A program that is being strongly emphasized by USDA at this time is that of Urban Agriculture. In a nutshell, Urban Agriculture is the process of taking many of the procedures that have been so successful in Agriculture in the rural areas, in terms of crop and food production, and applying them so that they will also be effective in large city areas, realizing that there is often not as much available land for production in the Urban areas.
At the present time, USDA has identified 17 large cities in the United States, and designated them as Urban Ag Pilot Centers, and St. Louis has been identified as one of those cities. By being an official Pilot Center, St. Louis will receive many resources from the federal government to help producers in that area in raising crops and vegetables, and in becoming more active in production Agriculture. FSA and NRCS are working together, and are preparing to open an Urban Ag Center in the downtown St. Louis area. The Center will be staffed by both FSA and NRCS personnel, and they will provide information and services to St Louis area producers, as well as travel around the St. Louis area and to other large cities around the state in providing information and resources to help promote Urban Agriculture. In addition, an Urban Ag Committee has been elected by producers in the St. Louis area, and they will serve as the governing board for the St. Louis project.
Although we are just now opening an Urban Ag Center in St Louis, many urban producers there and around the state have been very creative, and are already producing crops and vegetables in an urban environment. Some examples of what is happening around the state include Community Gardens, where many people in a city are growing vegetables in a central location. We have vegetable gardens on flat rooftops and on vacant lots. We also see warehouse production, where folks stack rows of crops on top of each other in a large building, hydroponic farming, and production in commercial type metal containers, where environmental conditions are controlled.
Although St. Louis has been designated as an Urban Ag Pilot City, we have other large cities in Missouri such as, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, St. Joseph, Cape Girardeau, Jefferson City, Joplin, Lees Summit, and possibly others, that are also considered as Urban Ag cities. We expect the staff in our Urban Ag Center to also reach out to producers in these cities, to assure that they have as many resources as possible to help them be successful in their urban setting. We definitely want Urban Ag to have a statewide focus in Missouri.
I had the chance to discuss Urban Agriculture with Kate Gerlemann, District Director,
CLICK HERE to view the video.
Joe Aull
State Executive Director
|
New Grant Program Will Spur Competition and Help US Farmers Address Rising Costs
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the Biden-Harris Administration is making $500 million in grants available to increase American-made fertilizer production to spur competition and combat price hikes on U.S. farmers caused by the war in Ukraine.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Fertilizer Production Expansion Program is part of a whole-of-government effort to promote competition in agricultural markets. The funds are being made available through the Commodity Credit Corporation.
Eligible entities are for‐profit businesses and corporations, nonprofit entities, Tribes and Tribal organizations, producer‐owned cooperatives and corporations, certified benefit corporations, and state or local governments. Private entities must be independently owned and operated to apply.
The Department will begin accepting applications in the coming days via www.grants.gov. Notably, there will be two opportunities for submission.
Learn more.
This is likely no surprise to you, but drought persists across the western U.S. and is intensifying in some areas. No geographic area is immune to the potential of drought at any given time. The U.S. Drought Monitor provides a weekly drought assessment, and it plays an important role in USDA programs that help farmers and ranchers recover from drought.
Fact #1 - Numerous agencies use the Drought Monitor to inform drought-related decisions.
The map identifies areas of drought and labels them by intensity on a weekly basis. It categorizes the entire country as being in one of six levels of drought. The first two, None and Abnormally Dry (D0), are not considered to be drought. The next four describe increasing levels of drought: Moderate (D1), Severe (D2), Extreme (D3) and Exceptional (D4).
While many entities consult the Drought Monitor for drought information, drought declarations are made by federal, state and local agencies that may or may not use the Drought Monitor to inform their decisions. Some of the ways USDA uses it to determine a producer’s eligibility for certain drought assistance programs, like the Livestock Forage Disaster Program and Emergency Haying or Grazing on Conservation Reserve Program acres and to “fast-track” Secretarial drought disaster designations.
Fact #2 - U.S. Drought Monitor is made with more than precipitation data.
When you think about drought, you probably think about water, or the lack of it. Precipitation plays a major role in the creation of the Drought Monitor, but the map’s author considers numerous indicators, including drought impacts and local insight from over 450 expert observers around the country. Authors use several dozen indicators to assess drought, including precipitation, streamflow, reservoir levels, temperature and evaporative demand, soil moisture and vegetation health. Because the drought monitor depicts both short and long‐term drought conditions, the authors must look at data for multiple timeframes. The final map produced each week represents a summary of the story being told by all the pieces of data. To help tell that story, authors don’t just look at data. They converse over the course of the map-making week with experts across the country and draw information about drought impacts from media reports and private citizens.
Fact #3 - A real person, using real data, updates the map.
Each week’s map author, not a computer, processes and analyzes data to update the drought monitor. The map authors are trained climatologists or meteorologists from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (the academic partner and website host of the Drought Monitor), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and USDA. The author’s job is to do what a computer can’t – use their expertise to reconcile the sometimes-conflicting stories told by each stream of data into a single assessment.
Fact #4 - The Drought Monitor provides a current snapshot, not a forecast.
The Drought Monitor is a “snapshot” of conditions observed during the most recent week and builds off the previous week’s map. The map is released on Thursdays and depicts conditions based on data for the week that ended the preceding Tuesday. Rain that falls on the Wednesday just before the USDM’s release won’t be reflected until the next map is published. This provides a consistent, week‐to‐week product and gives the author a window to assess the data and come up with a final map.
Fact #5 – Your input can be part of the drought-monitoring process.
State climatologists and other trained observers in the drought monitoring network relay on-the-ground information from numerous sources to the US Drought monitor author each week. That can include information that you contribute.
The Drought Monitor serves as a trigger for multiple forms of federal disaster relief for agricultural producers, and sometimes producers contact the author to suggest that drought conditions in their area are worse than what the latest drought monitor shows. When the author gets a call like that, it prompts them to look closely at all available data for that area, to see whether measurements of precipitation, temperature, soil moisture and other indicators corroborate producer-submitted reports. This is the process that authors follow whether they receive one report or one hundred reports, although reports from more points may help state officials and others know where to look for impacts.
There are multiple ways to contribute your observations:
-
Talk to your state climatologist - Find the current list at the American Association of State Climatologists website.
-
Email - Emails sent to droughtmonitor@unl.edu inform the USDM authors.
-
Become a CoCoRaHS observer - Submit drought reports along with daily precipitation observations to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network.
-
Submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) - go.unl.edu/CMOR.
For more information, read our Ask the Expert blog with a NDMC climatologist or visit farmers.gov/protection-recovery.
If you’ve suffered above normal expenses for hauling feed or water to livestock or hauling livestock to forage/grazing acres due to the impacts of drought, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).
For eligible producers in qualifying counties, ELAP provides financial assistance for:
- the transportation of water to livestock;
- the above normal cost of mileage for transporting feed to livestock,
- the above normal cost of transporting livestock to forage/grazing acres.*
*Hauling livestock one-way, one haul per animal reimbursement and no payment for “empty miles.”
Eligible livestock include cattle, buffalo, goats and sheep, among others, that are maintained for commercial use and located in a county where the qualifying drought conditions occur. A county must have had D2 severe drought intensity on the U.S. Drought Monitor for eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period, or D3 or D4 drought intensity at any time during the normal grazing period. Producers must have risk in both eligible livestock and eligible grazing land in an eligible county to qualify for ELAP assistance.
WATER TRANSPORTATION
For ELAP water transportation assistance, a producer must be transporting water to eligible livestock on eligible grazing land where the producer had adequate livestock watering systems or facilities in place before the drought occurred and where they do not normally require the transportation of water. Payments are for costs associated with personal labor, equipment, hired labor, equipment, and/or contracted water transportation fees. Cost of the water itself is not covered. The ELAP payment formula uses a national average price per gallon.
ABOVE NORMAL COSTS OF TRANSPORTING FEED
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who incur above normal expenses for transporting feed to livestock during drought. The payment formula excludes the first 25 miles and any mileage over 1,000 miles. The reimbursement rate is 60% of the costs above what would normally have been incurred during the same time period in a normal (non-drought) year. ABOVE NORMAL COSTS OF TRANSPORTING LIVESTOCK TO FORAGE/GRAZING ACRES
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who are hauling livestock to a new location for feed resources due to insufficient feed and/or grazing in drought-impacted areas. Assistance for Livestock transportation is retroactive to 2021 and available for 2022 and subsequent years. Please contact your county FSA office for additional details.
For calendar year 2022 forward, producers must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA office within 30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent; producers should contact their county FSA office as soon as the loss of water resources or feed resources are known. For ELAP eligibility, documentation of expenses is critical. Producers should maintain records and receipts associated with the costs of transporting water to eligible livestock, the costs of transporting feed to eligible livestock, and the costs of transporting eligible livestock to forage/grazing acres.
ELAP also offers assistance to producers impacted by wildfire. Contact your county FSA office for more information on ELAP resources for wildfire losses. In addition, beekeepers also can benefit from ELAP provisions and should contact their county FSA office within 15 calendar days of when a loss occurs or from when the loss is apparent. For more information regarding ELAP, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
Gardens nationwide invited to register
USDA is expanding its People’s Garden Initiative to include eligible gardens nationwide. School gardens, community gardens, urban farms, and small-scale agriculture projects in rural, suburban and urban areas can be recognized as a “People’s Garden” if they register on the USDA website and meet criteria including benefitting the community, working collaboratively, incorporating conservation practices and educating the public. Affiliate People’s Garden locations will be indicated on a map on the USDA website, featured in USDA communications, and provided with a People’s Garden sign. USDA Opens People’s Garden Initiative to Gardens Nationwide
USDA to Triple Commitment with Initial $2.8 Billion Investment, with Additional Projects to Come
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the Biden-Harris Administration through the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing up to $2.8 billion in 70 selected projects under the first pool of the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding opportunity, with projects from the second funding pool to be announced later this year. Ultimately, USDA’s anticipated investment will triple to more than $3 billion in pilots that will create market opportunities for American commodities produced using climate-smart production practices. These initial projects will expand markets for climate-smart commodities, leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production and provide direct, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers. Applicants submitted more than 450 project proposals in this first funding pool, and the strength of the projects identified led USDA to increase its investment in this opportunity from the initial $1 billion Vilsack announced earlier this year.
Farmers are always interested in the value of land in their area. Whether they are thinking of buying or selling land, or are interested in valuing it for their balance sheet, farmers want to know the current value of land. The University of Missouri has been conducting a land value survey for several decades (see past publications at https://extension.missouri.edu/g401). For the next 3 weeks we are asking persons who have bought or sold land in Missouri in the past year to fill out a survey on their opinion of land values and where they are likely to be heading. You can contribute to the survey by clicking here.”
In this Ask the Expert, Dr. Dirac Twidwell, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) Science Advisor and Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska outlines how landowners can work together to protect and conserve grasslands through conservation. Dr. Twidwell is responsible for conserving grasslands on the Great Plains through science-backed efforts that span ownership boundaries. His research and publications have identified the largest remaining continuous grasslands in the United States and have outlined a ‘call to action’ to protect and preserve these invaluable biomes.
He also runs the Large-Scale Rangeland Conservation Lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which focuses on providing a framework for ecosystem management across multiple states. Dr. Twidwell recently co-authored Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: A Guide for Understanding Risk and Vulnerability that provides the first-ever framework for addressing woody encroachment in the Great Plains.
To read the full blog visit farmers.gov/blog/ask-expert-saving-americas-grasslands-qa-with-dr-dirac-twidwell.
USDA announced significant investments to support urban agriculture, including $43.1 million for grants and cooperative agreements as well as six new urban county committees to help deliver key USDA programs to urban producers. These actions support USDA’s efforts to strengthen the food supply chain and transform the food system to be fairer, more competitive, and more resilient.
Specifically, USDA is investing $10.2 million in new cooperative agreements to expand compost and food waste reduction efforts and $14.2 million in new grants to support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production projects. Additionally, $18.7 million will fund 75 worthy grant proposals from the 2021 application cycle, which was oversubscribed.
These investments build on USDA’s Food Systems Transformation Framework unveiled earlier. The goals of USDA’s Food System Transformation Framework include:
- Building a more resilient food supply chain that provides more and better market options for consumers and producers while reducing carbon pollution.
- Creating a fairer food system that combats market dominance and helps producers and consumers gain more power in the marketplace by creating new, more and better local market options.
- Making nutritious food more accessible and affordable for consumers.
- Emphasizing equity by creating wealth that stays in small towns and underserved communities.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is also standing up six more urban county committees, which help deliver farm loans, disaster assistance, safety net and conservation programs.
Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreements
This is the third year of USDA’s Composting and Food Waste Reduction (CFWR) cooperative agreements, and so far, USDA has invested $3 million in community composting in urban areas across the country. The $10.2 million to be awarded in 2022 will fund pilot projects that develop and implement strategies for municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans.
Local governments may submit projects that do one or more of the following:
- generate compost;
- provide access to compost to farmers;
- reduce fertilizer use;
- improve soil quality;
- encourage waste management and permaculture business development;
- increase rainwater absorption; reduce municipal food waste; and/or
- divert food waste from landfills.
Priority will be given to projects that anticipate or demonstrate economic benefits, incorporate plans to make compost easily accessible to farmers, including community gardeners, integrate other food waste strategies, including food recovery efforts and collaborate with multiple partners. Projects should span two years.
Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP) Grants
This is also the third year of OUAIP grants, which have already provided more than $7.5 million focused on food access, education, business and start-up costs for new farmers, and development of policies related to zoning and other needs. The $14.2 million to be awarded in 2022 will support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production projects through:
-
Planning Projects that initiate or expand efforts of urban and suburban farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools and other stakeholders to target areas of food access, education, business and start-up costs for new farmers, urban forestry, and policies related to zoning and other needs of urban production.
-
Implementation Projects that accelerate urban, indoor and other agricultural practices that serve multiple farmers and improve local food access. They may support infrastructure needs, emerging technologies, education and urban farming policy implementation.
How to Apply for Grants and Cooperative Agreements
Submit applications via grants.gov for Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreements and UAIP Grants. Pre-recorded webinars on the purpose, project types, eligibility and basic requirements for submitting applications will be posted at usda.gov/urban. Email UrbanAgriculture@usda.gov with any questions.
Urban County Committees for Urban Agriculture
The new urban county committee (UCOC) locations are Chicago, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Oakland, and they join 11 previously announced urban county committees. The six locations for county committees were selected based on a consideration of data that included opportunity for economic growth, diversity, proximity to tribal nations, as well as the number of farm-to-table projects, urban farms, community and residential gardens, and green infrastructure projects within metropolitan and suburban areas.
Like rural county committee members, urban committee members make important decisions about how FSA programs are administered locally. Each urban and suburban county committee will be composed of three elected members who will serve a term of up to three years. Urban farmers who participate in USDA programs in the areas selected are encouraged to participate by nominating and voting for themselves or others.
If you have sheep, you may be eligible for loan deficiency payments (LDPs) from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).
LDPs and marketing assistance loans (MALs) are marketing tools that are available after shearing.
Daily LDP rates are available online at fsa.usda.gov. Rules related to payment limitations, actively engaged in farming and cash-rent tenant no longer apply to LDPs. Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) provisions state that if your total applicable three-year average AGI exceeds $900,000, then you’re not eligible to receive an MLG or LDP. You must have a valid CCC-941 on file to earn a market gain of LDP. The AGI does not apply to MALs redeemed with commodity certificate exchange.
To be considered eligible for an LDP, you must have form CCC-633EZ, Page 1 on file at your local FSA Office before losing beneficial interest in the crop. Pages 2, 3 or 4 of the form must be submitted when payment is requested.
For more information, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport.
The 2018 Farm Bill extends loan authority through 2023 for Marketing Assistance Loans (MALs) and Loan Deficiency Payments (LDPs).
MALs provide financing and marketing assistance for wheat, feed grains, soybeans, and other oilseeds, pulse crops, rice, peanuts, cotton, wool and honey. MALs provide you with interim financing after harvest to help you meet cash flow needs without having to sell your commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. Marketing loan provisions and LDPs are not available for sugar and extra-long staple cotton.
FSA is now accepting requests for 2022 MALs for all eligible commodities after harvest. Requests for loans shall be made on or before the final availability date for the respective commodities. Marketing Assistance Loans (MALs) mature on demand, but no later than the last day of the 9th calendar month after the month the MAL is disbursed.
If you take out marketing assistance loans and use the farm-stored grain as collateral, remember that you are responsible for maintaining the quality of the grain through the term of the loan. Bins are ideally designed to hold a level volume of grain. When bins are overfilled and grain is heaped up, airflow is hindered and the chance of spoilage increases.
For more information and additional eligibility requirements, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
CRP contract holders are encouraged to transition their Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres to beginning, veteran or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers through the Transition Incentives Program (TIP). TIP provides annual rental payments to the landowner or operator for up to two additional years after the CRP contract expires.
CRP contract holders no longer need to be a retired or retiring owner or operator to transition their land. TIP participants must agree to sell, have a contract to sell, or agree to lease long term (at least five years) land enrolled in an expiring CRP contract to a beginning, veteran, or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher who is not a family member.
Beginning, veteran or social disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and CRP participants may enroll in TIP beginning two years before the expiration date of the CRP contract. The TIP application must be submitted prior to completing the lease or sale of the affected lands. New landowners or renters that return the land to production must use sustainable grazing or farming methods.
For more information, contact your local County USDA Service Center or visit fsa.usda.gov.
|
