July 16, 2008 - Vol. 26 No. 28
SOUTHERN PEANUT GROWERS HOLD 10TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE -- More than 500 peanut producers and industry
Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) gave peanut growers an update on the farm bill and efforts to prevent the USDA from implementing a cut in the loan rate for runner peanuts.
Screven County Farm Bureau President and Georgia Peanut Commission Director Joe Boddiford votes against legislation during a mock Congress workshop
representatives met in Panama City this week for the 10th Annual Southern Peanut Growers Conference. The federation represents peanut growers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, but producers from all U.S. growing regions were expected to attend.
The goal of the conference is to provide growers with updates on industry issues. If you weren't able to attend, visit the conference on-line at http://spgc.wordpress.com.
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA, 2nd District) gave conference attendees an update on the farm bill. Bishop, who describes his district as “the largest peanut growing district in our country,” has represented the southwest Georgia district for 16 years. “We can all breathe a sigh of relief that we finally, in 2008, passed the 2007 farm bill. I think it will provide an adequate farm safety net for the industry and for farmers.”
However, Bishop referenced the USDA's recent attempt to cut the loan rate for runner peanuts by $7 per ton as a reason to remain vigilant as the USDA writes the regulations to implement the farm bill.
“After we passed the farm bill, USDA has decided they want to monkey with the loan rates,” Bishop said. “We're going to take steps to try to protect the loan rates even if we have to put language in the appropriations bill to protect against the rate change. We're going to do everything we can to make sure an issue that important that could be that detrimental to our producers will not be imposed on them after we spent all this time debating a farm bill which everybody seems to be satisfied with.”
American Farm Bureau staffer Cory Lyon led a workshop that gave attendees a chance to experience what it's like to serve in Congress.
As “congressmen,” the peanut growers had to consider several bills and vote on them. Once they voted, they received or were docked points based on their constituency's reaction to their vote.
“We in the peanut industry are focused on the success of one product. That's not the case for members of Congress. They have a lot of other issues to consider,” Bob Redding, Washington representative for the Georgia Peanut Commission and the Southern Peanut Federation said. “ We have to make a good case on any of our issues. We can't just say because a congressman has growers in his district or state that they're going to be with us. That's why it's important that growers establish a relationship with their representatives and their office staff.”

BUSH LIFTS EXECUTIVE ORDER ON OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING -- President Bush lifted the executive moratorium on offshore oil drilling, July 14, and urged Congress to lift its legislative ban. Congress has passed legislation banning offshore drilling every year since 1981 as part of the Interior Department's appropriations bill.
Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, first implemented the executive order banning offshore drilling in 1990. President Clinton extended the executive order through 2012. Marine sanctuaries would remain off limits under President Bush's new order.
According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates there may be as much as 17.8 billion barrels of oil in the United States in areas where drilling is off limits. The Post reports that a May Gallup poll indicates 57 percent of Americans surveyed said they were willing to allow drilling in coastal and wilderness areas where drilling is currently off limits, provided doing so had the potential to reduce high gas prices. Farm Bureau continues to press Congress to lift its ban on offshore oil drilling.

GEORGIA 3RD BEST STATE FOR ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FROM BIOMASS - Forbes magazine has named Georgia as the third best state in the nation for alternative energy from biomass.
According to a Forbes article entitled “America's Best Places For Alternative Energy,” the abundance of biomass in Georgia's Bioenergy Corridor ranks third in the nation as a potential source of renewable energy. The article referenced the amount of privately owned forest in Georgia, more than any other state in the U.S., as a reason for the state's ranking.
Only Iowa and North Dakota ranked higher on the Forbes list. Rounding out the top five were Mississippi and North Carolina. The Bioenergy Corridor the article references is the extensive network of bioenergy-related businesses and organization located across the state in cities including, Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Brunswick, Columbus, Rome, Savannah and Valdosta.

FSA COUNTY COMMITTEE NOMINATION DEADLINE IS AUGUST 1 - Agricultural producers have until August 1 to nominate candidates to serve on local Farm Service Agency county committees. These committees help local farmers by making decisions on commodity price support loans, conservation programs, disaster programs and by working closely with county FSA executive directors.
Individuals may nominate themselves or others as candidates. To hold office as a committee member, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and reside in the local administrative area in which he or she is a candidate. All nominees must sign nomination form FSA-669A, available online at www.fsa.usda.gov or local USDA Service Centers. All nomination forms must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by the close of business on August 1.
Ballots will be mailed to eligible voters by Nov. 3. The final day to return ballots to the local USDA Service Center is Dec. 1. Newly elected county committee members will take office Jan. 1.



USDA OFFERS CROP INSURANCE BUY-IN FOR FARM BILL DISASTER PLAN - Farmers whose crops are not fully covered by crop insurance or non-insured crop disaster assistance (NAP) may pay a buy-in waiver fee by Sept. 16, to make their 2008 crops eligible for the new disaster programs provided by the new farm bill.
The buy-in fee may be purchased at local USDA Farm Service Agency offices. Payment of the buy-in fee does not provide crop insurance or NAP coverage, just eligibility for the 2008 disaster programs. The 2008 farm bill requires producers who wish to participate in the USDA disaster programs to have crop insurance or NAP coverage on the land for which assistance is requested and for all farms in all counties in which a farmer may have an interest.
Since the farm bill was enacted after the application periods had closed for the '08 insurance programs, producers who did not obtain such coverage could not comply with this requirement to be eligible for the new disaster programs included in the farm bill. So, the farm bill authorized a waiver that allows producers to pay a buy-in fee to become eligible for the new disaster programs.
The buy-in fee for 2008 eligibility for either the catastrophic risk protection insurance (CAT) or NAP is $100 per crop, but not more than $300 per producer per administrative county or $900 total per producer for all counties less any previously paid fees for CAT and/or NAP. Payment of the buy-in fees will make the producer eligible for benefits for losses under the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), Tree Assistance Program (TAP), and the Emergency Assistance Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).
SURE will be available to eligible producers on farms in disaster counties and contiguous counties designated by the Secretary of Agriculture that have incurred crop production losses and/or crop quality losses. Congress determined that payments will not occur until the calculation at the end of the marketing year. SURE payments will also be available to any farm where the total loss of production on the farm because of weather, during the calendar year, is greater than 50 percent of the farm's normal production.
LFP will be available to eligible livestock producers who suffer grazing losses for eligible livestock because of drought on land that is either native or improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover or planted to a crop specifically for grazing.
TAP provides assistance to orchardists and eligible nursery tree growers who produce nursery, ornamental, fruit, nut or Christmas trees for commercial sale that lost trees, bushes or vines because of a natural disaster, as determined by the Secretary. ELAP will provide emergency relief to producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish because of losses from adverse weather or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.
LIP will give aid to eligible livestock producers who incur livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality because of adverse weather, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, including losses due to hurricanes, floods, blizzards, disease, wildfires, or extreme temperatures. The Risk Management Purchase Requirement doesn't apply to LIP.





SOUTHERN CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS CONFERENCE

July 29 - 31...................UGA Campus Conference Center...................................Tifton

Topics to be covered in concurrent breakout sessions include precision ag management tools, water/irrigation, organic production, pest management, bioenergy shifts, future technology in conservation tillage and much more! For information please contact Karen McBrayer by email at karensm@uga.edu or by phone at (229)386-3416.

USDA ANNUAL PEANUT INDUSTRY SEMINAR

August 6........................Lake Blackshear Resort ...............................................Cordele

USDA's Annual Peanut Industry Seminar, usually held in Atlanta, will be the featured Program for the Pre-Harvest Meeting of the American Peanut Shellers Association and the
Summer Educational Program of the National Peanut Buying Points Association. The
seminar will review the plans for the implementation of the marketing assistance loans and
loan deficiency payment program under the new farm bill. The program and luncheon is free to members, however, registration is required. (Non-members - $25) Program is from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Call USDA Peanut Program Manager Tonye Gross at (202) 720-4319 or e-mail her at Tonye.Gross@wdc.usda.gov for more information.

WILDLIFE EXTRAVAGANZA

August 9.....................Washington Co Ag Center 882 Grady Mertz Road......Tennille

Free event runs from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Activities will include educational exhibits and presentations, food plot demonstrations and vendors. Prizes will be awarded for the best of Georgia- harvested deer horns. There will also be a camp/backyard-cooking contest. For entry forms or more information call (478) 552-2011 or email jmilam@uga.edu.

3RD ANNUAL SOUTHEAST BIOENERGY CONFERENCE

August 12-13............UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center...........................Tifton

This conference will cover the latest information about alternative fuels as well as current and future projects planned for this industry in the Southeast. Ron Fagen, president and CEO of Fagen, Inc. Fagen Inc., is the largest builder of alternative fuel facilities in the U.S. USDA Under Secretary Gale Buchanan will speak on achieving sustainable energy security. Jose Luis Oliverio will discuss the Brazilian biofuel market and why it has been successful. Registration is $175 before July 31 and $225 after. Visit www.sebioenergy.org or call (229)386-7274 for more information.

UGA EXTENSION SERVICE ANNUAL GA GRAZING SCHOOL

August 20-21.........Bulloch County Center for Agriculture............................Statesboro

This two-day workshop will focus on management-intensive grazing. Participants will learn how forage production, forage quality and grazing behavior can be optimized in managed grazing. Classroom lectures will be combined with visits to local pasture-based beef and dairy farms.
Cost of the two-day program is $150 and includes lunches, breaks, a grazing school handbook, a forage and weed ID handbook, and a copy of Southern Forages 4th Edition textbook. Participants are responsible for lodging. Registration is limited to 35 participants, who will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information, visit http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/forages/GAGrazingSchool.html or call you local County Extension Agent.



SOUTHEAST RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CENTER FIELD DAY

August 20............9638 Hwy 56 South................................................................Midville

The field day will begin at 9 a.m. and will feature variety tests for cotton, corn, peanuts, and soybeans. Research on controlling cotton stinkbugs, use of peanut fungicide, peanut planting dates, an alfalfa yield test, and bio-fuels will also be showcased. A Grand Re-Opening for the experiment station is planned after lunch around 1:00 p.m. For more information call 478-589-7472.


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