Alabama A&M University
APR-JUNE 2014
VOLUME 6, ISSUE 4
S M A L L FA R M S R E S E A R C H C E N T E R
NEWS UPDATE
COLLEGE OF
AGRICULTURAL, LIFE
AND NATURAL SCIENCES
United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO)
2014 AGRICULTURAL RISK MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Inside this Issue
2014 Agricultural Risk 1
Management and
Business Development
Success Story:
Community Outreach
Efforts
USDA FSA
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Mobile, AL —— The Small Farms Research Center (AAMU) in collaboration with the Alabama
Cooperative Extension System will host its Agricultural Risk Management and Business Development
Training Workshop on
August 20-22, 2014. This two-day event will be held at the Jon Archer
Agricultural Center, 1070 Schillinger Rd. North, Mobile, Alabama.
The workshop will begin with a farm field day located in Mobile, Alabama. Sessions will follow at the
Extension office focusing on risk management, business development and new and beginning farmers
issues. Registration will begin May 5, 2014. To learn more about this event contact Mr. JaMarkus C.
Crowell at (256) 372-4424. Please find attached a registration form. To reserve your spot is $25.00. Please
make checks payable to Small Farms Research Center Foundation.
USDA NRCS
USDA Announces
Additional Support for
Small
D F D and
S F IMidsized
NSIDE
Farmers
T H I Sand
I SRanchers
SUE:
2014 Farmer of the
Year Deadline
The Facts About Organic
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AFC SPB Prevention
Hopewell Women In
Cost-Share Program
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Editor’s Corner
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2013 Farm field day tour at Alma Bryant High School. Producers learned how
the Australian red claw crawfish was produced.
Quote of the Quarter
SUCCESS STORY: COMMUNITY OUTREACH EFFORTS
Upcoming Community
Activities and Events
Greensboro, AL —— The Small Farms Research Center (AAMU) in collaboration with the Hale County
Extension Office and the Blackbelt Small Farmer’s Ruminant Improvement Association held a community
outreach meeting on March 10, 2014 at 6 p.m. at the Hale County Extension Office. This meeting featured
a representative from the USDA Rural Development Housing in discussing guidelines to apply for grants/
loans to assist with improvement of rural homes in Alabama . The Small Farms Research Center discussed
current programs available for the farmers and their farm operations.
Small Farms Research Center
Alabama A&M University
4900 Meridian Street
James I. Dawson Building
RM #219
P.O. Box 700
Normal, AL 35762
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USDA FARM SERVICE AGENCY
Washington D.C., March 28, 2014—The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin
accepting requests for marketing assistance loans (MALs) and loan deficiency payments (LDPs) for eligible 2014 commodities.
Notice of the authorization is published in today’s Federal Register.
MALs and LDPs for the 2014 crop year become available to eligible producers beginning with harvest/shearing season and
extending through a specific commodity’s final loan availability date. Sugar commodity loans for 2014 crop will be available to
sugar processors beginning Oct. 1, 2014.
MALs and LDPs provide financing and marketing assistance for wheat, feed grains, soybeans and other oilseeds, pulse crops, rice,
peanuts, cotton, wool mohair and honey. MALs provide producers interim financing after harvest to help them cash flow needs
without having to sell their commodities when market prices are typically at harvest-time lows. Allowing farmers to store their
products at harvest facilitates a more orderly marketing of commodities throughout the year. A producer who is eligible to obtain a
loan, but agrees to forgo the loan, may obtain an LDP if such a payment is available. Marketing loan provisions and LDPs are not
available for sugar and extra-long staple cotton.
The 2014 Farm Bill also establishes payment limitations per individuals or entity not to exceed $125,000 annually on certain
commodities for the following programs benefits: price loss coverage payments, agriculture risk coverage payments, marketing loan
gains (MLGs) and LDPs. These payment limitations do not apply to MAL loan disbursements. Please consult your local FSA office
for details.
For more information on FSA programs, please visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/
USDA NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION SERVICE
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Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease? NRCS offers technical and financial
assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners. Here’s how you can get started with NRCS:
Planning: Stop by your local NRCS field office and you’ll discuss your vision for your land. NRCS provides landowners with
free technical assistance, or advice, for your land.
Application: They’ll walk you through the application process. To get started on applying for financial assistance.
Eligibility: An official tax ID (Social Security number or an employer ID), a property deed or lease agreement to show you have
control of the property; and a farm tract number. Farm tract number, can be gotten from USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
Ranking: NRCS will take a look at the applications and rank them according to local resource concerns, the amount of
conservation benefits the work will provide and the needs of applicants.
Implementing: If you’re selected, you can choose whether to sign the contract for the work to be done. Once you sign the
contract, you’ll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a
specified amount of time to implement.
For more information on NRCS programs, please visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov
USDA ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR SMALL AND MIDSIZED
FARMERS AND RANCHERS
Washington, D.C. — USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced additional support and resources for America’s small and midsized
farmers and ranchers. Today’s announcement includes $7 million in university research awards in support of small and midsized
producers; $8.8 million in technical assistance for small, socially-disadvantaged producers and Rural Cooperative Centers; and a
marketing certification program for small and very small grass-fed beef producers. This is the second major USDA package this year
in support of small and midsized producers. The first package included efforts to increase access to capital, provide better risk
management tools, expand marketing opportunities, and offer food safety training and educational resources specific to America’s
small and midsize producers.
“Small and midsized producers are a vital part of America’s agricultural future, and we are dedicated to ensuring their success,” said
Secretary Tom Vilsack.” The programs and opportunities announced today are part of our ongoing commitment to ensure that
smaller farmers and ranchers get access to the resources they need to thrive. USDA is continually reviewing our resources, programs
and policies to make sure we are working for producers of all sizes.”
Continuation……. page 3
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More information about USDA tools and resources available to small and mid-sized farmers, including information about this
announcement, is available on http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contenid=small-midsizedfarmer-resource.xml
2014 FARMER OF THE YEAR DEADLINE
Minority Landowners Magazine will publish its 6th Annual Farmers of the Year issue this summer. In the issue, it will feature
minority “Farmers of the Year” as formally or informally selected by universities,
community-based organizations, USDA agencies, and state agriculture and forestry
agencies.
Please share this reminder with those who would like to submit a farmer, rancher or
forest landowner for this recognition. Whether your process is formal, or informal,
you are still eligible to participate. Your company or organization is invited to
select a minority Farmer of the Year and share their story with others across the
country through this special issue of Minority Landowner.
Please visit their website at http://www.minoritylandowner.com/page4.php for more
information on how to submit your request for your farmer of the year.
The deadline is June 27, 2014 to make the Farmers of the Year issue. This is not a
competition, but rather an opportunity for you to share the story of a farmer, rancher
or forest landowner who is doing great work in their community representing
agriculture.
ALABAMA FORESTRY COMMISSION-SPB PREVENTION COST-SHARE PROGRAM
FOR ALABAMA’S FOREST LANDOWNERS
For a limited time, financial assistance is being offered to help non-industrial private forest landowners protect pine stands from their
number one cause of mortality, bark beetle infestation. Approximately $160,000 is allocated for this Southern Pine Beetle (SPB)
Prevention cost-share program, which is administered by the Alabama Forestry Commission in partnership with the USDA Forest
Service. The program’s main objective is to prevent SPB outbreaks in Alabama forests by helping landowners reduce the
susceptibility of their pines to the deadly pests.
Cost-share applications are available at local county offices of the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC). Interested forest
landowners must return completed applications to the local AFC county office by the deadline of Friday, May 30, 2014.
Existing loblolly, shortleaf, or Virginia pine stands that are 10 to 100 acres in size are eligible for an incentive payment under this
cost-share program. Forest management activities funded under the program include pre-commercial thinning and prescribed
burning of pine stands. The incentive cost is $80 per acre for pre-commercial thinning of overstocked and high SPB hazard pine
stands and $10 per acre for understory burning of high SPB hazard pine stands, the incentive cost is $90 per acre. Landowners that
apply for the cost-share program must receive pre-approval from the AFC before initiating the management practices.
For additional inquires, contact AFC Forest Health Coordinator Dana Stone by telephone at (334) 240-9363 or email at
Dana.Stone@forestry.alabama.gov.
The mission of the Alabama Forestry Commission is to protect and sustain Alabama’s forest resources using professionally applied
stewardship principals and education, ensuring that the state’s forest contribute to abundant timber and wildlife, clean air and water,
and a healthy economy. To learn more about the AFC or locate the nearest county office, visit www.forestry.alabama.gov.
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Cooperating Units: USDA Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO), USDA/NIFA/ Beginning Farmers and Ranchers
Development Program (BFRDP), USDA/OAO/Outreach Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers
(OASDFR) Program, Alabama Cooperative Extension Systems, and Alabama A&M University.
EDITOR’S CORNER
If you would like to submit articles related to agriculture issues, or would like to make an
announcement of your upcoming event(s), please forward your information to:
Mr. JaMarkus Crowell, B.S.
jamarkus.crowell@aamu.edu
Office: (256) 372-4424
Fax (256) 372-5517
QUOTE OF THE
QUARTER
“The ultimate goal of
farming is not the
growing of crops, but the
cultivation and perfection
of human beings.”
—Masanobu Fukuoka
UPCOMING COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
ACES. May 8, 2014 - Estate Planning Series, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., Lauderdale County - 802 Veterans Dr. Florence, AL
ACES. May 12, 2014 - Making Money Count, 6 wk series, 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., Colbert County - Hospitality House on the
Northwest Shoals Campus.
ACES. May 14, 2014 - Certified Horticultural Retailer (CHR) Program Training, ACES Commercial Horticulture, 1714
Tally Ho Street SW, Cullman, AL.
ACES. May 19, 2014 - QuickBooks 1, 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Etowah County, Etowah County Extension Office, Gadsden,
AL.
ACES. May 22, 2014 - Small Scale Farming & Self-Sustainability, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Madison County, Agribition
Center, 4925 Moores Mill Rd, Huntsville, AL.
ACES. May 22 & 29, 2014 - Jackson County Master Gardener Spring Class 2014, 9:00 - 1:30 p.m., Jackson County, St Luke
Episcopal Church, 402 South Scott Street, Scottsboro, AL
Manna Market Organic CO-OP. June 1, 2014 - Making Soap Organic Cosmetics, 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., 2600 Cherokee
Place, Mountain Brook, Alabama 35215 (Valley Christian Church).
SFRC. August 20-22, 2014 - 2014 Agricultural Risk Management and Business Development Training Workshop, Jon
Archer Agricultural Center, 1070 Schillinger Rd. Mobile, AL.
For more information, please visit www.aamu.edu/sfrc or www.aces.edu for upcoming events.
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