AG INSIGHT USDA’s Forest Service continues research at Mount St. Helens Just over 40 years ago (May 18, 1980), Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted, killing 57 people, destroying hundreds of homes, buildings and other structures, obliterating forests and creating the largest landslide in recorded history. Ten days after the eruption, researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service flew over the blast area to collect ecological data that would become the foundation of the one of the largest repositories of information about volcanology at any one site. The research that began then continues today. The return of plants, animals and new ecosystems is being documented and those studies already have revealed extremely diverse habitats and unique biological communities. With a look to the future, researchers at Mount St. Helens are busy cataloging and sending plant and animal samples to locations across the nation for future scientists to study. Forty years is barely a wink in geologic time. It’s impossible to predict what knowledge the next 40 or 400 years will bring when scientists have access to new technologies that can’t be imagined today.
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Cooperative Farming News
Producers eligible for COVID-19 financial help USDA has announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to provide relief to America’s farmers and ranchers affected by the pandemic. In addition to this direct support to farmers and ranchers, USDA’s Farmers-to-Families Food Box program is partnering with regional and local distributors, whose workforces have been hit hard by the closure of many restaurants, hotels and other food service entities. The plan calls for the purchase of $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat for delivery to Americans in need.
CFAP is designed to provide financial assistance to producers who have suffered a 5% or greater price decline due to COVID-19. Through its Farm Service Agency, USDA was scheduled to begin accepting applications in late May from producers who have suffered losses. According to the initial timetable, applications will be accepted until Aug. 28. CFAP is designed to provide financial assistance to producers who have suffered a 5% or greater price decline due to COVID-19 and who face additional significant marketing costs due to lower demand, surplus production and disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities. Plans call for the direct financial support to be drawn from two possible funding sources: Appropriated funding of $9.5 billion provided in 1. the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stability Act to compensate farmers for losses due to price declines that occurred between mid-January 2020 and mid-April 2020. The assistance is for producers of specialty crops shipped from the farm in the designated time period but subsequently spoiled due to loss of marketing channels. The Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act 2. provided $6.5 billion to compensate producers for losses due to on-going market disruptions.
