The link above will show you which Minnesota FSA offices are open.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers who are experience difficulties because of the government shutdown to remember that MDA can help. While the USDA did announce today that Farm Service Agency (FSA) Offices will temporarily reopen January 17, 18, and 22, some farmers may still need to get additional resources heading into the spring planting season.
“I’m pleased that the FSA offices will reopen for a few days to help farmers get their existing loans processed,” said Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen. “FSA is an important federal partner and provides critical services to farmers. My understanding is that the FSA staff will be available to assist farmers with existing farm loans.”
Petersen encourages Minnesota farmers to contact their local FSA office immediately during this temporary reopening. He also reminds farmers who may be in need of financial assistance or other resources to remember these programs run by the MDA.:
Rural Finance Authority low interest loan programs. Contact Ryan Roles at 651-201-6666, or visit www.mda.state.mn.us/agfinance
Farm Advocate Program for farmers needing one-on-one financial advice or other assistance. Contact Matt McDevitt at 651-201-6311, or visit www.mda.state.mn.us/farmadvocates.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) reminds farmers and their families that the Minnesota Farm & Rural Helpline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service is free and confidential. The toll free number is (833) 600-2670.
“These are challenging times for growers who are facing a number of economic headwinds on the farm. And during harvest, that stress builds for a lot of farmers spending long hours in the combine,” said Minnesota Corn Growers Association President Brian Thalmann, who farms near Plato. “All farmers should know this number is available when outside help is needed.”
Farmers and rural communities face unique stresses and emotional situations, including financial challenges, unpredictable weather, and physically demanding work. Stress, anxiety, depression, financial burdens, and other mental and emotional challenges are common.
The Minnesota Farm & Rural Helpline connects callers to financial help, mental health counselors, legal assistance, and more. Calls are confidential, but counselors may ask for a first name and phone number in case of a dropped call. Translation services are available in all languages.
The Helpline is also available to people who are worried about family or friends and aren’t sure how to help.
Organic farming is growing to meet the increasing demand for its products. A report from Mercaris, an organic industry data service, says the U.S. now has roughly 6.5 million acres of organically certified land. The number of certified organic farms is three percent higher this year than in 2017. Laura Batcha, CEO/Executive Director of the Organic Trade Association, says that great is news.
Laura Batcha, CEO/Executive Director of the Organic Trade Association, says they’re pleased with the numbers in the Mercaris report that show the organic industry is growing at a steady rate across America. (Photo from OTA.com)
“We always welcome seeing an increase in U.S. acres dedicated to organic farming,” Batcha said. “It’s something very important to see an increase in the overall value chain and the sustainability of the industry, as a whole.
“We’ve been investing in some particular initiatives that have an emphasis on increasing production in terms of row crops, including row crops and small grains,” Batcha added. “It’s really nice to see the number of acres has grown in the last year. Our members worked on projects to help to increase knowledge transfer that would support farmers transitioning their acres (to organic), so it’s nice to see that particular crop types and geographies are showing an increase.”
Some of those geographies include states along the East Coast, through the Corn Belt, and through the West. Those areas reported the largest gains in total certified operations. Just those three regions alone added 430 certified organic farming operations. Batcha is pleased that organic is spreading to different locations.
Batcha said the goal is to keep a nice and steady growth in the number of organic areas and operations across the country. That’s not necessarily an easy thing to do because there’s no one way of doing things in organic production that applies to all products.
“It’s tough to talk about keys to growing the industry as a whole because you have to look at it from a crop-specific perspective,” she said. “You also need to look at things from a regional perspective. What works for specialty crops in California won’t be the same thing that works for small grains in the Great Plains.
“The industry is focusing on several things right now,” Batcha added. “Organic regulations require crop rotation and cover-cropping. Organic farms have longer and more complex crop rotations (than traditional farming). What is needed is for crops in different rotations to have access to markets. It’s an emphasis the whole supply chain is looking at. Some of our farms may have six or seven different crops and we want healthy markets for all of them.
“The other thing the (Mercaris) report calls out is improving transparency in terms of data and statistics in the organic industry,” Batcha said. “But there are still gaps. The report recommended the same thing that our members have already brought to the Department of Agriculture. The recommendation we want is to see that the reporting of acreage from the certified agencies to the USDA to be a mandatory data transfer on an annual basis. It’s not only important for good statistics that inform policy choices, as well as farmer decision-making out in their fields.”
There are now 17,648 U.S. farms certified as compliant with the USDA National Organic Farming Program standards for organic row crop production. Total organic acres increased from 6.4 million acres in 2017.
The data company calls the report the only trusted information source on organic farmland statistics because the Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will not be issuing data on organic acreage for 2018.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is investigating the source of a Palmer amaranth plant found growing in Jackson County.
Palmer Amaranth is popping up in southwestern Minnesota counties, including Redwood and Jackson. Keep an eye out for this in your fields. If you do find it, get out there and pull it out by hand, including the roots. Don’t let it multiply! (Photo from NRCS/Iowa)
In early September, a farmer noticed a suspicious weed in the first few rows of a soybean field adjacent to a utility field road. The weed survived a herbicide treatment. making initial identification difficult. The farmer then contacted the University of Minnesota Extension, which submitted the plant for genetic identification. The test has confirmed it was Palmer amaranth. MDA staff scouted fields in the area and have not found any other Palmer plants. The MDA is investigating where the Palmer amaranth seed came from.
“This is another case illustrating the effective collaborations established between the MDA, U of M Extension, crop consultants, and farmers throughout the state for locating and reporting Palmer amaranth,” said Mark Abrahamson, MDA’s Director of Plant Protection. “We continue to urge farmers and landowners to become familiar with what Palmer amaranth looks like and to immediately contact the MDA, Extension, or a crop consultant for help if they suspect Palmer amaranth on their property.”
Since 2016, the invasive weed has now been found in six Minnesota counties. In addition to this latest find in Jackson County, the MDA confirmed the weed in a Redwood County soybean field last week. It was also discovered in conservation plantings in Lyon and Yellow Medicine counties in 2016, and Todd and Douglas counties in 2017. However, after eradication treatments, Palmer has not been found at any sites in those four counties during 2018.
Palmer amaranth is listed as a Prohibited Weed Seed. This means it’s not allowed in any seed offered for sale in the state. It is also on Minnesota’s Prohibited Noxious Weed Eradicate List. All above and below ground parts of the plant must be destroyed. Also, no transportation, propagation, or sale of this plant is allowed.
If anyone suspects Palmer amaranth, they can contact the MDA through the Arrest the Pest line at 1-888-545-6684 or arrest.the.pest@state.mn.us.
Palmer amaranth is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It has been found in over half of the states, and along with Minnesota, it has been found in the neighboring states of Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Daniel Ujczo is an International Trade and Customs Lawyer with the Dickinson Wright Law Firm in Columbus Ohio. He says the agreement this week between Mexico and Canada basically completes their part of the NAFTA negotiations. (Photo from twitter.com)
The U.S. and Mexico announced the framework of an agreement to put a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
in place between the two countries. The question is, what exactly did they agree on as details aren’t entirely clear. Daniel Ujczo is an International Trade Lawyer with Dickinson Wright in Columbus, Ohio, who works on trade for a living. He said this basically means the work to resolve the outstanding issues between Mexico and Canada is done.
“This is the first hurdle cleared in the attempt to get to a final NAFTA,” Ujczo said. “The issues between Mexico and the U.S. primarily surrounded automobiles, but on the agriculture side, included seasonal produce, which was a request that the U.S. put in to resolve the ‘great tomato wars’ between Florida and Mexico. The U.S. agreed to withdraw that proposal.
“There were several other smaller NAFTA issues between the two countries,” he said. “Autos really led the charge until we reached agreement on that. The agreement came about somewhat surprisingly to external observers, but for those of us on the ground, we knew this was happening.”
Ujczo said Mexico and the U.S. went beyond just the bilateral NAFTA issues between the two countries during their negotiations. He said they’ve essentially come up with the rest of the deal on areas like intellectual property rights, in particular. Some observers had expected intellectual property rights to come up later when Canada returned to the negotiating table.
“In short, the U.S. and Mexico have really finished their part of the NAFTA agreement,” Ujczo said. “The next thing is to bring in Canada. Because of the way the procedural and political timelines work, that all needs to be done by Friday, August 31. That makes for a very short window to resolve some long-standing issues between the U.S. and Canada, not the least of which is dairy.”
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is asking farmers to fill out an online survey as they investigate alleged soybean damage caused by dicamba drift. (Photo from agfaxweedsolutions.com)
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is again gathering information on plant damage that may have been caused by the use of the herbicide dicamba. The MDA is encouraging anyone with damage in the 2018 growing season to complete a survey or register a formal complaint. The survey will be open until September 15.
Last year, the MDA received 253 complaints related to the use of dicamba in Minnesota. The complaints centered on off-target movement that impacted non-dicamba tolerant soybeans, other sensitive crops, as well as non-crop plants. The University of Minnesota estimates the damaged area totaled 265,000 acres across the state.
In an effort to prevent off-target movement incidents this year, the MDA added additional restrictions to the herbicide’s application: a June 20 cutoff date and an 85 degree Fahrenheit temperature cutoff. As of July 23, 2018, the MDA had received 30 reports of alleged dicamba damage. Not all of those reports requested an investigation.
“It is important that we continue to monitor the situation this year and gather as much data as we can,” said Assistant Commissioner Susan Stokes. “Last year’s survey gave us very valuable information, and this year’s survey will help the department as we look ahead to the 2019 growing season.”
Dicamba is an herbicide used to control broadleaf weeds in dicamba tolerant soybeans, corn and a variety of other food and feed crops, as well as in residential areas. Dicamba belongs to a class of herbicides that are volatile, and can drift and/or volatilize from the intended application area if not used according to the label. Off-target movement may cause unintended impacts such as serious damage to non-targeted crops.
If you believe dicamba was used in violation of the label or law, and you wish to request an MDA investigation, you will also need to complete the pesticide misuse complaint form or call the Pesticide Misuse Complaint line at 651-201-6333.
You can find more information on dicamba at http://www.mda.state.mn.us/dicamba.
Here’s a refresher from the North Carolina Soybean Association on spotting different levels of dicamba damage:
