention was a huge success with a record breaking number of cattlemen, cattlewomen and friends in attendance,” said Bonds. “There were many informative speaker sessions and great entertainment options for those who visited. I am also very excited about the new leaders who were elected to the TSCRA board of directors. These individuals possess a wealth of knowledge on the cattle industry and I look forward to working with them in their new capacity.”
Farm Credit Leaders Identify Commodity Prices as the Greatest Challenge Facing Ag Producers
Commodity prices are the greatest challenge facing agricultural producers in 2015, according to a poll of Farm Credit directors from America’s heartland.
More than 61% of the directors — from the boards of 17 Farm Credit lenders in 15 states and of AgriBank, their St. Paul-based funding bank — said commodity prices are the greatest challenge facing ag producers this year. The directors, most of whom are also farmers or ranchers, indicated the next biggest challenges are input costs, over 22%, Mother Nature, more than 7%, and Farm Bill implications, nearly 6%. Land rents and interest rates were each cited by less than 3% of the respondents.
“Prices for corn and other key commodities produced in our region are down dramatically from recent highs to more normal levels,” said Doug Felton, chair of the AgriBank board and a seed and livestock farmer based in Northfield, Minn. “Lower prices will have a direct impact on the profitability of crop producers. The good news is many crop producers are in a strong financial position to weather this turn in the ag cycle. The livestock industry is expected to continue to benefit from lower feed costs.”
AgriBank conducted the poll among directors attending the 2015 AgriBank Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla. The 17 affiliated Farm Credit Associations affiliated with AgriBank provide agricultural loans in a 15-state area stretching from Wyoming to Ohio and Minnesota to Arkansas. Farm Credit is a top source of loans for agriculture and rural borrowers in these states. Eighty-five directors participated in the poll.
“What is the greatest challenge facing agricultural producers in 2015?”
| Commodity prices | 61.2% |
| Input costs | 22.3% |
| Mother Nature | 7.1% |
| Farm Bill implications | 5.9% |
| Land rents | 2.3% |
| Interest rates | 1.2% |
| Source AgriBank Poll of directors of the Bank and its 17 affiliated Farm Credit Associations, March 10, 2015 |
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For more information, please view the full release here.
USDA to Provide $332 Million to Protect and Restore Agricultural Working Lands, Grasslands and Wetlands
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced March 31 that USDA is making available $332 million in financial and technical assistance through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will accept ACEP applications to help productive farm and ranch lands remain in agriculture and to protect the nation’s critical wetlands and grasslands, home to diverse wildlife and plant species.
“USDA helps farmers, ranchers, private forest landowners and partners to achieve their conservation goals using our technical expertise, Farm Bill funding and sound conservation planning,” Vilsack said. “Conservation easements are an important tool to help these landowners and partners voluntarily provide long-term protection of our nation’s farmland, ranchland, wetlands and grasslands for future generations.”
The 2014 Farm Bill consolidated three previous conservation easement programs into ACEP to make it easier for diverse agricultural landowners to fully benefit from conservation initiatives. NRCS easement programs have been a critical tool in recent years for advancing landscape-scale private lands conservation. In FY 2014, NRCS used $328 million in ACEP funding to enroll an estimated 145,000 acres of farmland, grassland and wetlands through 485 new easements.
In Florida, NRCS used ACEP funds to enroll an additional 6,700 acres in the Northern Everglades Watershed, supporting the restoration and protection of habitat for a variety of listed species, including the Wood Stork, Crested caracara and Eastern Indigo Snake. The Nebraska Land Trust plans to use ACEP to enroll more than 1,400 acres of native grazing lands that also include grasslands and woodlands that provide critical habitat for Nebraska’s bighorn sheep and elk.
ACEP’s agricultural land easements not only protect the long-term viability of the nation’s food supply by preventing conversion of productive working lands to non-agricultural uses, but they also support environmental quality, historic preservation, wildlife habitat and protection of open space. American Indian tribes, state and local governments and non-governmental organizations that have farmland or grassland protection programs are eligible to partner with NRCS to purchase conservation easements. A key change under the new agricultural land easement component is the new “grasslands of special environmental significance” that will protect high-quality grasslands that are under threat of conversion to cropping, urban development and other non-grazing uses.
ACEP applications may be submitted at any time to NRCS; however, applications for the current funding round must be submitted on or before May 15.
To learn about ACEP and other technical and financial assistance available through NRCS conservation programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or your local USDA Service Center.
For more information, please view the full release here.
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