USDA offers programs, services for wildfire recovery With California farmers and ranchers assessing damage from a spate of ear- ly-season wildfires, the U.S. Department of Agriculturehas issued reminders about the technical and financial assistance it makes available to helpwith recovery. “As agricultural producers move into recoverymode and assess damages, they should contact their local USDA Service Centertoreport lossesandlearnmoreabout programoptions available to assist in their recoveryfromcrop, land, infrastructureand livestock losses anddamages,”USDAsaid. Connie Conway, state director of the USDA FarmService Agency, encouraged farmers and ranchers to contact a local FSA office via a Service Center as soon as they are safely able to evaluate the impact to their businesses. She said the FSA can advise farmers and ranchers on which documents they will need to provide to expedite assistance, such as farmrecords, receipts and pictures of damage or losses. The FSA said it offers a number of disas- ter-assistance programs to offset eligible losses: the Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees,andFarm-RaisedFishProgram; Emergency Conservation Program; Emergency Forest Restoration Program; Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program; andTreeAssistanceProgram. Additionally, USDA said producers lo- cated incountieswithaprimaryor contig- uous disaster designationmay be eligible for low-interestemergencyloans tohelpre- cover fromproductionandphysical losses. Theagency advised farmers and ranch- ers with federal crop insurance coverage to contact their crop insurance agent for assistance. The USDA Risk Management Agency said farmers and ranchers should report crop damage to their agent within 72 hours of the damage, and follow up in writingwithin 15 days. JeffreyYasui,whodirectstheRMAregion- alofficethatcoversCalifornia,saidapproved insurance providers, loss adjusters and agents “are experienced and well trained when it comes todisaster recovery and are ready toassist impactedproducers.” Th e USDA Na t u r a l Re s ou r c e s Conservation Service said it also offers programs to help in the recovery process. The Environmental Quality Incentives ProgramCatastrophicFireRecoveryprac- ticeprovides resourceprotection for areas burnedby catastrophic fires, withbenefits that include preventing soil erosion pro- tection,minimizing spreadof noxious and invasive plants, protecting water quality and restoring livestock infrastructurenec- essary for grazingmanagement. Additional NRCS programs include the Emergency Watershed Protection program, which assists local government agencieswith thecost of addressingwater- shed impairments or hazards such as de- bris removal andstreambankstabilization. NRCS said it also offers Conservation Technical Assistance following a wildfire, to help fire victims with planning cost-ef- fective post-fire restoration practices. USDA said farmers, ranchers and landowners can use an online Disaster AssistanceDiscovery Tool, answering five questions to identifyUSDAprograms that would helpmeet disaster recovery needs. The tool is available at www.farmers.gov/ recover/disaster-tool. More information on all USDA disas- ter assistance programs may be found at farmers.gov/recover or by contacting a lo- cal USDA Service Center, with a directory at farmers.gov/service-center-locator. China lags on fulfilling import commitments New trade data show China buy- ing more U.S. commodities, but the American Farm Bureau Federation says the sales aren’t on pace with trade com- mitments China has made. In data released last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said export sales toChina totalednearly $8 billion for the period of January through July. ThoughChinadid increase itspurchas- es of U.S. farmproducts, AFBF economist Veronica Nigh said the figure remained 44%below the pace Chinawould need to maintain tomeet commitmentsmade in a Phase 1 trade agreement with the U.S. “Certainly, China’s picking up the pace on their purchases, just as we were ex- pecting them to, but there’s still a long ways to go before they’re on pace to ac- tually meet their goal,” Nigh said. She said the additional sales to China have not increased overall U.S. agricul- tural exports this year. “It’s basically just shifting where our exports are going,” Nigh said, noting that total U.S. farmexports in the January-July period totaled about $75.9 billion—down roughly 3% from the same time last year. One potential for expanded trade, she said, comes in ongoing trade talks with Taiwan. For example, Nigh said Taiwan has expressed willingness to consider accepting U.S. beef from cows that are 30 months or older, which she said “certainly would be a big benefit to U.S. beef producers.”
OLIVE GROWERS REQUIRED OLIVES TO PRODUCE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Boundary Bend Olives , Inc ., a fully integrated leader in local and global olive oil production is actively looking to contract with California Olive Farmers . Demand for high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil grown in California currently outpace supply . To satisfy the current and future demand , Boundary Bend is looking for new growers to partner with us by offering contracts with industry leading returns . These contract offers are extended to both new olive oil growers and those who have already planted olives . Many regions in California ’ s Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys have proven to provide the ideal climate and soils for olive production . Our growers enjoy the benefits of growing a crop that requires meaningfully less water and fertili z er inputs than other fruit and nut crops with the ability to fully mechani z e most of their orchard cultural practices , while benefiting from very low pest and disease pressure . An ideal new grower candidate would have the ability to plant and farm over 200 acres . We partner with all our growers to help them benefit from our over two decades of olive growing experience and world leading technical expertise . We are looking for a select number of new growers to partner with us . If you have a serious interest , please see the contact details below .
ciriaco . chave z @ boundarybend . com
530 - 66 9- 6 9 31
boundarybend . com cobramestate . com
6 Ag Alert September 9, 2020
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