Georgia Farm Bureau's Leadership Alert - September 12, 2012

September 12, 2012

www.gfb.org

Vol. 30 No. 37

ALTERNATE BEARING A KEY TOPIC AT PECAN FALL FIELD DAY Nearly 300 pecan growers and other interested individuals attended the Georgia Pecan Growers Association (GPGA) Fall Pecan Field Day, held Sept. 6 at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Station in Byron.

The event provided information on pecan research into the alternate bearing phenomenon, pest and disease control, and crop insurance for pecans.

Alternate bearing, which refers to the occurrence of year-to-year fluctuations in pecan tree production, has been moderated through advances in cultivation techniques, according to Bruce Wood, the supervising horticulturist at the Byron lab.

“On an individual tree basis, it still happens, but on an orchard basis, a population of tree basis, it's not as bad as it was,” Wood said. “The key to reducing alternate bearing … one, it’s variety dependent, but it’s also dependent on controlling the stress levels that the trees are exposed to and the orchard management. So it’s critical to control insect, disease, pest, water, sunlight, nutrient elements, things of that nature.”

GPGA President Randy Hudson said the field day has grown over the past few years due in large part to high prices generated by export demand for pecans, even with key export destinations having prohibitive tariffs in place.

“The export demand has driven this crop to a whole different level. If you look here today you're going to see a lot of young people,” Hudson said. “These young people are getting in this industry because there’s a future here and the future is higher prices.”

Risk Management Agency Valdosta Field Office Director Diane Amera discussed upcoming changes in crop insurance for pecans. She said that for 2013, the coverage structure will be changing from a two-year module to a one-year module. In 2014 the structure will revert to the two-year module. Amera advised growers to contact their crop insurance agents for details.

Research Entomologist David Shapiro-Ilan discussed methods of pecan weevil control, including the use of bacteria to combat weevils while reducing the use of chemical pesticides.

Wood discussed management approaches to minimize alternate bearing and return flowering, including techniques to improve the management of upper canopy on tall trees.

Research plant pathologist Clive Bock discussed the biology and epidemiology of pecan scab and approaches to scab control. These included use of scab-resistant cultivars and the application of fungicides.

For more information on the Byron lab research, visit http://tinyurl.com/8mb7xsd.

Leadership Alert page 2 of 6 AG GROUPS FILE FRIEND-OF-THE-COURT BRIEF IN FORESTRY CASE Arguing that Congress never intended for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be allowed to mandate specific forestry practices, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Pork Producers Council and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that subjected stormwater runoff from tree harvesting and other forestry activities to federal Clean Water Act permitting requirements.

In 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit invalidated the EPA’s Silviculture Rule, relied on by forest landowners for 35 years.

The ag groups explained that Congress confirmed in its 1987 Clean Water Act amendments that stormwater from both agriculture and forestry—whether harvesting crops, raising livestock or harvesting trees—has always been intentionally excluded from federal permit requirements.

“Congress has never allowed EPA to be in the business of mandating particular forestry practices, any more than it allows EPA to regulate how crops are grown,” said Ellen Steen, AFBF’s general counsel. “Congress has always recognized that stormwater runoff from these activities, whether it flows through a ditch or not, is best left to state and local authorities. And states have been very successful in designing their own programs to protect water quality,” she explained.

The lower court’s ruling invalidated EPA’s 1976 Silviculture Rule, concluding that logging roads and associated stormwater collection systems must be viewed as “point sources” of pollution regulated under a national scheme—EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program. The farm groups argued that the lower court ruled incorrectly that logging (harvesting trees) is “industrial activity,” concluding that stormwater discharges from those activities must be authorized under an NPDES stormwater permit as part of EPA’s stormwater regulations. The Supreme Court has agreed to review the decision.

STUDY: ORGANIC DIET OFFERS FEW NUTRITIONAL ADVANTAGES A Stanford University review of published studies revealed that organically grown foods have little nutritional advantage over conventionally grown foods and no strong evidence was found that organically produced foods carry fewer health risks than conventionally produced foods.

The review results, published in The Annals of Internal Medicine and on the Stanford School of Medicine website, included analysis of 17 studies focusing on people who consume organic and conventional diets and 233 studies examining nutrient and/or contamination levels in a variety of products grown organically and conventionally.

According to the article on the Stanford School of Medicine website, little significant difference in health benefits was found between organic and conventional foods, and no significant difference was noted in vitamin content. While organic foods were shown to be less likely to carry residual pesticides, the study noted that the pesticide levels of all foods fell within allowable safety limits.

To read the Stanford School of Medicine article, visit http://tinyurl.com/9qmsjnq.

Leadership Alert page 3 of 6 CATTLEMEN’S BEEF BOARD APPROVES RESTRUCTURING The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) and the Federation of State Beef Councils (FSBC) both unanimously adopted a new structure for the joint beef checkoff committees during the recent 2012 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver.

The new structure is intended to involve more cattle producers and beef importers who pay the checkoff while streamlining the decision-making process about how checkoff funds are to be used.

The new structure reduces the number of checkoff program committees - which are responsible for making recommendations to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee about programs to fund with checkoff dollars from the current 13 to just four in 2013. The four new committees will be the Domestic Consumer Preference Committee, the Global Growth Committee, Beef’s Image Committee and the Freedom to Operate Committee.

According to a CBB press release, conversion to the new structure will take place between now and the next cattle industry annual convention, slated for February 2013 in Tampa, Fla. In the fall, CBB and FSBC officers will appoint their members to the new committees. Then, based on the joint agreement the boards approved in winter, the chairman and vice chairman of the Operating Committee (the CBB chairman and the FSBC chairman) will appoint chairs and vice chairs to each of the committees.

For more information about the new CBB structure, visit http://tinyurl.com/8o5fxzj.

INDUSTRY GROUPS URGE PASSAGE OF RUSSIA TRADE RELATIONS BILL The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is among a group of trade organizations asking Congress to pass legislation authorizing Permanent Normalized Trade Relations (PNTR) with Russia. Russia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Aug. 22, and according to a letter from the trade organizations, more than 150 other WTO member countries are already benefitting from open access to the Russian marketplace.

The trade groups, which also included the Business Roundtable, the Coalition of Service Industries, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-Russia Business Council, pointed out that normalized trade with Russia is needed to give U.S. industries “a fair chance to compete and sell more of their goods and services to Russia.”

Russia, the third-largest export market for U.S. broiler meat, is the world’s ninth-largest economy, with 142 million people and a growing middle class, and has in the past been a key export destination for U.S. agricultural products.

Bills have been introduced in both the U.S. House (H.R. 6156) and the Senate (S. 3406) to establish PNTR with Russia. Both bills would repeal the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the 1974 Trade Act. Jackson-Vanik denied most favored nation trade status to countries with non-market economies, particularly those on the Communist Bloc side of the Cold War, including the USSR and China.

According to the President’s Export Council, Russia imported $30 billion worth of agricultural goods in 2011. Russia’s tariff rates were expected to drop and the country was expected to abide by the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures upon completion of its accession to the WTO.

Leadership Alert page 4 of 6 GEORGIA FARM BUREAU DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETINGS Sept. 13 10th District Jamestown Baptist Church 7 p.m.

Waycross Sept. 18 2nd District N. Ga. Technical College 7 p.m.

Avalon th Sept. 20 5 District Thomaston Civic Center 7 p.m.

Thomaston Sept. 25 1st District First Baptist Church 7 p.m.

Calhoun th Oct. 9 9 District Mitchell County Ag Center 7 p.m.

Camilla Oct. 11 7th District First Baptist Church 7 p.m.

Statesboro Oct. 30 8th District South Ga. Technical College 7 p.m.

Americus Nov. 1 4th District Greene County High School 7 p.m.

Greensboro Nov. 8 6th District Poplar Springs North Bapt. Church 7 p.m.

Dublin Contact your county Farm Bureau office for more information. Note: These meetings are for Farm Bureau members only and are not open to the general public.

GEORGIA GROWN FARMER SHOWCASE Sept. 15 Atlanta State Farmers Market 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Forest Park The third Georgia Grown Farmer Showcas will feature dozens of vendors selling a wide variety of agricultural products. Georgia Grown T-shirts (in an assortment of fruit and vegetable colors) will also be available for sale. For information contact Paul Thompson at 404-675-1782. The Atlanta State Farmers Market is at 16 Forest Parkway, Forest Park.

16th ANNUAL PLAINS PEANUT FESTIVAL Sept. 15 Plains The annual Plains Peanut Festival is centered around one of the Sumter County community's claims to fame, its peanut production, and former President of the U.S., Jimmy Carter. One-mile fun run and a 5-K road race starts at 7 AM. All-day event with educational exhibits & vendors.

For info, call Better Home Town Program at 229-824-5373 or http://www.plainsgeorgia.com/peanut_festival.html.

2012 GEORGIA GRAZING SCHOOL CANCELED The Georgia Grazing School, scheduled for Sept. 18 and 19 at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, has been canceled due to insufficient registration. Those who have registered will receive refunds. For information call 229-386-3416.

2012 AGROFORESTRY AND WILDLIFE FIELD DAY Sept. 20 University of Georgia Griffin Campus 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Griffin Registration is now being accepted for this unique educational event, sponsored by UGA, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Fort Valley State University, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the NRCS. The field day will provide information on ways land value can be enhanced. More than 25 topics will be showcased, including wildlife opening management; pond management; management for wild turkeys, doves and quail; selling and marketing timber; prescribed burning, cost-sharing assistance programs, GPS/GIS use in managing land and invasive insects, disease and plants. Registration is $25 before Sept. 3 and $35 after. Fee includes lunch, and those who register in advance will receive an Agroforestry & Wildlife Field Day baseball cap.

For more information, visit http://www.caes.uga.edu/events/awfd/index.html.

Leadership Alert page 5 of 6 THE FARMER & THE CHEF Sept. 22 The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead The Georgia Chapter of the March of Dimes (MOD) is hosting this fundraising event for its ongoing mission of stronger, healthier babies. Guests will enjoy a four-course dinner prepared by Atlanta-area chefs using ingredients from local farmers. MOD is partnering with the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Restaurant Association to engage local farmers and chefs to participate in the event. The event will also include live and silent auctions with packages ranging from fine dining, vacation getaways, sports packages and spa packages. Event starts at 6 p.m. with a reception followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tables start at $5,000 with 10 seats per table. For more information please call Joanna Johnson at 404-350-9800 or email jjohnson@marchofdimes.com.

TRI-STATE PEANUT DISEASE TOUR Sept. 25-27 Various Research Sites Ga. Ala., Fla. Stops include a visit at the University of Florida Citra Research Center, the Lang-Rigdon Farms and Black Shank Farm at UGA’s Tifton Campus and the Wiregrass Experiment Station in Headland, Ala. For more information or to RSVP, contact Dr. Albert Culbreath at 229-386-3370 or spotwilt@uga.edu.

EPA ACCEPTING COMMENTS ON RFS WAIVER REQUESTS In response to requests to waive Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements from governors of several states, including Georgia’s Nathan Deal, the EPA is seeking public comments. The EPA has the authority to waive the RFS standard if its implementation would cause severe economic or environmental harm. Those requesting a waiver contend that short supplies of grain used in ethanol production have resulted in severe price increases for livestock feed. Interested parties have until Sept. 26 to submit written comments. To submit a comment, visit http://tinyurl.com/9asme8u.

UPCOMING DEADLINES FOR FSA PROGRAMS Below are upcoming enrollment deadlines for programs administered by the Farm Service Agency: Sept. 30 Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Dates vary Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), check with FSA service center for dates) and Crop Insurance (Contact a crop insurance agent or the regional Risk Management Agency (RMA) office.) For more information about FSA programs visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov.

ELECTRIC FENCE TRAINING Oct. 3 Chandler Farm, 416 Chandler Farm Rd. 12:30 p.m.

Hull This free training seminar begins at 12:30 p.m. following the Broad River Soil & Water Conservation District meeting. A representative from Gallagher USA will discuss various products and technical aspects of electric fencing, with particular emphasis on grounding and lightning protection systems. Those interested in attending should RSVP to NRCS Grassland Conservationist Philip Brown at 706-678-2630.

Leadership Alert page 6 of 6 GACDS OFFERING SCHOLARSHIPS The Georgia Association of Conservation District Supervisors is offering three annual scholarships to encourage study and careers in soil and water conservation and ag-related fields.

Applicants may be graduate or undergraduate students from Georgia at any accredited college, school or university in the U.S., must maintain a 2.75 or higher GPA and have financial need.

For more information, visit http://www.gacds.org/scholarships/ or call Kim Chapman at 706552-4470. Application deadline is Oct. 15 NRCS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION GRANTS The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications until Oct. 15 for grants intended to help farmers fund projects that will make their farms more drought tolerant. The NRCS is offering up to $5 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to evaluate and demonstrate farming practices that help producers adapt to drought. Funds will be awarded through a competitive grants process for projects lasting one to three years. NRCS is especially interested in projects that demonstrate: cropping or grazing systems that increase drought resiliency through improved soil health; increases available soil water holding capacity by enhancing organic matter with reduced tillage, cover crops and organic amendments; uses drought resistant plants in coordination with the NRCS Plant Material Centers; or improves water efficiency. To apply, visit http://www.grants.gov or contact the NRCS National CIG office at 703-235-8065.

HAWKINSVILLE HARVEST FEST/PIGS & PRODUCE BARBECUE CONTEST Oct. 26 & 27 Courthouse Square Hawkinsville Better Hometown of Hawkinsville will host the annual Harvest Fest featuring the Pigs and Produce barbecue competition, an official contest sanctioned by the Georgia Barbecue Association. Along with some great professional barbecue teams and some very interesting ancillary categories, Hawkinsville will host two very unique events at this festival: The first ever Georgia State Boiled Peanut Championship sponsored by Hardy Farms Peanuts and the Old vs.

New Faceoff. This head-to-head contest will be held on the courthouse square in downtown Hawkinsville between barbecue legend Myron Mixon of Jack’s Old South and his son, Michael Mixon of Jack’s New South.

For more information, please visit http://www.hawkinsvilleharvestfest.com.

AG, ENGINEERING AND NATURAL RESOURCES CAREER FAIR AT UGA Nov. 7 UGA Tate Student Center Noon – 4 p.m.

Athens The University of Georgia is looking for companies needing a few good hires or summer interns.

Visit http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/?public=viewStory&pk_id=4516 for more information.

Companies that want to register for the fair should visit career.uga.edu/hireuga or email LeAnn Golob at leann@uga.edu.