NAPA COUNTY FARM BUREAU

Pest Management Assistance Available

for Grape Growers Battling European Grapevine Moth

Applications will be accepted through June 23

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is offering voluntary, environmentally-friendly control options to California farmers near confirmed trappings of the foreign pest, European Grapevine Moth (EGVM). So far EGVM has been found in Napa, Fresno, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Solano, and Sonoma counties.  One million dollars has been set aside statewide by NRCS to assist grape farmers with Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Assistance funding for pheromone mating disruption and “soft” alternative pest management control using UC integrated pest management materials will be available to eligible grape growers in Napa County, where the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner, UC Cooperative Extension and other state and USDA agencies are closely coordinating efforts to manage and control the moth.

Phill Blake, District Conservationist in Napa notes, “These funds constitute an NRCS special initiative extension of funding for integrated pest management that we normally offer through our Environmental Quality Incentives Program, (EQIP). The severity of the European Grapevine Moth outbreak underscores our interest in helping with local efforts. We are grateful for the support and encouragement that Dave Whitmer, county agricultural commissioner and other partners have lent in helping us get out the word and offer this assistance.”

Blake also notes that funds are very limited, and will essentially be offered on a first-come, first-served basis for growers eligible to participate in USDA conservation programs.

Applications are taken at NRCS offices in Napa County and all other affected counties through June 23, 2010. For more information, contact the local Napa County NRCS office, at 707.252.4189. Interested applicants can reach Phill Blake, (ext.101), Kelly Gin, (ext.104), or Chip Bouril, (ext. 102).

Additional information on EGVM is available from APHIS at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/eg_moth/index.shtml

and from CDFA at http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/egvm/index.html

FSA Tree Assistance Now Available

Deadline for 2008 is July 6 and includes growers who planted new vines that were lost due to the April freeze. 

Assistance for orchardists and nursery tree growers with weather-related losses can now be obtained through the Tree Assistance Program (TAP), administered by the Farm Service Agency.

The Tree Assistance Program (TAP), authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, provides help to orchard  and nursery tree growers who produce trees, bushes and vines for commercial purposes, to replant or rehabilitate trees, bushes and vines damaged or destroyed by natural disasters. Christmas tree and nursery tree growers are now also eligible. Trees grown for pulp or timber or grown for commercial purposes are not eligible.

To be eligible for TAP, producers must have suffered more than a 15 percent death loss due to the natural disaster after adjustment for normal mortality. TAP is a cost-reimbursement program, with payments covering up to 70 percent of replant costs and 50 percent of pruning, removal and other salvaging costs for replacing or salvaging damaged trees.

Producers can receive assistance for up to 500 acres of trees, bushes or vines. Producers must also have purchased a policy or plan of insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, or for 2008 crop year a waiver of the risk management purchase requirement could be obtained through a buy-in provision. Eligible losses must have occurred on or after Jan. 1, 2008, and before Oct. 1, 2011.

For more information on the new TAP program, please contact the Farm Service Agency in Dixon at 707-678-1931 ext. 2 or visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/tap

Eisenhower Fellowships is accepting applications from experienced farmers and ranchers for its 2011 Agricultural Fellowship program.
The successful applicant will be chosen to participate in a custom designed, expenses-paid program overseas for up to five weeks. The Fellow will focus on agricultural issues in one or two countries. In addition, the 2011 Agricultural Fellows will receive orientation and post-travel debriefing in Philadelphia, Pa., along with a select group of Eisenhower Fellows from around the world.

The application deadline is July 1, 2010. Applicant interviews will be held in mid- to late-July.

Applicants must be active farmers or ranchers aged 32-45 with excellent networking avenues, demonstrated leadership experience, U.S. citizenship or permanent residency and a commitment to at least 15-20 years of further active leadership in agriculture.

Upon completing the program, Fellows become part of an alumni network of 1,700 Fellows around the globe. Previous participants of the Eisenhower Fellowship program have risen to positions of influence and have used the international connections gained through the program to bring new ideas and technologies to their communities.

Eisenhower Fellowships challenges Fellows to identify specific projects they will undertake upon completion of travel, often in collaboration with other Eisenhower Fellows, and to remain engaged with Eisenhower Fellowships for their lifetimes.

Click here for more information or contact Julia Ransom, by e-mail at jransom@eisenhowerfellowships.org or by telephone at 215-546-1738.

• producers must report all crops, in all counties, in which they have an interest
  
• late filed fees shall be waived for late-filed 2008 acreage reports and physical evidence in the field is not required
  
• if the actual use of a crop is different from the intended use reported, the producer may report the final use to the County Office; however, the intended use shall not be changed.

USDA Announces Implementation of Livestock Disaster Assistance Programs

Producers may apply for benefits under the provisions of the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP). These permanent disaster programs, authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, replace previous ad-hoc disaster assistance programs and are funded through the Agricultural Disaster Relief Trust Fund.

LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers that have suffered livestock grazing losses due to qualifying drought or fire.  For drought, the losses must have occurred on land that is native or improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover or a crop planted specifically for grazing.

The drought losses must also have occurred during the normal grazing period for the specific type of grazing land in the county.  For fire, LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses on rangeland managed by a federal agency if the eligible livestock producer is prohibited by the federal agency from grazing the normal permitted livestock on the managed rangeland due to a qualifying fire. 

Eligible livestock under LFP include beef cattle, alpacas, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep and swine.  For losses due to drought, qualifying drought ratings are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor located at http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html.

ELAP provides emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish that have losses due to disease, adverse weather or other conditions, including blizzards and wildfires. Further detail on eligibility criteria is available at your local FSA office.

Assistance for producers through ELAP is for losses not covered under other Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance programs established by the 2008 Farm Bill. These include LFP, the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE).  ELAP is being implemented to help fill the gap and provide assistance under other eligibility conditions determined to be appropriate.

For crop years 2009 through 2011, the $100,000 limitation applies to payments received, both directly and indirectly, by a person or legal entity.  Furthermore, individuals or entities are ineligible for payment under ELAP or LFP for 2008 if their average Adjusted Gross Income for 2005, 2006 and 2007 exceeds $2.5 million.  For 2009 through 2011,  an average adjusted gross nonfarm income limitation of $500,000 applies and is determined using the three taxable years that precede the most immediately preceding complete taxable year (for 2009, the applicable years are 2005, 2006 and 2007). 

For more information or to apply for ELAP or LFP and other USDA Farm Service Agency disaster assistance programs, please call your local USDA Service Center or local Farm Service Agency (FSA) at (707) 944-0622 to schedule an appointment with a staff expert.

General information can also be obtained on the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.