Thursday October 27 Ag News

Wetland Compliance Needed When Repairing Flood Damaged Land

With the Missouri River floodwaters receded, many landowners and agricultural producers have started work to repair the land which was affected by this summer’s flood.  Some of these producers may be participating in the Farm Service Agency’s Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) for assistance while other producers are working independently to get lands rehabilitated for planting next spring.  Either way, producers doing such repair work need to keep in mind conservation compliance requirements, including wetland compliance, as they move forward.

“It’s important for landowners and producers who are planning or completing rehabilitation work to evaluate whether their plan includes only taking land back to pre-flood conditions, or if additional work is going to be done,” said Thurston County Farm Service Agency Executive Director Josie Waterbury.  For example, in some cases, it may be very easy for a contractor to take soil deposits from the flood in one part of a field to fill in a wet area which existed before the flood in a different part of the field, and this may or may not be acceptable under wetland compliance rules.  Waterbury emphasized that anybody doing rehabilitation work should contact their local Farm Service Agency office.

“Producers can discuss their repair plans with their local FSA office and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to determine if there are any conservation compliance concerns moving forward,” Waterbury said.  Meeting conservation compliance requirements is important for maintaining FSA program benefit eligibility. “By visiting with our office, we can document the producers’ repair plans and hopefully avoid any conservation compliance issues related to flood damage repair projects in the future,” Waterbury noted. 



$41,752 Grant to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

EPA Region 7 has awarded the University of Nebraska at Lincoln an environmental education grant totaling $41,752. This is one of six grants being awarded to schools, universities and organizations in the Agency’s four-state region to fund the development of new projects. The execution of these environmental education projects will further EPA’s commitment to protecting human health and the environment.

“Educating our communities on environmental issues is crucial to creating a safe and healthy environment for our children to learn and grow,” said Karl Brooks, regional administrator. “The diversity of the proposals selected shows the commitment of the people of Region 7 to producing and sustaining a healthy environment.”

This project will implement a 10-week training course for 50 volunteers. Upon completion of the course and 30 hours of community service, volunteers will become certified Climate Masters. These Climate Masters will commit to take actions against climate change. Those involved with this venture will assist the community in becoming more knowledgeable and in making informed decisions to address climate change issues, which is expected to result in a more sustainable environment.

The Environmental Education Grant program provides seed money for new projects and assistance to advance existing projects. The projects increase public awareness of environmental issues and provide the skills to take responsible actions to protect the environment.



USDA Announces Disaster Assistance Sign up for 2010 Crop Losses

Thurston County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Josie Waterbury today announced that the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) program enrollment for 2010 crop year losses begins November 14, 2011.

“Producers across the state experienced several natural disasters during the 2010 crop year that caused hardship and financial losses to many agricultural operations,” said Waterbury.  “The SURE program provides assistance to producers when disaster strikes, so I strongly encourage producers with 2010 crop losses to contact the Thurston County FSA office to learn more about the program," she said.

To qualify for a SURE payment, the producer's operation must be located in a county that was declared a disaster for 2010 (or be contiguous to a declared county) and have at least a 10 percent production loss that affects one crop of economic significance.  Thurston County was contiguous to a disaster declared county in 2010.  Producers with agricultural operations located outside a disaster county are eligible for SURE benefits if they had a production loss greater or equal to 50 percent of the normal production on the farm. 

To meet program eligibility requirements, producers must have obtained a policy or plan of insurance for all insurable crops through the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and obtained Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage on non-insurable crops, if available, from FSA.  Eligible farmers and ranchers who meet the definition of a socially disadvantaged, limited resource, or beginning farmer or rancher do not have to meet this requirement.  Forage crops intended for grazing are not eligible for SURE benefits.



Weekly ethanol production data for the week ending 10/21/2011

According to EIA data, ethanol production averaged 909,000 barrels per day (b/d) – or 38.178 million gallons daily.  That is up 1,000 b/d from the previous week.  The 4-week average for ethanol production stood at 885,000 b/d for an annualized rate of 13.57 billion gallons.

Stocks of ethanol stood at 17.3 million barrels.

Gasoline demand for the week averaged 357 million gallons daily.  Expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production was 10.69%.

On the co-products side, ethanol producers were using 13.783 million bushels of corn to produce ethanol and 102,587 metric tons of livestock feed, 90,580 metric tons of which were distillers grains.  The rest is comprised of corn gluten feed and corn gluten meal.  Additionally, ethanol producers were providing 3.94 million pounds of corn oil daily. 



Applications Due for PQA Plus Advisor Certification

The final Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus Advisor Certification session in 2011 offered by the Iowa Pork Industry Center (IPIC) will be held Nov. 15, and IPIC Associate Director James McKean urged people to submit their applications before the Nov. 8 deadline.

"If you're interested in attending, please check the qualification requirements and submit your application soon," McKean said. "There is a limit on the number of attendees and not everyone is guaranteed a spot."

To become certified, attendance at the day-long training session and passing an exam given at the conclusion of the session are required.

To be eligible to submit an application, people must meet the following qualifications:
-- Be a veterinarian, extension specialist or agriculture educator (defined for this program as a person who spends full time in adult education or at least half time in production training), and
-- have a D.V.M. or B.S. in animal science or an equivalent combination of education and swine production experience as determined by the PQA Plus trainer reviewing the application, and
-- have two years of recent documentable swine production experience.

Those who qualify and are interested in the program should download, complete and submit the two-page application form available online at www.ipic.iastate.edu/PQAPapp111511.docx. The form also is available by fax by calling Sunny Hsu at IPIC at 515-294-4103. If interested in attending, submit the application as soon as possible. Applications are due on Nov. 8, with $75 due from approved applicants by the certification session on Nov. 15.



American Ethanol Raises Profile at Martinsville

The American Ethanol coalition announced today that the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet race car will feature a special-edition American Ethanol paint scheme at this weekend's Martinsville Speedway NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. This car will be driven by American Ethanol spokesman and recent Talladega race winner, Clint Bowyer. Millions of TV viewers will be seeing the American Ethanol brand, as the sporty black, silver and green paint design will be on-track all weekend and will be accompanied with a broadcast in-car camera on Sunday.

Through its partnership with NASCAR, which is using Sunoco Green E15 racing fuel this season, American Ethanol is promoting the nation's homegrown, clean-burning alternative fuel to millions of brand-loyal NASCAR racing fans. NASCAR has made a seamless transition to the new fuel by developing and implementing flawless distribution at the track, where many racing teams report an increase in horsepower.

In fact, in a detailed 'white paper' issued on September 21, NASCAR announced it has accumulated more than a million miles of driving in 2011 on America's toughest proving grounds: the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™, NASCAR Nationwide Series™ and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™. With more than 1.3 million miles accumulated in practice, qualifying and racing laps in NASCAR racing vehicles - all without incident since the racing season began in February with the Daytona 500 - the report demonstrates the performance of mid-level ethanol blends. You can access this report here.

"The transition to E15 has been seamless and overwhelmingly positive for myself and my team, and I am honored to have American Ethanol on the No. 33 Chevrolet this weekend," said Bowyer. "I support American farmers as they strive to develop energy independence for our country and I look forward to representing American Ethanol both on and off the track this weekend at Martinsville."

"We are extremely excited that Bowyer's No. 33 car will prominently feature American Ethanol in this week's race," said National Corn Growers Association NASCAR Advisory Committee Chair Martin Barbre. "Of course, we again congratulate our spokesman on his major victory last week. Now, tens of millions of fans across the country will be keyed into Clint as he again shows the incredible performance of E15 as it fuels him back into victory lane again."

"This branded race car design raises American Ethanol's profile in a powerful way, especially coming off Clint Bowyer's win last week in Talladega," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. "There's no sport more American than NASCAR, and no fuel more American than ethanol. American Ethanol's partnership with NASCAR shows fans across the country that ethanol is a safe and viable choice for their cars, and that it creates jobs in the U.S., decreases our reliance on foreign oil and improves our environment."

The Martinsville Speedway Sprint Cup Series race will be on ESPN beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET.