Friday, March 13, 2015

2014 provides record harvests. Emergency storage approved.

This is one of the odd realities of a high amount of greenhouse gases. Anything with chlorophyll grows better, stronger and faster with dense amounts of CO2. I am not surprised there are record harvests. The worries regarding drought is still real.

The USA has always been able to feed the world. We need to maintain our agricultural output to continue to do exactly that. USDA is doing a great job. Thank you.

March 11, 2015
By Farm Service Agency

...USDA’s (click here) Farm Service Agency (FSA) also works with grain elevators to help ensure the proper storage of harvested crops, which – during record harvests as seen in recent years – can save millions of bushels of grain from spoiling.

Corn harvested in 2014 reached a record high of 14.21 billion bushels and soybeans a record 3.96 billion bushels, which made grain storage an important issue across the Great Plains and Corn Belt regions this winter....

Support systems for farmers facing losses due to weather or fluctuating commodity prices. This is a really good idea. The farmers need to plan for the next years crop harvest regardless of any hardship they may have faced. 

I hope these programs apply to the small family farm as they reestablish their presence in markets as a return of the most productive farm practices in the country. Sometimes the small family farmers are left out of the big picture until there are problems with large farm operations. When the larger farm operators find they had a fall in production, what shows up as a benefit to the country are the small farms and their ability to contribute to the country's agricultural output.

March 7, 2015
By Farm Service Industry

Phoenix, AZ – USDA Farm Service Agency (click here) Administrator Val Dolcini took an important message to one the largest gatherings of agricultural stakeholders in the nation, the recent 20th Annual Commodity Classic. He met with corn, soybean and wheat growers to urge members to complete their decisions on the safety-net options offered by the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program by the deadline of March 31, 2015.

ARC and PLC were created by Congress in the 2014 Farm Bill to help farmers avoid financial losses caused by price or revenue declines brought on by weather or an unexpected downturn in markets. The one-time election of ARC or PLC remains in effect through the 2014 – 2018 crop years.  If an election is not made by March 31, the farm will not be eligible for 2014 crop year payments and will default to PLC through 2018....