- Farm Market iD released its annual farmer, crop and farmland database update on June 28, 2019, providing powerful insights from the 2018 crop year. Insights gathered from the 2018 crop year data include: 2,867,449 active farmers (includes both owners and operators); 323,552,517 planted acres; average age is 63.1 years old; average Gross Farm Income is $168,368; 64.3 percent have a phone number; 49.9 percent have an email address. For companies who want to use this data to gain more industry insights, visit http://farmmarketid.com/.
- Excessive moisture and flooding in 2019 have prevented or delayed planting on many farms across most of the country. Many fields that are saturated for a long time face a loss of soil organisms. Cover crop roots re-establish soil health and create pathways for air and water to move through the soil. USDA provides technical and financial assistance to help farmers plant cover crops. Learn more about prevented planting coverage. The 2018 Farm Bill mandated changes to the treatment of cover crops for USDA programs, which add more flexibility to when cover crops must be terminated while remaining eligible for crop insurance. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) developed new guidelines and policy provisions to enact these changes, which will be available beginning with the 2020 crop year.
- Register here for the Soil Health Institute annual meeting in Sacramento, Calif. This year’s theme is Soil Health: A Global Imperative.
- The Soil Health Partnership Executive Director, Dr. Shefali Mehta testified at a House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry hearing in support of investment in soil health practices. The SHP, a program of the National Corn Growers Association, is a farmer-led effort that has built a network of over 220 farmers in 15 states and over 100 partner organizations at the federal, state and county levels over the past five years. Read Dr. Mehta’s full testimony.
