The January/February 2016 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online. Click here!
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his issue features the:
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced that producers who chose coverage from the safety net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill, known as the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs, can begin visiting FSA county offices starting Dec. 7, 2015, to sign contracts to enroll in coverage for 2016. The enrollment period will continue until Aug. 1, 2016.
Although the choice between ARC and PLC is completed and remains in effect through 2018, producers must still enroll their farm by signing a contract each year to receive coverage.
Producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA office to schedule an appointment to enroll. If a farm is not enrolled during the 2016 enrollment period, producers on that farm will not be eligible for financial assistance from the ARC or PLC programs should crop prices or farm revenues fall below the historical price or revenue benchmarks established by the program.
The two programs were authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and offer a safety net to agricultural producers when there is a substantial drop in prices or revenues for covered commodities. Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice (which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity. For more details regarding these programs, go to www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.
For more information, producers are encouraged to visit their local FSA office. To find a local FSA office, visit http://offices.usda.gov.
Farmers and ranchers are reminded that the next general enrollment period for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) begins today, Dec. 1, 2015, and ends on Feb. 26, 2016. December 2015 also marks the 30th anniversary of CRP, a federally funded program that assists agricultural producers with the cost of restoring, enhancing and protecting certain grasses, shrubs and trees to improve water quality, prevent soil erosion and reduce loss of wildlife habitat.
As of September 2015, 24.2 million acres were enrolled in CRP. CRP also is protecting more than 170,000 stream miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, enough to go around the world 7 times. For an interactive tour of CRP success stories from across the U.S., visit www.fsa.usda.gov/CRPis30, or follow on Twitter at #CRPis30.
Participants in CRP establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees (known as “covers”) to control soil erosion, improve water quality and develop wildlife habitat on marginally productive agricultural lands. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. At times when commodity prices are low, enrolling sensitive lands in CRP can be especially attractive to farmers and ranchers, as it softens the economic hardship for landowners at the same time that it provides ecological benefits. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years. The long-term goal of the program is to re-establish native plant species on marginal agricultural lands for the primary purpose of preventing soil erosion and improving water quality and related benefits of reducing loss of wildlife habitat.
Contracts on 1.64 million acres of CRP are set to expire on Sept. 30, 2016. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP.
Since it was established on Dec. 23, 1985, CRP has:
Since 1996, CRP has created nearly 2.7 million acres of restored wetlands.
For more information FSA conservation programs, visit a local FSA office or www.fsa.usda.gov/conservation. To find your local FSA office, visit http://offices.usda.gov.
Voting delegates elected members to the Alabama Farmers Federation Board of Directors at a business session during the organization’s 94th annual meeting in Montgomery. Front row, from left are Women’s Leadership Committee Chairman Regina Carnes of Marshall County, State Young Farmers Committee Chairman Lance Miller of Blount County, Southwest Area Vice President Jake Harper of Wilcox County and Central Area Vice President Dean Wysner of Randolph County. Back row, from left are Secretary-Treasurer Steve Dunn of Conecuh County; District 1 Director Brian Glenn of Lawrence County, District 4 Director Rickey Cornutt of Marshall County, District 7 Director Joe Lambrecht of Elmore County and District 10 Director Steve Stroud of Pike County.
Steve Dunn, a Conecuh County row crop and cattle farmer, was re-elected secretary-treasurer of the Alabama Farmers Federation today at the organization’s 94th annual meeting today in Montgomery.
Elections were held during the Federation’s afternoon business session where almost 500 farmer delegates from all 67 counties chose officers and directors for the organization. Officers serve two-year terms.
Dunn, who is Conecuh County Farmers Federation president and former state Young Farmers chairman, was re-elected to his ninth two-year term.
Central Alabama Vice President Dean Wysner of Randolph County and Southwest Area Vice President Jake Harper of Wilcox County also were re-elected to two-year terms.
Wysner is a cattle and hay producer. The Central Area includes Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Fayette, Greene, Jefferson, Lamar, Pickens, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Tuscaloosa and Walker counties. He was first elected vice president in December 1999.
Harper, who is Wilcox County Farmers Federation president, is a cattle and timber farmer. The Southwest Area includes Baldwin, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas, Escambia, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Sumter, Washington and Wilcox counties. Harper, who served as a district director from 1988-1996, was first elected Southwest Area vice president in December 2003.
Elections also were held for Federation board of director seats representing Districts 1, 4, 7 and 10. Directors serve three years and are limited to three consecutive terms.
Brian Glenn, a row crop farmer from Lawrence County, was re-elected as District 1 director. The district includes Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Marion and Walker counties. This is his second three-year term.
Rickey Cornutt, a row crop and cattle farmer from Marshall County, was elected to the District 4 seat previously held by Don Allison of Winston County. The District 4 director seat rotates among Blount, Cullman, Marshall and Winston counties.
Meanwhile, Elmore County produce farmer Joe Lambrecht was elected to the District 7 seat representing Chambers, Coosa, Elmore, Lee, Macon, Russell and Tallapoosa counties. He replaces Elmore County’s Richard Edgar, who served three terms.
Pike County poultry farmer and county Federation President Steve Stroud was elected to the District 10 board seat. Stroud replaces Coffee County’s Carl Sanders, who served six years and did not see reelection. That district includes Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw and Pike counties.
Elected to one-year ex-officio terms on the state board were Women’s Leadership Committee Chairman Regina Carnes of Marshall County and State Young Farmers Committee Chairman Lance Miller of Blount County. Garrett Henry of Montgomery County served as Young Farmers chairman in 2015, and Cheryl Lassiter of Choctaw County was Women’s Leadership chair.
The Alabama Farmers Federation is the state’s largest farm organization with more than 360,000 members. It is a member of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation’s largest farm organization.
Nominations are now open for the Outstanding Georgia Young Peanut Farmer. The state winner will be announced at the Georgia Peanut Farm Show on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, in Tifton, Ga. The award is sponsored by the Georgia Peanut Commission and BASF.
The Outstanding Georgia Young Peanut Farmer Award is based upon the applicant’s overall farm operation; environmental and stewardship practices; and leadership, civic, church, and community service activities.
“We have so many young peanut farmers making a difference in their communities and I consider this awards program a great opportunity to recognize one young peanut farmer for their contributions to the agriculture industry,” says Armond Morris, chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC).
The award is open for any active Georgia peanut farmer who is not over 45 years of age, as of January 21, 2016. An individual may receive the award only once. There is no limit on the number of applicants from each county in Georgia.
“BASF is honored to be a sponsor of the Outstanding Georgia Young Peanut Farmer Award,” says Dan Watts, District manager of Crop Protection Products. “We are committed to agriculture and bringing new innovative solutions to producers that will allow them to continue to be successful.”
Applications are due to the GPC office by Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015. The award application is available online at the GPC Web site, www.gapeanuts.com or by contacting Joy Crosby at 229-386-3690 or joycrosby@gapeanuts.com.
Previous Georgia winners include Andrew Grimes of Tifton, Randy Branch of Baxley, James Hitchcock Jr. of Tennille, Brad Thompson of Donalsonville, Greg Mims of Donalsonville, Jim Waters of Blackshear and Jimmy Webb of Leary. The award winner receives registration and hotel accommodations to attend the Southern Peanut Growers Conference in July and a sign to display at his or her farm.
UGA peanut geneticist Peggy Ozias-Akins, director of the UGA Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, examines a peanut blossom. Ozias-Akin’s lab on the UGA Tifton Campus focuses on female reproduction and gene transfer in plants. Photo credit: Peter Frey (UGA)
A member of the University of Georgia’s inaugural class of the Women’s Leadership Fellows Program, Peggy Ozias-Akins is more focused on learning from colleagues than imparting words of wisdom.
The world-renowned researcher and recipient the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences 2015 D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor Award was one of nine UGA faculty members selected to be part of the prestigious group. Deans and other senior administrators within the university submitted nominations for the inaugural class of the program.
“The purpose of the Women’s Leadership Fellows Program is to give women the opportunity to learn from other women who have been in leadership positions, particularly administrative positions within the university,” Ozias-Akins said. “It’s helping those of us who already have some role that requires leadership.”
Ozias-Akins is a leading researcher on the UGA Tifton Campus. She is the director for the UGA Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics. Ozias-Akins is also a co-chairman of the Peanut Genome Sequencing Consortium, an extension of the International Peanut Genome Initiative. While Ozias-Akins has accomplished much during her time at UGA Tifton, she insists that being a part of this group will be just as much of a learning opportunity for her as it will be for others.
“It will be exciting to be involved in this, to learn from others who are at the level I am in terms of having some administrative responsibility, all the way to other women who have progressed through the ranks at other institutions to very high leadership positions,” Ozias-Akins said. “It really is for me to learn more about leadership roles and how to be a successful leader. How to be a facilitator, I think, is one thing to learn. How to make it easier for people to get their jobs done is another.”
The various faculty members will attend a monthly meeting to learn from UGA senior administrators as well as visiting speakers. The program will also feature a weekend retreat in June.
“The university is pleased to welcome the members of the inaugural class of Women’s Leadership Fellows,” said UGA President Jere Morehead. “This program is an important way to cultivate talent throughout UGA’s colleges and departments located across the state. It will offer valuable professional development and networking opportunities to the participants while strengthening the leadership capacity of the institution.”
By Clint Thompson, University of Georgia
After devoting years to building an energy-efficient house of the future for the University of Georgia, Craig Kvien has a better understanding of conserving and saving energy. These tips, based on his work, could help Georgia residents save money during the upcoming holiday season.
“Some people think that, by ‘energy-efficient home,’ you mean putting on a jacket in the winter and shorts in the summer, but energy-efficient homes are more comfortable to live in than your standard house. They hold the temperature better and don’t leak as much,” said Kvien, a UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences professor who spearheaded the Future Farmstead project on the university’s Tifton Campus.
Kvien said that money could be saved during the upcoming cold winter months by adding proper insulation to the attic.
“If homeowners look upstairs and see that there’s not much insulation up there, (they should consider adding insulation). That’s another good way to save financially. You want to try to get at least an R30 rating up in your attic, and an R13 (rating) in your wall if you can,” Kvien said. “Along with getting insulation in there, make sure you don’t have any gaps in the insulation.”
The “R” rating refers to insulating power. The higher the value, the more effective the insulation will work in keeping heat in or out of the house.
Proper insulation will allow for a more comfortable living space, he said. Though Georgia doesn’t experience the same wintry conditions that blanket states in the Northeast, power usage in December and January reflects Georgians’ willingness to heat their houses.
“Power usage in Georgia is primarily driven by the weather,” said John Kraft, a Georgia Power spokesperson. “For instance, a cold November could easily result in higher energy usage than a mild December, even with holiday lighting.”
Kraft said that heating and cooling represent 25 to 35 percent of a house’s energy use.
Holiday decorations are on display as Georgia residents celebrate the holiday season during November and December. Kvien stresses that simple fixes can be made to adjust for the added cost of holiday lighting.
“Lights are a good place, a simple target. Start with one, start with 20, whatever works,” Kvien said. “Replace your incandescent lights with compact fluorescent or LED lights, which are a little more efficient and last longer. If you shop around, you can find some pretty good prices.”
Other lighting tips from Georgia Power include using timers to turn off displays after several hours and replacing old light strings or displays with mini-lights or fiber optic displays.
Kvien only has one recommendation that is 100-percent guaranteed against incurring additional costs: “Cut your power way down, set your thermostat to maybe 55 degrees (Fahrenheit) and go visit the kids,” Kvien said.
For more information about the Future Farmstead, visit future farmstead.org.
By Clint Thompson, University of Georgia
The October/November 2015 issue of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer is now available online. Click here!
This issue features the:
WASHINGTON (Nov. 4, 2015) – U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and David Perdue, R-Ga., today voted to disapprove and overturn the President Obama’s onerous “Waters of the United States” regulation, calling the rule a massive federal land grab by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will expose farmers, ranchers, home owners, and businesses to significant compliance costs and new fines.
The Senate passed the joint resolution of disapproval by a vote of 53-44. The resolution, which would prevent the implementation of the EPA’s water rule, will now head to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The administration’s ‘Waters of the United States’ rule allows federal bureaucrats to assert control over thousands of streams, creeks, wetlands, ponds and ditches throughout the country,” said Senator Isakson. “This rule harms not only landowners, but our entire agriculture industry in Georgia. I applaud the Senate passage of Senator Ernst’s resolution.”
“Washington’s fourth branch of government, th
e regulators, originally put this rule in place with complete disregard for the negative impact it would have on Georgia farmers and landowners,” said Senator Perdue. “Thirty-one states have come together to stop this land grab and today we’re finally putting this harmful regulation back on President Obama’s desk for him to strongly reconsider.”
Senators Isakson and Perdue also cosponsored S.1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which would require a revision of the “Waters of the United States” rule to define clear limits and to take into account an economic analysis of the rule. Earlier this week, this legislation failed to get the 60 votes necessary to advance in the Senate due to opposition from Senate Democrats.
Action against the EPA’s rule has also been taken by the courts. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in favor of Georgia and 17 states in granting a nationwide stay of the Obama Administration’s “Waters of the United States” regulation. In addition, Attorney General Olens is also challenging the same regulation in a case brought in the U.S. District for the Southern District of Georgia that is now on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Background:
On March 25, 2014, EPA and the Corps released their proposed rule redefining “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. The term “Waters of the United States” is the Clean Water Act’s threshold provision that determines whether the law’s permitting and regulatory requirements apply to a particular body of water.
The proposed rule, which was finalized on September 17, 2015, will provide EPA and the Corps, as well as environmental groups, with a powerful tool to delay and prevent development and land use activities on property owned by homeowners, farms, small businesses and municipalities. Federal bureaucrats—and not state and local authorities—could assert control over thousands of rivers, streams, lakes and marshes throughout the country.
Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall is traveling the country campaigning to become president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. A third-generation Georgia farmer and lifetime member of the Georgia Farm Bureau, Duvall is ready to lead the AFBF and is committed to leading it into the future while ensuring the organization stays true to its original purpose: to be the united voice of American farmers and ranchers.
“Agriculture is not only essential for life, it is essential for the security of our nation,” Duvall said. “I understand what it takes to keep Farm Bureau strong and extend our role as the respected, trusted voice for agriculture in America.”
During his nine years as Georgia Farm Bureau president, Duvall has led the state’s largest agriculture organization by building relationships with state and national legislators and building bridges with other state and national agriculture leaders to solve problems facing farmers, agriculture and consumers. Duvall has been on international trade missions on behalf of Georgia Farm Bureau and American Farm Bureau.
“AFBF is a critical grassroots organization that provides an avenue for farmers and ranchers to engage in the important national conversations that effect our agricultural communities,” Duvall said. “From the time I first became involved in Farm Bureau as a young farmer, I learned that building relationships and bridges with others is key to getting your voice heard and making a difference. This is the core of who I am and is what I have done throughout my life both on my farm and in my public service.”
Duvall made a commitment to agriculture and public service early in his career. He has been involved in multiple county, state and national organizations as well as many agriculture groups. He lives on his farm in Greene County, Georgia, with his wife of 36 years, Bonnie. The Duvalls have four children and three grandchildren.
Duvall announced his candidacy in July after AFBF President Bob Stallman announced he would not seek another term after leading the organization for 16 years. “I decided to run for the national office after being asked by several state Farm Bureau presidents and after much prayer with my family,” Duvall said. “I love my job as Georgia Farm Bureau president and the thought of leaving it was the toughest part of this decision because it’s so rewarding to work with all of our county volunteers and to represent Georgia’s farmers, but I believe the diversity of Georgia’s agriculture has prepared me to represent all of America’s farmers. The campaign responses traveling the country to state Farm Bureaus has truly been an encouraging journey for me.”
The AFBF presidential election, which is for a two-year term, will be held January 12,2016 at the annual AFBF convention in Orlando, Florida. Each state is allotted voting delegates based on its number of Farm Bureau members. Additional delegates come from the AFBF Women’s Leadership and Young Farmers & Ranchers Committees and the sitting AFBF president for a total of 355 voting delegates. The next AFBF president will need the support of 179 voting delegates at the convention.
More information on Duvall’s campaign for AFBF President can be found at www.zippyduvall.com as well as connecting on social media via Facebook and Twitter.
