The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing a second round of payments for dairy producers through the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP), providing an additional $5 million to help dairy producers mitigate market volatility, higher input and transportation costs, and unstable feed supply and prices that have created unique hardships in the organic dairy industry. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has already paid out $15 million in the first round of payments for eligible producers, bringing total ODMAP payments to $20 million.
“This program is critical to keeping small, organic dairies sustainable as they continue to weather a combination of challenges outside of their control,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “In total, the Farm Service Agency is providing $20 million to give organic dairy producers additional economic support to stay in operation until markets return to more favorable conditions.”
How ODMAP Works
FSA accepted ODMAP applications from May 24 to August 11.
Eligible producers for ODMAP included certified organic dairy operations that produce milk from cows, goats and sheep.
ODMAP provides financial assistance for a producer’s projected marketing costs in 2023, calculated based on a cost share of marketing costs on the pounds of organic milk marketed for the 2022 calendar year (or a projection of 2023 pounds of organic milk marketed if warranted in certain situations), not to exceed 5 million pounds. For ODMAP applicants, the first payment was factored by 75%. USDA has determined that additional assistance is still needed and sufficient funding remains available so the second round of payments will provide the remaining 25% of requested assistance to each eligible applicant.
The second ODMAP payment is automatic. Participating producers do not need to take any additional action.
More Information
ODMAP complements other assistance available to dairy producers, including Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Supplemental DMC, with more than $1 billion in benefits paid for the 2023 program year to date.
Additionally, FSA recently announced the Milk Loss Program for eligible dairy operations. The program covers milk that was dumped or removed, without compensation, from the commercial milk market due to qualifying weather events and the consequences of those weather events that inhibited delivery or storage of milk (e.g., power outages, impassable roads, infrastructure losses, etc.) during calendar years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Learn more on the FSA Dairy Programs webpage.
To learn more about FSA programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center. Producers can also prepare maps for acreage reporting as well as manage farm loans and view other farm records data and customer information by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today.
The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Milk Loss Program (MLP) assistance for eligible dairy operations for milk that was dumped or removed, without compensation, from the commercial milk market due to qualifying weather events and the consequences of those weather events that inhibited delivery or storage of milk (e.g., power outages, impassable roads, infrastructure losses, etc.) during calendar years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), signup for MLP begins Sept. 11 and runs through Oct. 16, 2023.
“Frequent and widespread weather-related disasters over the past three years have impacted U.S. dairy. These producers continue to face supply chain issues, high feed and input costs, labor shortages, and market volatilities,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “The reality for dairy producers is that cattle are milked at least twice a day, producing on average, six to seven gallons of milk per cow, per day. That milk must go somewhere, and when it can’t get where it needs to go and can’t be stored due to circumstances beyond a producer’s control we need to help. The Milk Loss Program will help offset the economic loss by producers left with no other choice but dumping their milk during disasters.”
Background
On Dec. 29, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 117-43), providing $10 billion for crop losses, including milk losses due to qualifying disaster events that occurred in calendar years 2020 and 2021. Additionally, the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. 117-328) provides approximately $3 billion for disaster assistance for similar losses that occurred in calendar year 2022.
Eligibility
MLP compensates dairy operations for milk dumped or removed without compensation from the commercial milk market due to qualifying disaster events, including droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), and smoke exposure that occurred in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 calendar years. Tornadoes are considered a qualifying disaster event for calendar year 2022 only.
The milk loss claim period is each calendar month that milk was dumped or removed from the commercial market. Each MLP application covers the loss in a single calendar month. Milk loss that occurs in more than one calendar month due to the same qualifying weather event requires a separate application for each month.
The days that are eligible for assistance begin on the date the milk was removed or dumped and for concurrent days milk was removed or dumped. Once the dairy operation restarts milk marketing, the dairy operation is ineligible for assistance unless after restarting commercial milk marketing, additional milk is dumped due to the same qualifying disaster event. The duration of yearly claims is limited to 30 days per year for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
How to Apply
To apply for MLP, producers must submit:
FSA-376, Milk Loss Program Application
Milk marketing statement from the:
Month prior to the month milk was removed or dumped.
Affected month.
Detailed written statement of milk removal circumstances, including the weather event type and geographic scope, what transportation limitations occurred and any information on what was done with the removed milk.
Any other information required by the regulation.
If not previously filed with FSA, applicants must also submit all the following items within 60 days of the MLP application deadline:
Form AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet.
Form CCC-902, Farm Operating Plan for an individual or legal entity.
Form CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities (if applicable).
Form FSA-510, Request for an Exception to the $125,000 Payment Limitation for Certain Programs (if applicable).
Form CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, (if applicable).
A highly erodible land conservation (sometimes referred to as HELC) and wetland conservation certification (Form AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification) for the MLP producer and applicable affiliates.
Most producers, especially those who have previously participated in FSA programs, will likely have these required forms already on file. However, those who are uncertain or want to confirm the status of their forms can contact their local FSA county office.
MLP Payment Calculation
The final MLP payment is determined by factoring the MLP payment calculation by the applicable MLP payment percentage.
The calculation for determining MLP payment is:
((Base period per cow average daily milk production x the number of milking cows in a claim period x the number of days milk was removed or dumped in a claim period) ÷ 100) x pay price per hundredweight (cwt.).
For MLP payment calculations, the milk loss base period is the first full month of production before the dumping or removal occurred.
The MLP payment percentage will be 90% for underserved producers, including socially disadvantaged, beginning, limited resource, and veteran farmers and ranchers and 75% for all other producers.
To qualify for the higher payment percentage, eligible producers must have a CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, form on file with FSA for the 2023 program year.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limitations do not apply to MLP, however the payment limitation for MLP is determined by the person’s or legal entity’s average adjusted gross farm income (income derived from farming, ranching and forestry operations). Specifically, a person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general partnership, cannot receive, directly or indirectly, more than $125,000 in payments under MLP if their average adjusted gross farm income is less than 75% of their average AGI or more than $250,000 if their adjusted gross farm income is at least 75% of their average AGI.
More Information
In other FSA dairy safety-net support, Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program payments have triggered every month, January through July, for producers who obtained coverage for the 2023 program year. July 2023’s income over feed margin of $3.52 per hundredweight (cwt.) is the lowest margin since DMC program benefits to dairy producers started in 2019. To date, FSA has paid more than $1 billion in DMC benefits to covered dairy producers for the 2023 program year.
Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program — A Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas)-positive Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) sample has been collected from a residential property in Ventura County in the Santa Paula area and has been confirmed by the Citrus Research Board’s Jerry Dimitman Laboratory. The positive sample – comprised of 12 adult psyllids from a residential citrus tree in the Southwest area of Santa Paula – was collected on Sept. 6 as part of the Multi-Pest Risk Survey and confirmed positive for CLas on Sept. 19. This is the first confirmed CLas-positive ACP found in Ventura County.
A Huanglongbing (HLB) quarantine zone will not be established as a result of this CLas-positive ACP detection and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) staff are swiftly conducting surveys and collecting samples from the property and all HLB host plants that are located within a 250-meter radius around the find, per the ACP/HLB Action Plan.
While the first confirmation of a CLas-positive ACP in Ventura County is concerning, as of today, HLB has not been detected in any Ventura County citrus trees. However, it is more crucial than ever that populations of the ACP continue to be controlled properly in order to stop the disease from spreading, as oftentimes a CLas-positive ACP precedes the detection of an HLB-positive tree. Additionally, there were no nymphs observed at the time of collection on Sept. 6., however, during resampling efforts this week, CDFA collected 15 nymphs from the find site property but on a different host plant. CDFA crews will be surveying for any additional adult or nymph psyllids as part of the 250-meter survey being conducted this week.
This CLas-positive ACP detection is not associated with the research that was conducted last year in Southern California – including Ventura County – as a part of a program funded by the HLB Multi Agency Coordination Group by researchers from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Davis, UC Riverside and the University of Arizona, Tucson. These studies’ laboratory tests vary from the federally approved testing methods and procedures required by CDFA labs that would allow the state to take any regulatory action. Therefore, this is the first CLas-positive ACP detection recognized by CDFA.
While treatment is not mandatory for area commercial growers as a result of the detection, Ventura County commercial growers who wish to take proactive steps to protecting their groves or who have additional questions can contact Ventura County Grower Liaisons Sandra Zwaal or Cressida Silvers.
Efficient nitrogen fertilization management for all irrigated crops is gaining much attention as the Irrigated Lands Programs in the Central Valley and Central Coast begin efforts to minimize nitrate movement past the root zone of fruits, nuts and vegetables. The first in a series of seven educational videos on nitrogen fertilizer management is now available online. The video series is funded through a grant to CURES by the Fertilizer Research and Education Program (FREP) at the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
“The 4Rs of Nitrogen Management in Processing Tomatoes” features Zheng Wang, Vegetable Crops Advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE). Dr. Wang explains in the 30-minute video the current knowledge about efficient management of nitrogen in processing tomatoes by following the 4Rs: Right Rate, Time, Place and Product.
UCCE research supported by the California Tomato Research Institute shows that each ton of tomatoes requires approximately 4.6 pounds of nitrogen for efficient production. Nitrogen fertilizer injections into drip systems are best scheduled in the latter half of an irrigation set. Commercial and organic nitrogen fertilizers have varying levels of potential to move past the crop root zone. These and other agronomic and irrigation pointers are covered in the video, available in both English and Spanish. For those who want “just the facts,” 5-minute condensed versions of the video are also available.
Visit the BMP section of https://www.curesworks.org/nitrogen-management/ ; see Nitrogen Fertilizer 4R videos on canning tomatoes as well as walnuts. Coming soon in the CURES video series on the “4Rs of Nitrogen Management”: pistachios, almonds, citrus, high tonnage wine grapes, strawberries and lettuce. Sign up to be notified for all new video releases at www.curesworks.org “Contact Us.”
CURES was founded in 1997 to support educational efforts for agricultural and urban communities focusing on the proper and judicious use of pesticides and plant nutrients. Since its formation, the organization has focused its efforts on pesticide and nitrogen fertilizer stewardship and research projects, including studies on the effectiveness of management practices to minimize movement of farm inputs and sediment into surface and groundwater. A key goal is to implement educational programs, coordinate research and provide information and professional expertise to users and applicators of pesticides and nutrients to enhance and protect the environment, as well as public and worker health and safety. All its projects are implemented either by CURES staff or through partnerships with organizations such as commodity groups, water quality coalitions, private companies and the University of California.
A Hmong small-scale farmer in Merced County has saved about 14.4 acre-inches of water annually and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 12.406 MTCO2e per year (equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions produced from burning 1,396 gallons of gasoline) after upgrading her farm. Rosie Lee – who sells Asian greens, green beans, corn, strawberries and other produce at her farm stand and to Asian markets – is one of hundreds of growers benefiting from California Department of Food and Agriculture incentives and funds with the assistance of Climate Smart Agriculture community education specialists.
“She is one grower who would not have access to those funds without my bringing my computer out to the field,” said Caddie Bergren, a Climate Smart Agriculture community education specialist who has been working with growers in Merced County since the program’s launch.
To make it easier for farmers to adopt new practices, CDFA and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources partnered to create the Climate Smart Agriculture program.
Drip irrigation has saved Lee about 14.4 acre-inches of water annually.
“Since 2019, UC ANR’s Climate Smart Agriculture Team has provided in-depth technical assistance to more than 1,300 farmers and ranchers in 24 counties,” said Hope Zabronsky, academic coordinator for UC ANR’s Climate Smart Agriculture team. “Through their strong relationships with diverse farming communities, they support the implementation of soil health, water efficiency, and manure management practices that optimize climate benefits for all growers and Californians.”
The program’s community educators work with farmers and ranchers in 24 California counties to get CDFA-funded grants and implement Climate Smart Agriculture projects. These efforts, which emphasize outreach to underserved farmers and ranchers, have resulted in a total of $36.5 million invested from the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program or SWEEP, the Healthy Soils Program, and the Alternative Manure Management Program.
“Agriculture is an important part of the climate solution,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “This funding enables CDFA and UC ANR to partner with farmers and ranchers to scale up climate-smart agricultural practices. This is essential as we contend with our hotter, drier future.”
Lee, the Hmong grower, had been growing 18 acres of vegetables by flood irrigating with groundwater. To save water and reduce pumping costs, she asked Bergren to help her apply for SWEEP funds to convert to drip irrigation and install solar panels. Bergren brought her laptop to the field to help Lee pull together the necessary information for the application. After Lee received funds for the project, Bergren assisted her with the technical logistics of installing the irrigation and solar equipment.
“I called vendors and we were able to complete the project on time,” Bergren said.
Through the Climate Smart Agriculture program, Lee, shown holding a soil moisture sensor, received help to apply for grants and complete the energy and water-saving project.
CDFA and UC ANR have published an impact report highlighting the results of the multi-year partnership focused on increasing adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices to reduce water and energy use.
The investments have funded more than 420 projects, so far. The projects are expected to save an estimated 8.3 billion gallons of water during their lifetime, enough to supply over 75,000 typical homes in California with water for a year. Additionally, there are projected reductions of more than 355,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent, as much as would be achieved by removing 79,110 gas-powered vehicles from roads.
The report highlights the importance of providing tailored outreach, education and technical assistance to small-scale, non-English speaking, and otherwise underserved farmers and ranchers. — By Pam Kan-Rice and Josh Staab
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings the power of UC to all 58 California counties.Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition,economic and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu and support our work at donate.ucanr.edu.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 caused wheat and corn prices to spike 30% and 13%, respectively, and threatened a worldwide food crisis. International efforts to mitigate a food security crisis via the Solidarity Lanes and the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) have successfully allowed grain exports out of Ukraine. However, Russia’s recent withdrawal from the BSGI, coupled with increased bombings of Odesa and Danube River ports, caused another price spike for these grains. Further aggression in the region risks halting Russian wheat and Ukrainian corn exports across the Black Sea, the main export channel for both countries.
Russia accounts for about 18% of global wheat exports and 2% of worldwide corn exports, while Ukraine provides 15% of global corn exports and only 9% of wheat. Why have these statistics spooked the grain commodity markets?
“The simple answer is that Russia’s aggression in the Black Sea region increases the risk of the world grain market losing the number four corn exporter, Ukraine, and the number one wheat exporter, Russia, if grain vessels on the Black Sea become targets of drone strikes,” said Colin A. Carter, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis. If all grain shipped through the Black Sea by Russia and Ukraine were halted, it would cut off 27% of global wheat exports and 17% of global corn exports.
Analysis of the corn and wheat markets by Carter and Sandro Steinbach, associate professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics and the Director of the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies at North Dakota State University, shows a notable increase in market uncertainty since the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, as evidenced by measuring “implied volatility.” Implied volatility is the expected price volatility of a commodity like corn or wheat in options trading. In March of 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, the implied volatility of corn jumped from 25% to 60%, while wheat rose from 40% to 160%. There was also a second peak in volatility in July 2023, after Russia pulled out of the BSGI, suggesting further fears that grain exports through the Black Sea could be cut off from world markets.
When Russia withdrew from the BSGI, there was another brief price spike in wheat (up 15%) and corn (up 10%). Wheat markets have been consistently more affected by conflict in Ukraine, specifically in the Black Sea, than corn prices. This difference can be explained by the fact that 95% of Russian grain is exported through the eastern portion of the Black Sea, while around a quarter of Ukrainian grain is shipped by truck and rail and would not be as affected by the conflict in the Black Sea. By volume, there is around 1.7 times more wheat than corn shipped from Black Sea ports. The wheat market is more politically charged than the corn market because wheat is primarily a food grain. Therefore, the greatest risk to global food security moving forward may no longer be getting grain out of Ukraine – due to the continued success of the Solidarity Lanes – but rather the loss of wheat exports to the world market that could result from Russia backing out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
To learn more about how Russian aggression in the Black Sea might affect global food security, read the full article by Carter and Steinbach, “Russian Weaponization of Food Rattles Global Markets,” ARE Update 26(6): 1–4. UC Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, online at https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1694637435/20778/.
ARE Update is a bimonthly magazine published by the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics to educate policymakers and agribusiness professionals about new research or analysis of important topics in agricultural and resource economics. Articles are written by Giannini Foundation members, including University of California faculty and Cooperative Extension specialists in agricultural and resource economics, and university graduate students. Learn more about the Giannini Foundation and its publications at https://giannini.ucop.edu/.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings the power of UC to all 58 California counties.Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition,economic and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu and support our work at donate.ucanr.edu.
On September 20th, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) introduced the Climate-Friendly Food Label Task Force Act to establish an advisory panel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study the development of a climate-friendly certification for food products. The task force would be mandated to produce a report to Congress that provides recommendations for the development of a certification and labeling program that recognizes foods that are made and grown in a sustainable manner.
“The food and agriculture sector currently contributes about 10 percent of the United States’ total greenhouse gas emissions, and it is expected to grow to a staggering 30% by 2050. While a majority of U.S. consumers say that sustainability is important to them when purchasing food, research shows that consumers struggle to identify which products are the most sustainable.
“Consistent labeling, such as the USDA Organic seal, represents a successful model for using a voluntary, market-based approach to driving innovation in the food and agricultural sector and creating a robust organic market in the United States. Market-based approaches have also resulted in significant economic benefits, including job creation and higher revenue for producers.
“Similar to USDA Organic, the Climate-Friendly Food Label Task Force Act would establish an advisory panel at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide recommendations for the development of a certification and labeling program for foods that are made and grown in a sustainable manner. This label would not only help consumers more easily identify sustainable foods and food production, but it’s a simple and effective solution to address one of the significant causes of greenhouse gas emissions. Creating this label will be a real win-win-win for the agriculture sector, consumers, and our environment,” said Congresswoman Brownley.
Agriculture educators play a vital role within their communities by investing countless hours to prepare and empower students for successful careers in the industry. To honor their contributions and support them with additional resources, the California FFA Foundation, in partnership with Nationwide and the California Farm Bureau, are accepting nominations for California’s leading agricultural teachers for a chance to be named as the 2023-2024 Ag Educator of the Year.
Nationwide and its state partners recently recognized 64 exceptional agricultural teachers as 2022-2023 Golden Owl Award® finalists and then honored nine grand prize winners as their state’s Ag Educator of the Year. Every finalist received $500 in funding to help advance their programs and the grand prize winners received an additional $3,000 to boost their efforts and the coveted Golden Owl Award trophy.
“The Golden Owl Award seeks to thank agricultural teachers for the extraordinary care they bring to their work as they go above and beyond in educating America’s youth and future leaders,” said Brad Liggett, president of Agribusiness at Nationwide. “We encourage students, parents, fellow teachers and others to nominate their agricultural teachers to acknowledge their hard work.”
Following the nomination period closing on January 16, a selection committee will evaluate nominations and select six finalists in California, who will be recognized in front of their peers and students and awarded with a personalized plaque and $500. One finalist will then be chosen as the grand prize winner, earning the 2023-2024 Ag Educator of the Year title for California and receiving the coveted Golden Owl Award trophy and an additional $3,000 to help fund future educational efforts.
“Ag teachers are the heartbeat of FFA programs, nurturing the seeds of knowledge, cultivating leadership, and sowing the future of agriculture with passion and dedication,” explains Katie Otto, Executive Director of Development for the California FFA Foundation. “We are proud to support an awards program that recognizes the immeasurable value of agricultural teachers in shaping students, schools, and communities.”
Nationwide supports the future of the ag community through meaningful sponsorships of national and local organizations. In conjunction with the Golden Owl Award, Nationwide is donating $5,000 to each participating state’s FFA, including the California FFA, to further support the personal and professional growth of students, teachers and advisors alike.
To nominate a teacher or learn more about the Golden Owl Award, visit GoldenOwlAward.com.
Photo Caption: Jason Ferreira, agricultural teacher at Hanford High School, was named California’s 2022-2023 “Ag Educator of the Year.” Ferreira was formally recognized as the Golden Owl Award grand prize winner earlier this year during the California FFA State Leadership Conference. Nominations are now open for the 2023-24 award program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline for its Request for Information to Oct. 12, 2023, to solicit public comments on possible changes to prevented planting crop insurance coverage. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) believes extending the deadline will enable additional time for comments and feedback from commenters and key stakeholders.
“We received great feedback from our listening sessions throughout the country, and we want to ensure everyone has an opportunity to have their voice heard” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “We recognize that folks, particularly farmers, had a busy summer, and we will provide some extra time to submit comments.”
The request for information seeks stakeholder input on prevented planting topics, specifically:
Harvest Price Option – Feedback on whether to allow the prevented planting payment calculations to be based on the higher of projected price or harvest price under the revenue protection plan of insurance.
“1 in 4” Rule – Input on the challenges or experiences since the rule was implemented nationwide (to be eligible for a prevented planting coverage acreage, a producer must have planted, insured, and harvested a crop in at least 1 out of the previous 4 crop years)
10 percent additional coverage option – Input on if RMA should reinstate the option to buy-up prevented planting coverage by 10 percent.
Contract price – Whether prevented planting costs are higher for contracted crops and how prevented planting payments should be calculated for contract crops.
General topics – Willingness to pay additional premium for expanded prevented planting benefits, recommendations on other prevented planting limitations, etc.
The request for information, which includes details for submitting feedback, is available in this Federal Register notice.
In addition to the Request for Information, RMA held in-person and virtual listening sessions June through August to hear directly from producers. The in-person listening sessions were held in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas. RMA will accept written comments through its extended request for information until Oct. 12, 2023.
Prevented planting insurance provisions provide valuable coverage when extreme weather conditions prevent expected plantings. Prevented planting is when a producer is unable to plant an insured crop due to an insurable cause of loss in time to grow a viable crop. Final planting dates and late planting periods are detailed in a producer’s crop insurance policy, and they vary by crop and location. Prevented planting coverage is intended to assist with normal costs associated with preparing the land up to the point of seed going into the ground (pre-plant costs).
More Information
Crop insurance is sold and delivered solely through private crop insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers and online at the RMA Agent Locator.Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at rma.usda.gov or by contacting your RMA Regional Office.
With the McKinney Fire creeping closer to Yreka in the summer of 2022, Emily Jackson and her mother potentially faced the enormous task of getting all their goats, chickens, dogs and cats to safety – while Emily’s father and twin sister Lindsay were away fighting the fires.
Twin sisters Emily (left) and Lindsay Jackson were part of a 4-H project that produced a pet emergency preparedness brochure for Siskiyou County. Emily, currently a grad student at Cal Poly Humboldt, has been a U.S. Forest Service crew lead for the past two summers. Lindsay is a seasonal firefighter with CAL FIRE. Photo courtesy of Emily Jackson
Fortunately, Emily and Lindsay had gained crucial knowledge about evacuating animals through a 4-H service-learning project they helped lead in 2018. A group of eight 4-H youths, ages 14 to 18, had created a “Pet Emergency Evacuation Plan” (PEEP) brochure, aimed at educating their neighbors in Siskiyou County about the necessary preparations for livestock and pets.
The brochure, available through the Siskiyou County website, remains in use today in this densely forested region that saw another spate of wildfires this summer. The PEEP project team was composed of Kylie Daws, Emily Jackson, Lindsay Jackson, Will Morris, MadisonRestine, Maryssa Rodriguez, Emily Smith and Callahan Zediker.
Within those stressful hours in 2022 when the McKinney Fire prompted an evacuation warning during which residents could be required to leave at any moment, Emily Jackson said she and her mother had a game plan in place – thanks to her work on the PEEP project.
“At the time, it wasn’t even on my mind,” Jackson said, “but looking back now, I know that having the experience from making that brochure was driving my thought process at the time.”
And while the Jackson family and their neighbors ultimately were not asked to evacuate in 2022, many community members have benefited from the hundreds of copies of the PEEP brochure in circulation, which prompts residents to at least think about what their animals would need in an emergency, Jackson said.
Pet and livestock evacuation tips were needed
Such a resource previously had not been available among the county’s emergency preparation materials, according to Jacki Zediker, the 4-H regional program coordinator in Siskiyou County who advised the PEEP project group.
“One piece that was missing was how to help our communities understand that when they evacuate, and they take their pets with them…it’s not as simple as just taking their pets with them,” said Zediker, citing the example that some shelters do not take in animals – or do not take animals without proof of vaccination.
Other items to add to the pet’s emergency kit include food for several days, water, medications, comfort items or toys, and recent photos ofthe owner with their animal (proof of ownership).
Zediker had connected the young people with Jodi Aceves, senior deputy agriculture commissioner/sealer for Siskiyou County, who had been overseeing the county’s Animal Control programs and emergency response.
“There’s a lot of information out there for people evacuating, but not necessarily for livestock and pets,” Aceves said. “Unfortunately, we have had some fires where there were lots of pets and livestock lost.”
She met several times with the 4-H group, discussing the county’s evacuation systems and processes and the role of the Office of Emergency Services and law enforcement agencies, and sharing key considerations in preparing for emergencies – such as having a pre-agreement in place with someone who could house an evacuee’s animals.
Lindsay Jackson, a seasonal firefighter at the McCloud CAL FIRE station since 2020, hopes to land a full-time position with the department. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Jackson
Aceves praised the teens for distilling the vital information into a short and simple brochure that community members could easily read and remember. She also was impressed by the energy and genuine care that the young people put into the project.
“Most of their lives, every summer, they’ve been in fire,” Aceves said. “It’s close to their hearts, and they’ve seen a lot of their neighbors and other people in the county either affected by fire or evacuated at some point.”
For Lindsay Jackson, in particular, fire and serving the community have been lifelong passions, inspired by her father’s work in the area.
“My dad was a volunteer fire chief for the South Yreka Fire Department; he was doing that since I was about two or three, so I grew up watching him go to the trainings, go to a call,” she explained. “When I was 15, I joined the fire department as a cadet to help out with the medical side, but the more I volunteered, I really liked the fire side, too.”
Jackson added that Zediker has a special knack for nurturing and encouraging the interests of the 4-H participants and applying them in a productive way.
“Jacki was really good at figuring out where our passions were and then how we could put our passions into a service-learning project,” she said. “She knew I was really big into fire and helping the community in that way since I was young.”
Zediker also helped the Jackson twins on their senior project, a fire-safety field day at the South Yreka fire station. More than 100 schoolchildren learned fire safety basics, met firefighters and emergency personnel, and heard about 4-H from Lindsay and Emily.
4-H experiences, mentorship inspire career paths
The PEEP project group also was asked by several organizations to share their knowledge about emergency preparations for animals. In addition to presenting a poster about their work at the 4-H California Focus conference in 2018, the group handed out the brochure and shared information at a table during a Juniper Flat Fire Safe Council workshop and resource fair.
Beyond distributing the PEEP brochure at 4-H club meetings, school events and community meetings, the youths have lent their voices to advocating for emergency resources for animals. Zediker noted that they contributed testimonials that helped the county acquire grants for purchasing more portable kennels.
Emily Jackson, seen here at a booth about invasive plants during the Siskiyou County Fair, is currently working toward a master’s degree in biology, studying how fire suppression and other factors have changed plant communities in the Russian Wilderness. Photo courtesy of Emily Jackson
But the most enduring impact of 4-H participation and community service, however, is that those experiences were a springboard for the young adults’ careers. Emily Jackson – who participated in 4-H from age 5 to 19 – is now working toward a master’s degree in biology at Cal Poly Humboldt, studying how fire suppression and other factors have changed plant communities in the Russian Wilderness.
Whether training colleagues as a U.S. Forest Service crew lead for the past couple of summers, or leading lab sections in general botany as a graduate student, Jackson said she draws on her 4-H experiences – and Zediker’s inspirational example – as she pursues a career in teaching.
“In my development as a young adult into an adult now, I cannot overstate how big of a role Jacki played in that,” Jackson said.
Her sister Lindsay, meanwhile, has pursued her passion for fire all the way through the fire academy at College of the Siskiyous, where she also earned her emergency medical technician (EMT) license. Most recently working on fires near Pondosa in Siskiyou County, Jackson has been a seasonal firefighter based at the McCloud CAL FIRE station since 2020.
“It’s hard because, in the last three years, I haven’t left Siskiyou County, there’s just been so many fires here,” she said. “But it’s nice being able to help your community and know you’re making a difference.”
Lindsay Jackson intends to pursue a bachelor’s degree in leadership studies at Cal Poly Humboldt in hopes of getting a full-time position with CAL FIRE. — By Mike Hsu, UCANR
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