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Business Briefs - May 13, 2009

Funds for new organic initiative

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — State Conservationist Jane Hardisty of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced $862,564 is available in Indiana for a new initiative to encourage organic agriculture production.  Funding is available as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

The 2009 Organic Initiative is a nationwide special initiative to provide financial assistance to National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic producers as well as producers in the process of transitioning to organic production. Organic producers may also apply for assistance under general EQIP.

Under the Organic Initiative minimum core conservation practices will be required based on specific resource concerns. The practices are: conservation crop rotation, cover crop, nutrient management, pest management, prescribed grazing and forage harvest management.

Indiana will consider using any appropriate practice that meets the natural resource concerns on a particular farm. Applications received from organic producers or producers in transition to organic farming will be accepted under this initiative until May 29.

Ranking criteria has been established based on resource concerns that link to the National Organic Program (NOP) objectives and the core conservation practices.  Find more information about NOP at www.usda.gov by choosing the subject ‘Agriculture’ then clicking on ‘Organic Certification’ under Related Topics.

In addition, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture also offers the Indiana Organic Certification Program, which will reimburse 75 percent of the cost of certification fees up to $750 for new certifications or renewals. Producers can apply for this program until September 30, and can find applications at www.in.gov/isda/2399.htm

The 2009 Organic Initiative will be administered by NRCS. Interested producers should contact their NRCS district conservationist at a USDA Service Center to determine eligibility. Additional information on EQIP is available at  www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip

Schillinger opens Illinois station

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Schillinger Genetics, a specialty seed company headquartered in West Des Moines, has announced the opening of a southern Illinois research station this month at its new facility in Vandalia.

Schillinger has research stations in Maryland, Iowa and Argentina. According to company officials, the new Illinois research station will focus primarily on developing unique and elite non-GMO soybean products, which will be targeted for food and feed markets and marketed under their rapidly growing eMerge Genetics brand.
In addition to field and lab research, plans call for the Vandalia research station to become a strategic site for showcasing new and unique Schillinger products as well as its diverse pipeline of new experimentals.

Staff will include Jeff Bethard, station manager, who holds a B.S. in ag production from Southern Illinois University. He worked for Pioneer in the areas of yield testing for nine years and will oversee the research efforts.

Steven Borcherding, research associate, brings nearly a decade of experience to his role at Schillinger. A graduate of SIU Carbondale in plant and soil science, he has worked in research and testing for Growmark, Soygenetics and Alvey Ag Research. Also, Levi Borcherding, research associate, another SIU Carbondale graduate, brings several years of experience to the team as a field scientist and research associate.

Future plans for the research station include the addition of a molecular lab in 2010. Schillinger will conduct research both in product development and crop management at the location and plans to add sales and agronomy personnel this year.

MarketMaker gets a makeover

URBANA, Ill. — Since 2003, the University of Illinois MarketMaker website has been helping connect farmers and producers to markets. The website, which began as a free online database of Illinois businesses, has recently received a makeover.

There are 10 states whose websites are up and running: Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi and Georgia. Colorado, Washington, D.C., and South Carolina have websites under construction. The national portal can be found at http://national.marketmaker.uiuc.edu

The website has one of the largest collections of searchable food industry-related data in the country, categorized by buyers, sellers, location and other demographic information. The site provides a quick, yet simple method of searching for food-related products in detail.

There is no charge to have a business listed on the site. For more information, contact Darlene Knipe by e-mail at dknipe@illinois.edu or call 309-792-2500.

5/14/2009