USDA programs may help ranchers hurt by blizzard

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The major winter storm that moved across the nation last week definitely made life harder for cattle ranchers and may have hurt their profits.

But there are several USDA programs that might help producers who have to spend additional money on feed or who lose cattle as a direct result of winter weather. Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Jonathan Coppess said livestock producers should make sure they document any additional costs related to the weather.

Ranchers may be able to receive assistance for livestock deaths beyond normal mortality rates, for losses of purchased forage or for additional costs of transporting feed. Coppess said more details can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov or ranchers can also get help through their local FSA offices.
Farmers can again plant genetically modified beets

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Genetically modified (GMO) sugar beets designed to withstand the weedkiller Roundup can be planted under strict conditions with no threat to the environment and other plants, the USDA said Friday in a decision anxiously awaited by farmers.

The agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said it would partially deregulate so-called Roundup Ready beets, letting farmers plant them while it finished work on a full environmental impact statement.

Last summer, a federal judge in California issued an order halting the planting of GMO sugar beets until the USDA completed an environmental impact study on how the beets could affect conventional crops. The ruling had a widespread impact since nearly all the country’s sugar beets come from the genetically altered seed, and farmers had worried the USDA wouldn’t finish its work in time for spring planting.

“This is a really big deal,” said Mike Moyle, a Republican lawmaker who used to grow sugar beets and still farms west of Boise, Idaho. “If they hadn’t approved this, farmers in Idaho wouldn’t have had enough (unmodified) seed.”

Sugar beets are planted on more than 1 million acres in 10 U.S. states, with Idaho, Minnesota and North Dakota being the top producers. The beets supply half the country’s sugar, and about 95 percent are grown with the Roundup Ready seed developed by St. Louis-based Monsanto Co.

“USDA’s decision is a positive step for sugar beet farmers,” said Steve Walker, a Monsanto sugar beet representative. “Sugar beet farmers have been busy for spring planting, waiting for USDA’s guidance and hoping it would come in time for spring planting.”

Paul Atchitoff, of Earthjustice, the group leading the fight against the USDA over the sugar beet deregulation, said the conditions are “not materially different from the way the industry was growing before.

“And those conditions resulted in contamination and will continue to result in contamination,” he said. Friday’s announcement does nothing to address the concerns the California judge outlined last year, and it will allow producers “to do anything they want in practical effect,” he added.

He said his group would file another lawsuit immediately to stop the partial deregulation. A telephone message for an APHIS spokesman late Friday was not immediately returned.

In its announcement, the USDA said sugar beet growers will have to agree to the conditions it outlined and violators could face civil or criminal penalties, including the seizure, quarantine and destruction of their beets.
Organic Valley, the country’s largest organic farming cooperative with more than 1,600 farmers in 33 states, released a statement Friday criticizing the USDA’s decision.

USDA announces sorghum checkoff referendum

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Julia  A. Wickard, executive director for USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Indiana, announced the USDA is conducting a referendum on the continuation of the sorghum checkoff program.

For the program to continue, the Sorghum Promotion, Research and Information order requires that a referendum be conducted no later than three years after the start of assessments, which began on July 1, 2008. The order requires a simple majority vote in the referendum for the program to continue.

The USDA began conducting the referendum on Feb. 1 at local FSA offices for producers and the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) office for importers. Ballots may be obtained in person, by mail or fax at county FSA offices, or via the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/sorghumpage

The referendum will run through Feb. 28. Any eligible person in the United States engaged in the production or importation of sorghum from July 1, 2008-Dec. 31, 2010, is eligible to participate. Individuals are required to provide documentation such as a sales receipt or remittance form that shows they engaged in the production or importation of sorghum.

“Indiana is home to about 15,000 acres of sorghum. Its importance in animal feed, exports and biofuels is especially recognized in the agricultural industry,” said Wickard.

The checkoff program and its 13-member board is authorized by the Commodity Promotion Research and Information Act of 1996.

The mandatory program is funded at the rate of 0.6 percent of the net market value on grain sorghum and 0.35 percent of the net market value of sorghum forage.

For more information, call Kenneth R. Payne, chief of Marketing Programs, Livestock and Seed Program, AMS, USDA, at 202-720-1115.

Michigan officials warning
farmers about brown stink bug

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Michigan agriculture officials are warning farmers to watch for the brown marmorated stink bug, a nasty invader from Asia that emits a foul stench when squashed and wreaks havoc on fruits and field crops.
The pest’s presence in Michigan was confirmed last month, an ominous development for the state’s $71.3 billion agriculture and food industry. The bug has been found so far only in Eaton and Berrien counties, but it may be elsewhere as well.

“My personal opinion is that this animal could make gypsy moths, Japanese beetles, Asian ladybugs and box elder bugs look like minor nuisances comparatively,” said Amy Irish-Brown, a tree fruit educator for the Michigan State University Extension Service.

The brown marmorated stink bug first showed up in the United States in Pennsylvania in 1998 and has spread rapidly, the Michigan Department of Agriculture said.

It does little damage in its native land, where it has many predators, but that’s not the case here.

An apple damaged by the bug develops what Irish-Brown called “cat facing.” The fruit is still edible but looks so unattractive it’s not fit to be sold. Irish-Brown told The Grand Rapids Press she has seen similar damage on fruit in the area the past couple of years but initially figured it was the result of a light crop.

The pesticides that work best on the bug tend to be those that have fallen out of favor with development of safer chemicals, she said.
State Agriculture Director Keith Creagh said his department is working with Michigan State University researchers to track the stink bug and limit its spread.