Ron Sylvester

Petition to USDA to Adjust Regional Farm Milk Prices

September 25, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

A special alert from the NFU:

Several dairy organizations are circulating a petition to USDA to convene a national federal milk order pricing hearing in response to severe reductions to net income for dairy farmers in recent months. USDA has statutory powers to enforce emergency milk prices and the current situation calls for action. The petition urges the Secretary to act and a long list of signatories will help to encourage USDA to assert its authority. Please read the “September 3, 2012-Petition…” document for further clarification.

Please consider signing on as an individual by completing the attached petition form and sending it to dana.coale@ams.usda.gov. Another attachment is also included to collect signatures. Both forms are below as downloadable links.

Petition Form

Petition Signatures Form

Ohioan among new appointees to United Soybean Board

September 25, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack named Ohio’s John B. Motter along with sixteen others to the United Soybean Board this morning.

“These appointees represent a cross section of the soybean industry and I am confident that they will serve the soybean producers well,” said Vilsack.

The 69-member board is authorized by the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act. The Secretary selected the appointees from soybean producers nominated by Qualified State Soybean Boards. All appointees will serve 3-year terms beginning December 2012.

Research and promotion programs are industry-funded, authorized by Congress, and date back to 1966, when Congress passed the Cotton Research and Promotion Act. Since then, Congress has authorized the establishment of 20 research and promotion boards. They empower farmers and ranchers to leverage their own resources to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets, and conduct important research and promotion activities. AMS provides oversight, paid for by industry assessments, which ensures fiscal responsibility, program efficiency and fair treatment of participating stakeholders.

NFU’s Johnson: Congress ‘packing up’ without finishing Farm Bill a travesty

September 20, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

NFU President Roger Johnson issued a statement following Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner’s announcement that action on the farm bill would take place following the Nov. 6 general election.

“NFU is deeply disappointed with Speaker Boehner’s comments this morning. It is crystal clear that Republican leadership is what is holding the farm bill hostage. While the announcement comes as no surprise, punting the farm bill into the lame duck session is a transparent political maneuver that leaves rural America holding its collective breath about its livelihood and future.

“The lame duck session will be dealing with many very significant tax and funding issues which have also been left undone by this Congress. We worry about whether the farm bill might become a pawn in that process.

“We are confident that there are enough votes to pass the farm bill now. We strongly urge the Speaker to reconsider the recess and take up the bill and deal with it now. Congress should not leave town early while leaving U.S. farmers and ranchers facing enormous uncertainty.

“On the heels of one of the most devastating disasters our country has seen in many years, the agricultural community needs certainty here and now, not in six weeks time. Allowing Congress to pack up and leave town once again without taking up a farm bill is an irresponsible travesty.”

Ohio legislators among Golden Triangle Recipients

September 13, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

During the National Farmers Union annual Legislative Fly-In this week, several members of the Ohio congressional delegation were awarded the Golden Triangle, NFU’s highest legislative award. They are:

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17th; Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-9th; and Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-11th.

The annual award is presented to members of Congress who have demonstrated leadership and support policies that benefit America’s family farmers, ranchers, fishermen and rural communities.

“Recipients of the Golden Triangle Award have been strong advocates for family farmers and ranchers, and support similar principles and policies as Farmers Union,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “We are pleased to honor those who have proven to be true allies of our organization and our members across the country.”

Farm Bill Now! Rally Staged on Capitol Hill

September 13, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON – More than 200 Farmers Union members joined hundreds of other farmers, ranchers and agriculture industry supporters in the shadow of the Capitol today for the “Farm Bill Now!” rally to send a clear message to Congress that they want a farm bill now.

National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson cohosted the rally with American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. They were joined on stage by many members of Congress and leaders from a broad spectrum of supporting organizations.

“We are all united on one thing; we need a farm bill and we need a farm bill now,” said Johnson.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee; Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., ranking member of the Committee on Agriculture; and Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., addressed the crowd.

Several members of Congress stood with their colleagues on stage in a sign of support.

[Read more…]

USDA FSA extends emergency haying, grazing two months

August 30, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced a two-month extension for emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres, freeing up forage and feed for ranchers as they look to recover from this challenging time. This flexibility for ranchers marks the latest action by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide assistance to producers impacted by the drought, which has included opening CRP and other conservation acres to emergency haying and grazing, lowering the interest rate for emergency loans, and working with crop insurance companies to provide flexibility to farmers.

[Read more…]

Ohio Swine Flu Update – August 19, 2012

August 19, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

As the summer county and state fair season turns into the fall season, one thing has been on all livestock exhibitors, public health and ag officials and patrons minds: Swine Flu.

Ohioans began to hear about Swine Flu in early August when some patrons of the Butler County Fair were diagnosed with the virus, H3N2v. Some swine being exhibited at the fair were found to be sick with the virus and media and state agency reports at the time indicated most of the human victims were children who had come into contact with infected swine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Ohio Department of Health both report that kids are especially susceptible to Swine Flu because they haven’t had time to develop antibodies against the virus.

So far in Ohio there have been 72 cases of the flu in humans with most of them directly attributed to contact with pigs or hogs. There have been less than 10 hospitalizations, with all of those patients treated and released. There have been no deaths from this summer flu outbreak.

Public health officials at the state and federal level are continuing to monitor the situation closely, however. For now, there is no evidence that the virus is transmittable from human to human contact. The virus would need to mutate in one of its human victims in just the right way to spread from human to human and if it did, it would become a bigger problem for public health.

There are still several county fairs to occur around Ohio and the Ohio Dept. of Agricuture is teaming up with ODH to strengthen health precautions at swine exhibits around the state. At every county fair there will be daily health checks of pigs and hogs by a veterinarian. Several animals have already been removed from fairs, including two removed from the recent Ohio State Fair. ODA and ODH officials or their local designees will also be meeting face to face to with all swine exhibitors to discuss the virus, what to look for in their animals and the precautions that they and fair goers should take around livestock barns.

[Read more…]

How does the USDA disaster declaration process work?

August 19, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

For the past several weeks, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has announced dozens or even hundreds of additional counties across the U.S. that have been declared primary drought disaster areas. What’s it mean? If you’re a farmer worried about crop loss or early livestock sales, can you get help?

An agricultural disaster declaration for your county – or a county adjacent to yours – means that USDA guaranteed, low-interest emergency loans will be available to help farmers and ranchers meet cashflow requirements in the face of lost crops or livestock. The loan program is administered through USDA’s Farm Service Agency, meaning you can assistance at the state or local level. Farmers and ranchers in declared counties can get help. In some cases, there may be FSA emergency programs available in addition to the emergency loans.

[Read more…]

Latest U.S. Drought Monitor: Midwest

August 19, 2012 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

As of the last report from the federal government earlier this week, you can see that Ohio is mostly still in the midst of “moderate drought” conditions. Compare this to conditions over the past six weeks in the midwest. (Link takes you to a six-week animation of the Drought Monitor.)

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