7. Deal
reached on Senate version of farm bill
Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 3:30 PM
From Brownfield Ag News for America
http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=AFA85276-9244-4E9C-8769408B2433D987
by Peter Shinn
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin of Iowa said Wednesday he had
reached a deal with Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad of North Dakota and
ranking Agriculture Committee Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia on the
Senate version of the farm bill. That means the Senate Ag Committee will
mark-up its version of the farm bill next week.
According to Harkin, highlights of the measure include an extra $4.2 billion
for nutrition, an additional $1.3 billion for cellulosic ethanol research and
development, and a $4 billion increase in conservation generally plus $1.2
billion for the Conservation Stewardship Program, currently known as the
Conservation Security Program (CSP). That additional funding, Harkin said,
would allow him to meet his previously stated goal of getting 80 million acres
enrolled in CSP by the end of the next farm bill.
The Senate farm bill will also include an optional revenue-based
counter-cyclical program, known as Average Crop Revenue (ACR), an approach
similar to one advocated by the National Corn Growers Association. And a
clearly delighted Harkin said the Congressional Budget Office had determined
including ACR actually saved between $3-3.5 billion over the life of the next
farm bill. Those additional savings, said Harkin, allowed everyone to get
almost everything they wanted in the next farm bill.
"Well, with that savings, then we were able to then provide no cuts in
direct payments, plus use the money for energy and conservation and some other
things," Harkin explained. "So it really helped us out a great
deal."
Harkin added that that he sees a real advantage in how the Senate plans to pay
for its version of the farm bill. Because the approach is agreeable to
Republicans, Harkin said he'll have the leverage when the farm bill reaches a
House-Senate conference committee.
"Our bill is funded with real money - the House bill is not," Harkin
asserted. "And so the House bill, they're going to have come a lot our way
because, simply, we have the money!"
Meanwhile, the World Trade Organization (WTO) this week ruled the U.S.
hadn’t done enough to modify the U.S. cotton program after losing a WTO
case in 2005 brought by Brazil. Harkin suggested, while the Senate version of
the next farm bill wouldn't directly address the WTO ruling, the combination of
policies advanced by the next farm bill should help ameliorate those WTO-related
issues.
"Hopefully in the next few years, areas of the country that are planting
cotton will begin to shift their crops and begin to grow other things,"
said Harkin. "As I've often said, you know, farm bills don't take sharp
turns, but we do try to bend the rails a little bit."
8. New
Voices Contest Seeks Innovative Vision for Sustainable Agriculture
Win free trip to SARE's
20th Anniversary New American Farm Conference
SARE is proud to announce
its New Voices contest, which will give "New Voices" in agriculture
the opportunity to share their ideas with the leaders of the sustainable
agriculture community at SARE's 20th Anniversary New American Farm Conference
to be held March 25-27, 2008 in Kansas City, Missouri. Visit http://www.sare.org/2008Conference/newvoices.htm
for official rules and submission guidelines. Deadline is December 7, 2007
* How can we advance
sustainable practices and innovations to the whole of American agriculture?
* What if you had just
five minutes to share your vision with the leaders of the sustainable
agriculture community?
SARE seeks written,
audio, and/or video submissions that articulate emerging perspectives and
illustrate an inspirational and pioneering vision for the advancement of
sustainable agriculture over the next 20 years. The winning entry will be
presented at the closing plenary session of the conference. Top finalists will
also be invited to participate in leadership sessions at the conference at SARE's
expense.
We particularly encourage
submissions from:
* farmers or ranchers
* emerging leaders in the
field of advocacy, education or research
* beginning farmers and
ranchers
* students
* minorities and other
under-represented audiences
Enter SARE's New Voices
Contest today!
9. Seeking
farms to demonstrate habitats for beneficial insects.
Hello,
I am working on a brochure about providing habitat features for pest
management. Habitat features include insectary strips, beetle banks,
native plantings, cover crops, etc. I am now scouring the
Eastern half of the country for growers who utilize some of the pest management
practices, who farm at least 50 acres, and who are willing to provide a short
quote (about 30 words) we could consider using in the brochure. Do you
all know -- or are you -- a well-spoken grower who has put these habitat
practices in the ground?
Ideally, the final quote we choose will address some mix of the
following: a specific crop, a specific practice, a moment of insight, and
a specific benefit to the grower. I wrote four examples to give folks a sense
of what I'm looking for (see below). In all likelihood, whatever quote we
get we will need to edit for space and content. So, if 30 words is too
short, we can take a longer quote and edit it down. Then we would get it
back to the grower for final approval.
All submissions may be sent to me, along with information about the farm
(location, size, crops grown, etc.) and the practices that have been put in the
ground (ideally, including the area of the habitat features).
Thanks so much for any help or connections you can provide.
Sincerely,
Mace Vaughan
Examples
of quotes on the value of conservation biological control
(approximately 30 words)
“Planting strips of (native) flowers to help feed good bugs has changed
the way we see insects on the farm. We recognize more and more beneficial
insects and we use pesticides less and less.”
“When managing pests in (crop type), experience has taught us the value
of habitat on our farm. We maintain more flowers and use fewer pesticides, and
save money at the same time.”
“We use many practices-such as flower-rich hedgerows, insectary strips
and cover crops-to support the good bugs on our farm so that they in turn feed
upon our (crop type) pests and reduce our need for pesticides.”
"Until we started looking for the beneficial insects visiting the
insectary plantings around our farm, we had no idea there was such a variety
and that they were providing such a service. We are using fewer pesticides now
than at any other time in our operation."10
Oct 16, 2007 10:31 AM, By
Elton Robinson
Farm Press Editorial Staff Delta Farm Press
online http://deltafarmpress.com/news/071016-nematodes-sample/
It’s fall, and the best time of the year to focus on a pest that may very
well be the next limiting factor for cotton yields. The pest is — drum
roll, please — the nematode.
The pest “has been
‘discovered’ by everyone the last few years,” says Arkansas
Extension plant pathologist Terry Kirkpatrick. “Of course, it’s
been here all along. But in the past, we had to deal with weevils taking the crop,
and the morningglories covering it up. It was hard to worry too much about a
nematode. It took the science and technology to solve other problems, and now
we’ve bumped the next ceiling.” The pests can slow development of
the cotton plant and cause significant yield reductions. With root knot
nematode damage, galls form on roots. Severely infected plants may have damaged
taproots and lateral roots. Nematode-caused root problems grow progressively
worse through the season. Water absorption is significantly decreased and
translocation of nutrients is inefficient. If you suspect that damage may be
due to nematodes, Step 1 is to take nematode samples to figure out if the pest is
present, and which pest is out there — root knot, reniform, or both.
“Root
knot has always been the major problem in the upper Mid-South and it has been
holding steady. Reniform nematode is a newcomer and it seems to keep moving
north and spreading out,” Kirkpatrick said. “It is by far the
greatest problem in Louisiana and Mississippi. We’ve found reniform as
far north as the Missouri Bootheel. Wherever we grow cotton, we’re going
to wind up with reniform sooner or later.”
The best
time to sample for nematodes is late summer or early fall, when populations are
the highest, according to Kirkpatrick. “Obviously, weather is a factor.
If it’s dry and you can’t get a soil probe in the ground,
you’re not going to do a good job sampling. So when you have moisture out
there, get out there and get it done.
“Also,
if you wait until the soil temperature drops, and you’ve been two to
three months without live cotton roots in the soil, you won’t have a good
indication of what was there because the detectable population has
declined.”
Site-specific
control of root knot nematode shows good potential in the Mid-South because the
pest is hardly ever uniformly distributed in a field, rather it resides in hot
spots. Yield in these hot spots can be reduced by 25 percent to 30 percent,
while 100 feet away, there are no yield-reducing populations.
Reniform
nematodes are usually more uniformly distributed throughout a field, even
though there will be some areas were populations are extremely high and other
areas where they are not.
Kirkpatrick
pointed to research in Louisiana which has demonstrated that in certain soil
types, no matter how high the reniform nematode population is, there is no
response by the crop to putting out soil fumigation as a control measure.
“That’s telling us that there are certain soil types where reniform
nematodes are not going to be an economic problem whether the populations are
high or low.”
But
whether the correlation is root knot nematodes and hot spots or reniform and
soil type, “the information begs to be harnessed and modeled as a site
specific system, where a farmer can focus his expenditure for nematicide just
in the zones in a field where the nematodes are the yield limiting factor.
“Our
science needs to catch up. We can deliver any amount of nematicide that we want
to any point in the field. But we don’t quite know what to hang our
recommendation on. Is it soil type? Is it population density, last year’s
yield? There are things we still need to work out.”
Deciding
where to pull samples is an area where more research is needed as well,
according to Kirkpatrick. “One thing we’re looking at is electrical
conductivity mapping carts to draw a soil EC map of each field. This gives you
an indication of where natural changes in soil type occur in the field.
We’re looking at using those maps as a guide for deciding where to take
samples.
“If
that level of sophistication is not available, and you know where the
differences in soil type are, sample them separately. If not, break the field
into the smallest increments that you can practically sample.”
Nematodes
can be found very deep in the soil profile, “but the largest populations
will be concentrated where the cotton roots were. So make sure you’re
into the root zone.”
After you
identify the type of nematode in a field, “match your crop to the
nematode you’re dealing with,” Kirkpatrick said. “If you have
a root knot problem in your cotton and you grow corn, you’re going to
have a worse root knot problem when you come back into cotton.
“If
you have a reniform problem in your cotton, you help tremendously by going to
corn for a year. There are some reniform- and root knot-resistant varieties
that will help. There is not much land that lends itself well to a cotton/rice
rotation, but it would be a heck of a rotation if you could do it.
“If
it’s economically attractive to rotate, that’s my recommendation.
Get on a program where you can keep the nematodes at a low enough level where
they’re not going to be a factor in the years when you’re going to
grow cotton.
Unfortunately,
there is a lot more land that has a bad problem and needs to be in cotton than
is going to be rotated in any given year. That is going to have to be dealt
with with a nematicide.”
Kirkpatrick
noted that while root knot nematode is still far and away the more widespread
pest, reniform nematodes are increasing in Arkansas fields. “In the late
1980s, a few Arkansas fields in Monroe, Jefferson and Lonoke counties had
reniform nematode populations. Last year, based on thousands of nematode
samples taken, there are now 11 counties in the state with reniform and they
run from Mississippi County to Chicot County. They are on the move.”
11. Upcoming events
Organic Beekeeping at the Pfeiffer Center
Session
November 9, 2007 - November 10, 2007
Learn about the lives of honeybees, the current plight of honeybee colonies,
and the intrinsic value of nurturing these amazing creatures. Attendees will
learn what they can do to help the threatened honeybee population.
Location: Chestnut Ridge, New York
Scope: National
Website: [log in to unmask]" target="_blank">[log in to unmask]
November 29, 2007
Tri-State Locally Grown Conference
This conference is designed for farmers, consumers, chefs, retailers, educators
and others who are interested in building and supporting a sustainable local
food system. Experts from Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and beyond will share their
research and experiences in local food system work.
Displ...
Location: Quincy, Illinois
Scope: Statewide
Website: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/adamsbrown/downloads/8730.pdf
Website 2: https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/?RegistrationID=1092
January 24, 2008 -
January 27, 2008
The 27th Annual Guelph Organic Conference
The 27th Annual Guelph Organic Conference
Title: "Building Sustainable Organic Business" - January 24-27, 2008
- Guelph University Centre
Highlighting - 'The Business of Organics' which shows successful Canadian
organic businesses and co-ops striving for TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE: economic,
social...
Location: Guelph, Canada
Scope: International
Website: http://www.guelphorganicconf.ca/
Michigan
Family Farm Conference-New Times, New Opportunities
Jan 19, 2008 Battle
Creek, MI at Lakeview High School
Keynote is David Kline,
author of “Great Possessions: An Amish farmers journal.” Visit www.miffs.org
for more information
NORTHERN MICHIGAN SMALL FARM
CONFERENCE
The 8th annual Northern Michigan Small Farm
conference will be Saturday, January 26, 2008 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Grayling
High School in Grayling. Cost to attend is $40 for the first person from
each operation and $25 for each additional participant. Registration
deadline is January 19. Late and walk-in registrations will be charged an
additional $5 per person. For more information, or to register, call the
Antrim County MSU Extension office at 231-533-8818 or visit online at www.antrimcounty.org.
FARM IT FORWARD WORKSHOPS
Farmers looking to
transition the family farm to the next generation should plan on attending one
of the Farm It Forward Workshops to be held on December 7-8 and January 11-12
in Birch Run. For more information contact Dennis Stein at 989-672-3570.
12. . Do
food miles make a difference to global warming?
Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:50am
EDT
powered by Sphere
By Deborah Zabarenko,
Environment Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
The U.S. local food movement -- which used to be elite, expensive and mostly
coastal -- has gone mainstream, with a boost from environmentalists who reckon
that eating what grows nearby cuts down on global warming.
But do food miles -- the
distance edibles travel from farm to plate -- give an accurate gauge of
environmental impact, especially where greenhouse gas emissions are concerned?
"Food-miles are a
great metaphor for looking at the localness of food, the contrast between local
and global food, a way people can get an idea of where their food is coming
from," said Rich Pirog, associate director of the Leopold Center for
Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.
"They are not a
reliable indicator of environmental impact," Pirog said in a telephone
interview. "What one would want to do is look at your carbon footprint
across a whole food supply chain."
The problem with
food-miles is that they don't take into account the mode of transport, methods
of production or the way things are packaged, and all of these have their own
distinct impact on emissions of carbon dioxide, a climate-warming gas.
END Hope you have a great weekend!!