California Ag Network

Tag: USDA

  • USDA Hiring Engineers, Natural Resource Specialists Nationwide to Enhance Ag Conservation

    Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is ramping up hiring for key positions that will help strengthen agricultural conservation efforts and turn President Biden’s Investing in America agenda into action. The available positions include engineers, civil engineering technicians and natural resource specialists, building on other large-scale hiring announcements earlier this year. The application period for engineer positions is currently open, and engineering technicians and natural resource specialist opportunities will open over the next two weeks.

    “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are building a robust workforce with the skills necessary to support communities as they address conservation challenges and respond to increasing extreme weather events fueled by climate change,” said NRCS Chief Terry Cosby. “If you are interested in leveraging your skill in engineering or the agricultural sciences to make a positive impact in your local community, you are exactly the kind of candidate we’re looking for. You would work with farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, as well as other community members, to address a variety of natural resource conservation challenges and support our country’s investment in a climate-smart future for agriculture.”

    Today’s announcement is funded by $19.5 billion from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The new NRCS engineers and engineering technicians will play a critical role in solving a host of natural resource problems for agricultural producers and local communities. Their projects may involve stream restoration, erosion control, developing water systems for livestock, improving and conserving irrigation water and restoring wetlands. They may also help communities recover from natural disasters.

    Natural resource specialists perform a variety of duties to help landowners meet their conservation objectives. This may include assisting in the implementation of conservation plans, conducting scientific studies and performing on-site evaluations with customers. Their work enhances conservation program delivery and helps build resilient farms and communities across America.

    “These positions offer outstanding benefits that set them apart from jobs outside of federal service,” Cosby said. “NRCS provides competitive starting pay with regular increases and locality pay adjustments, career ladders and advancement opportunities, flexible work schedules and telework, excellent medical benefits, paid maternal and paternal leave, and a pension where eligibility begins after five years of service, as well as a 401k-type retirement program with matching contributions by USDA.”

    How to Apply

    The announcement for engineers is currently open on USAjobs.gov and will close on June 30, 2023. NRCS will post an announcement for engineering technicians on June 26 and natural resource specialists on July 3. Interested candidates can find more information and apply by searching for these job titles on USAjobs.gov.

    To qualify for these positions, candidates must meet the education requirements, or a combination of education and experience requirements, as outlined in the job announcement. General qualifications for the engineering and natural resource management job series are also available on OPM.gov. Additional information on career opportunities at NRCS is available on the agency’s careers webpage. 

    More Information

    Over the next several years, NRCS expects to add over 4,400 new employees to its federal workforce, in addition to over 3,000 team members through partner organizations, to help with Inflation Reduction Act implementation.

    The Inflation Reduction Act is part of the Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda to grow the American economy from the middle out and bottom up, by rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing investments, creating good-paying jobs, and building a clean energy economy to tackle the climate crisis and make our communities more resilient. NRCS received $19.5 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act for our popular conservation programs to provide financial assistance to customers. Many of these programs support President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which is advancing environmental justice by ensuring that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments reach disadvantaged communities that are marginalized and overburdened by pollution and underinvestment. To help with implementation, NRCS is also streamlining programs to make them more efficient and better for producers and partners as well as building new and existing partnerships to add capacity. NRCS is committed to supporting farmers, ranchers, private landowners and Tribal Nations, to build resilient agricultural operations, combat climate change, ensure equity and support voluntary conservation on working lands.

    NRCS accepts producer applications for its conservation programs year-round, and in some states, producers can still apply for 2023 funding. Interested producers should view their state ranking dates.

    NRCS is a federal agency that helps farmers, ranchers and forest landowners conserve soil, water and other natural resources. Employees provide technical expertise and conservation planning. Financial assistance is available for a wide variety of conservation programs. NRCS has offices in USDA Service Centers nationwide.

  • USDA Partners with Farmers to Increase Innovative Domestic Fertilizer Production

    U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is partnering with American businesses as part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to increase innovative domestic fertilizer production, creating jobs in rural communities and providing more options to U.S. farmers.

    “The rapid increase in the cost of critical inputs like fertilizer is only the latest example of why we must invest in strong, domestic agricultural supply chains,” Vilsack said. “The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program not only increases fertilizer production and improves competition, but also creates new opportunities for American businesses and is one of the many ways that the Biden Administration is making long-term investments to strengthen our supply chains.”

    In 2022, USDA made $500 million available under the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP) to spur domestic competition and combat rising fertilizer costs caused by the war in Ukraine. The Department received applications from more than 350 businesses seeking to increase fertilizer production.

    Due to the strong demand for funding, the Commodity Credit Corporation is providing up to $400 million in additional FPEP funding to finance even more projects that will promote competition in agricultural markets.

    New Project Selections

    As part of this effort, USDA is inviting public comments on 66 projects eligible to receive grants to increase fertilizer production. The Department will only consider projects that adhere to federal policies designed to protect the environment and historic properties.

    USDA is seeking comments that assess how well each applicant plans to:

    • Incorporate social, economic and environmental considerations into decision-making and planning processes.
    • Protect cultural and historic properties, including those on Tribal lands, from potential impacts.

    Comments must be submitted to FPEP@usda.gov by July 22. For more information, visit https://www.rd.usda.gov/resources/environmental-studies/fpep-environmental-review-comments.

    USDA expects to announce final project selections in the coming months.

    Round One Awards

    Today, the Department is also awarding $30 million in grants through seven awards under round one of the program to help U.S. farmers in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Texas and Wisconsin increase independent, domestic fertilizer production.

    The grants will create a competitive, resilient and sustainable economy that will support opportunities for local businesses and people across the nation. Some examples include:

    • Black’s Valley Ag Supply Inc. will build a new dry fertilizer production and storage facility in Durand, Wisconsin. The production plant expects to increase fertilizer production by 33% per year.
    • Farmer’s Union Oil Company will expand a fertilizer processing facility in rural Montana. This project will create a local and affordable fertilizer option for agricultural producers in a four-county region while saving and creating several local jobs.
    • Progressive Ag Cooperative will construct a dry fertilizer facility that will serve cooperative members from northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.

    This round of awards is part of the list of 21 potentially viable projects USDA released in January 2023.

    Background

    Fertilizer prices more than doubled between 2021 and 2022 due to many factors. These factors include: the war in Ukraine, a limited supply of the relevant minerals, high energy costs, high global demand and agricultural commodity prices, reliance on imports, and a lack of competition in the fertilizer industry.

    To combat these issues, USDA began accepting FPEP applications in September 2022. The Department initially announced plans to make $250 million in grants available, but quickly doubled the available funding to $500 million to address rising costs and spur competition. USDA is now adding up to an additional $400 million.

    The Department received requests for $3 billion in applications from more than 350 businesses for the first two rounds of the program. The businesses were located in 47 states and two territories.

    In January 2023, USDA released a list of 21 potentially viable projects for the first round of funding with a request for public comment. The first round focused on projects that will increase fertilizer capacity for the 2023 or 2024 crop years, to prioritize projects with near-term impact.

    In March 2023, Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA offered a total of $29 million to eight businesses in Alabama, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio and Washington. The grants will help the businesses modernize equipment, advance climate-smart practices and build production plants, among other activities.

    FPEP is part of a broader effort to help producers boost production and address global food insecurity. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov/fpep or https://www.farmers.gov/global-food-insecurity.

    FPEP is one of many ways the Biden Administration is promoting fair competition, innovation and resiliency across food and agriculture and combating the climate crisis by conserving and protecting our nation’s lands, biodiversity and natural resources, including our soil, air and water.

  • USDA Accepting Applications for Chile Agribusiness Trade Mission

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service is accepting applications from U.S. exporters for a trade mission to Santiago, Chile.

    During the week of September 25-29, U.S. agribusinesses will participate in business-to-business meetings with potential importers from both Chile and Peru. The trade mission will coincide with the USDA-endorsed Espacio Food and Service trade show, Chile’s major food show and a significant gateway to the Latin American market, offering additional networking opportunities for U.S. participants.

    “This year we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of U.S.-Chile diplomatic relations and today Chile and the neighboring Peru are some of our key trading partners, representing the second and third largest agricultural markets in South America,” said FAS Administrator Daniel B. Whitley. “With the Espacio Food and Service trade show taking place at the same time, the upcoming trade mission to Santiago provides a unique opportunity to expand U.S. agricultural exports to Chile and Peru even further.”

    In addition to conducting business-to-business meetings, the trade mission participants will also have an opportunity to receive detailed market briefings from FAS staff and local and regional industry experts. The event will include receptions and other opportunities to network, engagements with USDA leadership, and relevant site and retail visits in Santiago and the surrounding area.

    Total agricultural exports to these markets have grown significantly since the establishment of the Chile Free Trade Agreement and the Peru Trade Promotion Agreements and exceeded $2 billion in 2022. In January – April 2023, U.S. agricultural exports to Chile have increased by 4 percent compared to the same period in the prior year. The region offers a modern and dynamic food retail sector as well as relatively high per capita incomes and purchasing power. Strong opportunities exist for exporters across many sectors, including but not limited to:

    • Alcoholic beverages
    • Animal protein
    • Cheese
    • Consumer-oriented products
    • Dog and cat food
    • Ingredients for processing
    • Tree nuts
    • Wheat

    To apply, please complete the Santiago, Chile Agribusiness Trade Mission Application. The deadline to apply for the Chile trade mission is Wednesday, July 5th.

    This is the fourth USDA trade mission of 2023. FAS will also be leading trade missions later this year to Malaysia/Singapore and Angola. To learn more about the USDA trade missions, visit: Trade Missions | USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

  • U.S. Exporters Build New Partnerships During Ag Trade Mission to Japan

    June started off on a high note at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, with the USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor leading the U.S. delegation on an agribusiness trade mission to Japan on June 5-9.

    “Leading a trade mission is always a great honor and I was very pleased to showcase the quality and diversity of U.S. food and agricultural products,” said Taylor. “This delegation was incredibly robust, bringing together representatives from 11 state departments of agriculture, 11 cooperators, a representative from the Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association, and a diverse group of U.S. exporters looking to establish new business partnerships with Japanese importers.”

    While in Japan, Under Secretary Taylor met with leadership from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry; and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. United States and Japan enjoy a strong bilateral trade relationship and these meetings allowed the two sides to discuss strengthening this relationship even further, expanding biofuels export markets, and strengthening food safety.

    Throughout the week, the participants learned about Japanese consumers and how to do business in Japan. More than 400 business-to-business meetings were held, providing U.S. exporters with opportunities to establish strong connections with their new business partners in Japan. Companies that joined this trade mission provided a strong display of strength and breadth of U.S. food and agriculture industries, showcasing products including grains, pork, fruit, berries, coffee, tea, and distilled spirits.

    “Over the years we have found that the trade mission format is very beneficial and is a great use of time and resources,” said Jake Robinson, an Intertribal Agricultural Council member, who represented products from Red Lake, Inc., owned by the Red Lake Nation. “Trade missions are vital events for increasing our export footprint and provide excellent opportunities to get a comprehensive market analysis, develop key relationships with buyers, and work directly with FAS staff.”

    “This program helped us connect with people interested in our products, making the whole process much easier and simpler,” said Carolyn Crotzer, a co-owner of Hawaiian Viking Coffee. This was the first trade mission for the company. “Multiple companies have already said that they want to work with us, and I am blown away by the response we are getting and how fast everything is getting processed.”

    This was the third agribusiness trade mission organized by FAS in 2023. The agency is also planning a trade mission to Chile in September, Malaysia in October, and Angola in December. Learn more about USDA trade missions by visiting https://www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-missions and following FAS on Twitter at @USDAForeignAg.

  • USDA-ARS California JOB VACANCY

    The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Invasive Species and Pollinator Health Research Unit is seeking a full time Plant Ecologist or Plant Physiologist or Agronomist for a permanent appointment in Davis, California. The successful candidate will be located at the USDA’s Aquatic Weeds Lab on the western side of the UC Davis campus but will also have space within a new USDA facility to be constructed nearby. The incumbent’s research will focus on the development of integrated weed management strategies for invasive aquatic plants to protect water resources and wetland ecosystem health in the western U.S. The successful candidate will be expected to advance basic knowledge of aquatic weed biology, ecology and invasion pathways to develop and improve management strategies in these ecosystems. In addition, the candidate will evaluate new herbicides and improve herbicide application techniques to enhance management efficacy of established aquatic weeds and in rapid responses to new weed invasions. The research position may be filled at one of several grade levels (GS-12-13-14) depending upon scientific impact of the selected person. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply. Research positions have an open-ended promotion potential.  Salary is commensurate with experience.  Citizenship restrictions apply.  Please view the complete text announcement and application instructions using the following link: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/731291100.

    This vacancy announcement is open from 06/12/2023 to 07/11/2023.  For information on the research program contact Paul Pratt at Paul.Pratt@usda.gov

    The USDA/ARS is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.  Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

  • Nominations for Farmers and Ranchers to Serve on Local FSA Committees

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting nominations for county committee members for elections that will occur later this year. Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is unveiling a new GIS tool to make it easier for producers to participate in the nomination and election processes for county committee members, who make important decisions on how federal farm programs are administered locally.

    All nomination forms for the 2023 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2023.

    “Producers serving on FSA county committees play a critical role in the day-to-day operations of the agency, and they serve as the eyes and ears for the producers who elected them,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “In order for county committees to be both effective and equitable in their decision-making at the local level, they must reflect the full diversity of American agriculture. I am excited that we have another opportunity through this year’s nominations and elections cycle to make our committees more inclusive, and in turn, better equipped to best serve all our customers. I encourage you to consider serving the farmers, ranchers and producers in your community on your local FSA county committee, and I thank you in advance for your public service.”

    Elections will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for members. LAAs are elective areas for FSA committees in a single county or multi-county jurisdiction and they may include LAAs that are focused on an urban or suburban area.

    Customers can locate their LAA through a new GIS locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections.

    “Based on feedback from stakeholders, including the USDA Equity Commission, we are unveiling this new tool to make it easier for producers to effectively participate in the process,” Ducheneaux added.

    Agricultural producers may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee if they:

    • Participate or cooperate in a USDA program; and
    • Reside in the LAA that is up for election this year.

    A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits. Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates. USDA encourages minority producers, women and beginning farmers or ranchers to nominate, vote and hold office.

    Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agricultural community serve on FSA county committees. The committees are made up of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Committee members are vital to how FSA carries out disaster programs, as well as conservation, commodity and price support programs, county office employment and other agricultural issues.

    Urban and Suburban County Committees 

    The 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to form urban county committees as well as make other advancements related to urban agriculture, including the establishment of the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. FSA established county committees specifically focused on urban agriculture. The urban county committees will work to encourage and promote urban, indoor and other emerging agricultural production practices. Additionally, the new county committees may address areas such as food access, community engagement, support of local activities to promote and encourage community compost and food waste reduction.

    Urban committee members are nominated and elected to serve by local urban producers in the same jurisdiction. Urban county committee members will provide outreach to ensure urban producers understand USDA programs and serve as the voice of other urban producers and assist in program implementation that support the needs of the growing urban community.

    The 17 county committees for urban agriculture are located in:

    • Albuquerque, New Mexico
    • Atlanta, Georgia
    • Chicago, Illinois
    • Cleveland, Ohio
    • Detroit, Michigan
    • Dallas, Texas
    • Grand Rapids, Michigan
    • Los Angeles, California
    • Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
    • New Orleans, Louisiana
    • New York, New York
    • Oakland, California
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • Phoenix, Arizona
    • Portland, Oregon
    • Richmond, Virginia
    • St. Louis, Missouri

    Learn more at farmers.gov/urban.

    More Information 

    Producers should contact their local FSA office today to register and find out how to get involved in their county’s election, including if their LAA is up for election this year. To be considered, a producer must be registered and sign an FSA-669A nomination form. Urban farmers should use an FSA-669-A-3 for urban county committees. These forms and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at fsa.usda.gov/elections.

    Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning Nov. 6, 2023.

    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.

  • USDA Accepts More Than 1 Million Acres in Offers Through Conservation Reserve Program

    Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting more than 1 million acres in this year’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General signup. This is one of several signups that USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is holding for the program. The results for CRP General signup reflect the continued importance of CRP as a tool to help producers invest in the long-term health, sustainability, and profitability of their land and resources.

    “This year’s General CRP signup demonstrates the value and continued strength of this voluntary conservation program, which plays an important role in helping mitigate climate change and conserve our natural resources,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Today’s announcement is one of many enrollment and partnership opportunities within CRP, including opportunities through our working lands Grassland CRP, Continuous CRP, and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). USDA will continue working to ensure producers and landowners have the information they need to take advantage of the options that work best for their operations.”

    Offers for new land in this General CRP signup totaled about 295,000 acres nationwide. Producers submitted re-enrollment offers for 891,000 expiring acres, reflecting the successes of participating in CRP longer term. The total number of CRP acres will continue to climb in the coming weeks once FSA accepts acres from the Grassland CRP signup, which closed May 26. Additionally, so far this year, FSA has received 761,000 offered acres for the Continuous CRP signup, for which FSA accepts applications year-round.

    The number of accepted acres that are enrolled in General CRP will be confirmed later this year. Participating producers and landowners should also remember that submitting and accepting a CRP offer is the first step, and producers still need to develop a conservation plan before contracts become effective on October 1, 2023. Each year, during the window between offer acceptance and land enrollment, some producers ultimately decide not to enroll some accepted acres, without penalty.

    General CRP Signup

    The General CRP Signup 60 ran from February 27 through April 7, 2023.

    Through CRP, producers and landowners establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees, to control soil erosion, improve soil health and water quality, and enhance wildlife habitat on agricultural land. In addition to the other well-documented benefits, lands enrolled in CRP are playing a key role in climate change mitigation efforts across the country.

    In 2021, FSA introduced improvements to the program, which included a new Climate-Smart Practice Incentive to increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This incentive provides an annual 3, 5, or 10 percent incentive payment based on the predominant vegetation type for the practices enrolled – from grasses to trees to wetland restoration.

    Other CRP Signups

    Grassland CRP is a working lands program that helps producers and landowners protect grassland from conversion while enabling haying and grazing activities to continue. Lands enrolled support haying and grazing operations and promotes plant and animal biodiversity. Lands are also protected from being converted to uses other than grassland. This year’s signup for Grassland CRP ran from April 17 through May 26.

    Continuous CRP, in which producers and landowners can enroll throughout the year. Offers are automatically accepted provided the producer and land meet the eligibility requirements and the enrollment levels do not exceed the statutory cap. Continuous CRP includes the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) Initiative, the Farmable Wetlands Program (FWP), and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). In CREP, which is available in certain geographies, partnerships with States, Tribes, and other entities are leveraged for participants to receive a variety of added incentives and flexibilities. Also available is the Clean Lakes Estuaries and Rivers (CLEAR) initiative. CLEAR30, a signup opportunity under that initiative available nationwide, gives producers and landowners across the country the opportunity to enroll in 30-year CRP contracts for water quality practices.

    More Information

    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.

  • USDA Seeks Feedback About 2023 Crops, Stocks, Inventories, and Values

    During the next several weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural Survey, and the June Area Survey. The agency will contact nearly 2,000 producers across California to determine crop acreage and stock levels as of June 1, 2023.

    “The June Agricultural Survey and the June Area Survey are two of the most important and well-known surveys NASS conducts,” explained NASS Pacific Regional Director Gary Keough. “When producers respond to these surveys, they provide essential information that helps determine the expected acreage and supply of major commodities in the United States for the 2023 crop year. The results are used by farmers and ranchers, USDA,businesses, exporters, researchers, economists, policymakers, and others to inform a wide range of decisions.”

    Producers can respond to the June Agricultural Survey online at www.agcounts.usda.gov, by phone, or mail. They will be asked to provide information on planted and harvested acreage, including acreage for biotech crops and grain stocks. For the June Area Survey, agency representatives will interview farm and ranch operators in randomly selected segments over the phone. Producers will be asked to provide information on crop acreage, grain stocks, livestock inventory, land values, and value of sales.

    “NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents, by keeping all individual information confidential and publishing the data in aggregate form only to ensure that no operation or producer can be identified,” said Keough. “We recognize that this is a hectic time for farmers, but the information they provide helps U.S. agriculture remain viable and capable. I urge them to respond to these surveys and thank them for their cooperation.”

    NASS will analyze the survey information and publish the results in a series of USDA reports, including the annual Acreage and quarterly Grain Stocks reports on June 30, 2023.

    Survey data also contribute to NASS’s monthly and annual Crop Production reports, the annual Small Grains Summary, annual Farms and Land in Farms and Land Values reports, various livestock reports, including Cattle, Sheep and Goats, and Hogs and Pigs, and USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.

    These and all NASS reports are available at www.nass.usda.gov/Publications. For more information, call the NASS Pacific Regional Field Office at 1-800-851-1127.

  • USDA Invites Input on Crop Insurance Coverage for Prevented Planting

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a Request for Information today, announcing public listening sessions and soliciting public comments on possible changes to prevented planting crop insurance coverage.  Coinciding with the public comment period, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) will hold in-person and virtual listening sessions June through August. This includes in-person listening sessions in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas. Meanwhile, RMA will accept written comments through its request for information until September 1.

    “We truly care what our customers – the Nation’s agricultural producers – have to say. That’s why we’re hosting listening sessions in 11 states in addition to accepting written comments,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “We listen to their needs so that we can adapt, improve, and help them manage their risks and provide better opportunities to protect their operations.”

    The request for information on prevented planting requests input on prevented planting topics to include:

    • 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 (to be eligible for a prevented planting coverage acreage must have been planted to a crop, insured, and harvested in at least 1 out of the previous 4 crop years) was implemented nationwide.
    • 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 – Willingness to pay additional premium for expanded prevented planting benefits, recommendations on other prevented planting limitations, etc.  

    RMA will hold a virtual listening session via Microsoft Teams on June 8 and at least a dozen in-person sessions over the next few months. Additional details on the listening sessions are available on the RMA website.

    The request for information, which includes details for submitting feedback, is available in this Federal Register notice.

    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.

  • USDA Climate Hubs Go Global

    For more than a decade, USDA’s Climate Hubs has been at the forefront of supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. Last week, the department significantly boosted its efforts globally, by launching the International Climate Hub.

    The new hub builds on the experience with 10 regional Climate Hubs throughout the United States and the Caribbean to compile, share and significantly expand knowledge, understanding, and implementation of climate-smart agriculture and forestry practices in the United States. By broadening international awareness and access to information and tools, USDA continues to position itself as a global leader in highlighting agriculture and forestry practices as solutions to address climate change.

    “We have seen significant investment and interest from the global community in support of tools, resources, and expertise to help meet global adaptation and mitigation goals,” said Jeremy Adamson, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) senior policy advisor. “The International Climate Hub expands our cooperation and sharing, demonstrating approaches that are successful, and connecting users around the world with much-needed tools to help them address climate and sustainability goals.”

    The regional Climate Hubs link USDA research and agencies in their delivery of tools and information to agricultural producers and professionals. The international portal, led by FAS, focuses on collaborations between USDA and its global partners to provide climate change policy and technical support.

    The International Climate Hub also includes new tools, such as COMET-Planner Global , which gives users a chance to see how different agricultural production practices can estimate CO2 sequestration in any part of the world. Another powerful tool is the Global Agricultural and Disaster Assessment System , which helps rapidly assess the impact of natural disasters on agricultural production across the globe by providing highly detailed, real-time data to assess crop conditions. This includes daily precipitation data, vegetation index, crop masks, land cover data, irrigation and water data, elevation, and infrastructure data, and much more.

    “We are making historic investments domestically and internationally to support global adoption of climate-smart agriculture and forestry,” added Adamson. “These investments bolster existing programs, while also uncovering new innovations to address current challenges. And, with the International Climate Hub we now have an opportunity to share current and future innovations with the global community.”

    Through science-sharing, joint projects, and education efforts, FAS aims to expand global adaptation and application of climate-smart commodities production and practice.