Serving Family Farmers and Consumers Since 1934
from the Fulton-Lucas FSA County office:
USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be making changes that may affect your 2012 tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service. Farmers and other recipients of farm program payments will need to know about these IRS code changes for reporting and filing income taxes.
This can’t be good for beginning farmers or families trying to keep their land together. From today’s New York Times:
Across the nation’s Corn Belt, even as the worst drought in more than 50 years has destroyed what was expected to be a record corn crop and reduced yields to their lowest level in 17 years, farmland prices have continued to rise. From Nebraska to Illinois, farmers seeking more land to plant and outside investors looking for a better long-term investment than stocks and bonds continue to buy farmland, taking advantage of low interest rates.
And despite a few warnings from bankers, the farmland boom shows no signs of slowing. Almost every year since 2005, except during the start of the recession in 2008, agriculture land prices have posted double-digit gains. In the same period, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has had double-digit gains in only three of those years.
The National Farmers Union reflected today on the illustrious career of former Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, who died Oct. 21, 2012.
“From his South Dakota farm roots, to the U.S. Senate, and later as ambassador of the United Nation’s Agencies on Food and Agriculture, Senator McGovern spent his life as a tireless champion of agriculture, nutrition and rural America,” said NFU President Roger Johnson.
McGovern served as the honorary co-chair of the NFU Foundation and was recognized with NFU’s Meritorious Service Award for his humanitarian efforts in 2003.
by Tom Vilsack, USDA Secretary
As the drought continues today, USDA and other Federal agencies are doing all we can to help farmers, ranchers and communities who have been impacted.
Unfortunately, our tools are limited. Due to inaction by Congress, many parts of the 2008 Farm Bill expired October 1, and other aspects of the law will expire in the coming months.
This brings tremendous uncertainty for rural families – particularly livestock producers who have lost access to disaster programs, and dairy producers who no longer have access to dairy support programs.
The National Farmers Union 112th Congress Scorecard is out – how did your member of Congress and our U.S. senators do?
The NFU has a special paid subscription bi-monthly newsletter from which our Ohio scorecard was created. Since it’s vital that family farmers know how they are being represented in Washington, NFU has allowed us to provide this PDF of the entire newsletter. Inside you’ll find which votes were scored by NFU and how each member voted on the measures. You should also be advised that if you are represented by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown – and if you live and farm in Ohio you are – Brown was awarded the NFU Golden Triangle Award this year as a friend to family farming. U.S. House members from Ohio receiving the award were: Rep. Marcia Fudge, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Tim Ryan and Rep. Betty Sutton. If you like what you see in the NFU’s newsletter linked above, subscription information is on the last page.
In addition to grading each state’s congressional delegation, presidential candidates President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney were asked to provide open letters to NFU members for inclusion in the newsletter. You can find Obama’s letter when you click the link above. Unfortunately, Gov. Romney chose not to respond.
Now, here is our Ohio Scorecard:
Rome, Italy – General view. World Food Day Ceremony, FAO headquarters (Plenary Hall). Photo Courtesy FAO News
Agricultural cooperatives, already enriching millions of small-scale farmers, could expand and make an even greater contribution against poverty and hunger, if they were given the right support by governments, civil society and academia.
That is the key message of this year’s World Food Day, observed today in 150 countries. The theme this year focuses on “Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world” and coincides with the International Year of Cooperatives. World Food Day also commemorates the date when FAO was founded in 1945.
The fight against hunger was given new impetus last week with the release of figures showing that, despite there being 132 million fewer hungry people in the world compared to 20 years ago, there are still nearly 870 million people who go without enough food every day,
“With cooperatives serving as an integral part of rural development, both domestically and internationally, it is only fitting that this year’s World Food Day observance highlights the vital importance and benefits of agricultural co-ops,” said National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson. “NFU and its members have a long history of promoting rural economic and cooperative development, which in turn help family farmers and ranchers add value to the food, fiber and energy they produce.”
NFU’s Director of Communications Melisa Augusto recently traveled to Senegal as part of the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) Farmer-to-Farmer Exchange program, which is involved in international cooperative development. In honor of World Food Day, Augusto spoke on a panel that highlighted the role of cooperatives in feeding the world hosted by NCBA.
When you click the letter below, you’ll be taken to OFU’s Workers Compensation Group Rating Page for more information:
OFU President Roger Wise recently took some time off from harvest to talk the northwest Ohio media about the effects of the drought on crops this year and the expiration of the 2008 Farm Bill. Check out this story from the Toledo Blade and then watch Roger’s interview on WTOL-TV.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) makes and guarantees loans to family farmers and ranchers to promote, build and sustain family farms in support of a thriving agricultural economy. The goal of the loan program is to graduate borrowers to commercial credit. The USDA released a revised version of its general fact sheet and program descriptions for these loans in early October. Click the link below to download or view the updated fact sheet.
USDA-FSA Farm Loans FACT SHEET October 2012
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack $101 million in grants to support America’s specialty crops producers, who provide the fruits, vegetables, nuts and other nutritious foods for millions of healthy American meals each day.
Nine Ohio projects were awarded grants totaling nearly $643,000.
Approximately $55 million will be invested in 56 specialty crop block grants to states that fund 748 initiatives across the country to strengthen markets and expand economic opportunities for local and regional producers. An additional $46 million will go to support new and continuing research and extension activities to address challenges and opportunities for growers and businesses that rely on a sustainable, profitable specialty crops industry.
Ohio’s projects include:
