Ohio Farmers Union

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USDA, Crop Insurance Companies Providing Short Grace Period on Premiums

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USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said today that crop insurance companies have agreed to provide a short grace period for farmers on insurance premiums in 2012.

To help producers who may have cash flow problems due to natural disasters, Secretary Vilsack sent a letter to crop insurance companies asking them to voluntarily defer the accrual of any interest on unpaid spring crop premiums by producers until November 1, 2012. In turn, to assist the crop insurance companies, USDA will not require crop insurance companies to pay uncollected producer premiums until one month later.

CRP Lands: Emergency Haying and Grazing for all Ohio counties

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Ohio Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced additional drought relief for Ohio’s livestock producers today. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack authorized the release of emergency haying and grazing lands for all Ohio counties for certain practices and acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

USDA will allow acres under CRP to be used for haying or grazing under emergency conditions, for the following approve practices: Permanent Grasses and Native Grasses, Permanent Wildlife Habitat Noneasement, and Vegetative Cover (Grass) already established, the following practices are not eligible for haying and grazing Water Ways and acreage under the SAFE program. This will allow lands that are not yet classified as “under severe drought” but that are “abnormally dry” to be used for haying and grazing. This will increase available forage for livestock.

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More than half of Ohio has had between 50-75% of average rainfall over 90 days

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Another online resource to add to your list of ways to follow information about the drought affecting most of Ohio is Midwest Climate Watch from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC).

The MRCC is a cooperative effort of the National Climatic Center and the Illinois State Water Survey. The MRCC serves the nine-state Midwest region: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. They focus on research help to better explain climate and its impacts on the Midwest, provide practical solutions to specific climate problems, and development of climate information for issues such as agriculture, climate change, energy, the environment, human health, risk management, transportation, and water resources.

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USDA: Macro picture could be worse …

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Although it’s cold comfort if your corn is dying or you’ve been feeding hay to grass fed beef for 6 weeks this summer, the USDA released this infographic to basically say: “It could be worse.”

The department says this is the greatest environmental challenge to U.S. agriculture since 1988, but that advances over the ensuing years have made the industry more resilient. Perhaps this message is aimed more at consumers. Leave a comment and tell us your thoughts in the comments. (Click the graphic for a full-size, pdf version.)

 

Wise, Zumbrink speak out on Farm Bill & drought

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Ohio Farmers Union President Roger Wise and longtime member James Zumbrink were quoted in the Columbus Dispatch today regarding the drought and Congress’ inattention to the Farm Bill.

This year’s drought, affecting a huge swath of the United States is severely disrupting agriculture from corn to livestock grazing. Here’s a bit of the Dispatch coverage – click the link at the end to read the whole story at their website:

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Emergency haying and grazing for CRP participants in Ohio

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COLUMBUS –  Ohio Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Steve Maurer announced additional drought relief for Ohio’s livestock producers today. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack authorized the release of emergency haying and grazing lands for all Ohio counties for certain practices and acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

USDA will allow acres under CRP to be used for haying or grazing under emergency conditions. This will allow lands that are not yet classified as “under severe drought” but that are “abnormally dry” to be used for haying and grazing. This will increase available forage for livestock.

Under emergency haying at least fifty percent of each field or contiguous fields must be left unhayed for wildlife. Under emergency grazing at least twenty-five percent of each field or contiguous CRP fields must be left ungrazed for wildlife, or graze not more than seventy-five percent of the stocking rate as determined by NRCS.

Under emergency haying and grazing CRP participants will be assessed a payment reduction based on the number of acres actually hayed or grazed times the CRP annual rental payment times ten percent.

Participants may sell hay harvested under emergency provisions. CRP participants who do not own or lease livestock may rent or lease the haying or grazing privilege to an eligible livestock producer.

CRP is a voluntary program that provides producers annual rental payments on their land in exchange for planting resource conserving crops on cropland to help prevent erosion, provide wildlife habitat and improve the environment.

Producers must notify their local FSA office and file a request and receive approval before starting this emergency haying and grazing activity.

U.S. Drought Facts and Resources

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According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, 62 percent of U.S. farms are now affected by drought conditions which stretch across the country from Rhode Island to California in the continental U.S. and includes most of Hawaii.

In Ohio there are currently four counties in the state’s northwest corner with USDA drought designation: Williams, Defiance, Paulding and Van Wert. Ohio’s four counties are listed as “contiguous designations” as they are adjacent to four counties in Indiana which are counties with “primary” designations.

The ERS says on its website that it’s impossible to say exactly how much food prices will be impacted by the drought, but does say based on past experience and how inputs move through our system of food that consumers can expect the following:

  • Beef, pork, poultry and dairy prices will likely begin to be impacted in two months. Packaged and processed foods with corn and soybean inputs could take 10 to 12 months for full price impacts.
  • When herds are culled during droughts, there could be some short-term price reductions in certain meat products due to increased short-term supply.
  • Historically, if the farm price of corn increases 50 percent, then retail food prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases by 0.5 to 1 percent. More generally, as an overall commodity price index increases, about 14 to 15 percent of that increase is passed on to retail prices for products that use that commodity as an ingredient.
  • Based on 2010 data 2/3 of U.S. crops and 2/3 of U.S. livestock are in drought areas.

A few online resources

  1. The USDA’s Drought Page – contains the latest news releases and other information from USDA focusing on agency actions and farmer assistance due to the drought.
  2. The U.S. Drought Monitor – is a multi-agency effort focused on recording the drought levels and severity across the U.S. The map on this page is related the severity of drought, not whether a particular county has been designated by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack or any other official as in an emergency or other special status.
  3. The National Drought Mitigation Center – focuses on drought impacts and the science of droughts.
  4. The Office of the State Climatologist for Ohio – contains many links to climate and weather-related information regarding Ohio.
  5. Ohio Dept. of Agriculture Drought Information Page – contains links to information including SBA loan information for those affected by the drought.
  6. OSU Extension – Managing the Drought of 2012 – tons of information and links covering farm and home topics.

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Ohio Farmers Union
P.O. Box 363
1011 N. Defiance Street
Ottawa, Ohio 45875
Phone: (419) 523-5300
Toll Free: (800) 321-3671