Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled the new programs included in the 2014 Farm Bill to help farmers better manage risk. The new programs, Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), represent the end of direct payments by offering farmers protection when market forces cause substantial drops in crop prices and/or revenues. Producers will have through early spring …
USDA Deregulates ENLIST Crops
USDA has issued a decision to deregulate Dow AgroSciences’ Enlist™ 2,4-D and glyphosate-resistant corn and soybean traits in the United States. “Gaining approval for this important technology has been a long, hard fought battle,” said National Corn Growers Association Trade Policy and Biotechnology Action Team Chair Jim Zimmerman of Wisconsin. “It is important that farmers continue to gain access to …
USDA Offers Aid to Replant Florida Citrus
USDA is offering new financial assistance to eligible Florida citrus growers for the removal of trees afflicted with Huanglongbing (HLB), better known as citrus greening, and for replanting groves with new healthy stock. The support comes through USDA’s Tree Assistance Program. Making the announcement today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said this action is to help growers as USDA continues to …
Conservation Innovation Grants Announced
During a visit to a farm in Moline, Illinois Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the award of $15.7 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIGs) to 47 organizations that will help develop and demonstrate cutting-edge ideas to accelerate innovation in private lands conservation, funded through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Almost half of the grants announced support the agency’s …
Big Crops Getting Bigger
USDA has increased its estimate of both the corn and soybean crops this month, building on already forecast record highs. Corn production is forecast at 14.4 billion bushels, up 3 percent from both the August forecast and from 2013. Based on conditions as of September 1, yields are expected to average 171.7 bushels per acre, up 4.3 bushels from the …
USDA Announces Conservation Program Success
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Monday that $328 million in conservation funding is being invested to help landowners protect and restore key farmlands, grasslands and wetlands across the nation. The funding is provided through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which was created in the 2014 Farm Bill to protect critical wetlands and encourage producers to keep lands in farming …
USDA Predicts Record Corn and Soybean Crops
A little bit more corn and a lot more soybeans compared to last year is what USDA is forecasting in the latest report out today. U.S. soybean producers are expected to produce a record 3.82 billion bushels in 2014, up 16 percent from last year according to the Crop Production report issued today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National …
Foundation for Food and Ag Research Formed
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the creation of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, and the appointment of a 15-member board of directors. The 15 voting members of the board include a former agriculture secretary, a number of university professors, a representative from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an executive …
USDA Acreage Report Released
More soybeans and less corn planted this year, according to the USDA planted acreage report released today. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is estimating a record high 84.8 million acres of soybeans planted in the United States for 2014, up 11 percent from last year, while corn acreage planted is estimated at 91.6 million acres, down 4 percent from …
USDA Biopreferred Program Grows Biobased Market
The purpose of the USDA BioPreferred® program is to promote the increased purchase and use of biobased products, so program manager Ron Buckhalt was a popular guy at last week’s United Soybean Board Biobased Products Stakeholders Dialogue. “The biopreferred program was created by Congress to help grow the market for biobased products,” said Buckhalt. “The idea being we can use …