6 minute read
Texas County Agricultural Agents Association
by THEAGMAG
Texas County Agricultural Agents Association State Conference to be held at South Padre Island on July 24-27
TEXAS COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AGENTS ASSOCIATION
Advertisement
SUBMITTED BY ROGELIO MERCADO County Extension Agent-Ag. Jim Wells County President Elect – TCAAA
The Texas County Agricultural Agents Association (TCAAA) is set to host their Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference at South Padre Island on July 24-27, 2022. TCAAA is a professional improvement organization which provides its members with an opportunity to gain knowledge of agriculture in Texas as each year the conference is hosted by one of 12 districts across the state on a rotational basis. This year, South District 12 Agents have been busy preparing for this annual event which will headquarter out of the South Padre Island Convention Center.
Some of the highlights of the conference will include a Friends and Family Night on Sunday Evening at the Cameron County Events Center and Amphitheater. The general session on Monday morning will kickoff with an inspirational speaker which will be recently retired Agriculture Science Teacher, Mr. Jim Harris from Tilden. Members will also learn about agriculture in South Texas from our District Administrator, Dr. Ruben Saldaña and various commodity representatives. At noon, an awards luncheon is planned to recognize the outstanding achievements of our agents throughout the state. District 12 Agents will also be recognizing Dr. Josh McGinty, Extension Agronomist from Corpus Christi as their Specialist of the Year Award Recipient. That afternoon, members will have an opportunity to visit with leaders from the various Texas Major Livestock Shows and receive updates for the upcoming show season. Monday evening will be at Clayton’s where a silent and live auction will be held to raise money to support youth and members pursuing a college degree.
Tuesday will feature professional improvement tours focused on beef cattle and row crop production, horticulture and various other agricultural interests in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. A border security seminar will also be held at the convention center that morning for those interested in learning about the issues facing producers along the Rio Grande River. Tuesday evening will begin to wind down the conference with our Man/Woman of the Year Banquet which will recognize seven individuals from across the state for their contributions to agriculture and support of Extension programs. This year, District 12 will be recognizing long-time rancher, Mr. Carlos Guerra from Linn, Texas for his commitment to the beef cattle industry and our youth involved in agriculture.
The conference will return to a general business session on Wednesday morning, which will include a report from Mr. Brian Beer, Southern Region Director for the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. Brian is an Area Livestock and Forage Agent from Lancaster, South Carolina. Officer installations will also be conducted, and the conference will adjourn at noon that day.
For more information, please contact: Rogelio Mercado
County Extension Agent-Agriculture Jim Wells County PO Box 1370 Alice, Texas 78333 361-668-5705 – Office HYPERLINK “mailto:Rx-mercado@tamu.edu” Rx-mercado@tamu.edu
2021-2022 Officers
Stephen Zoeller President 210 E San Antonio Ste 9 Boerne, TX 78006 Rogelio Mercado President-Elect P.O. Box 1370 Alice, TX 78333
Tommy Phillips Secretary P.O. 712 Canton, TX 75103
Jay Kingston Vice-President 604 N. Main St. Ste 200 Weatherford, TX 76086 jay.kingston@ag.tamu.edu Jamie Sugg Treasurer 113 E Fordall St
J.R. Sprague Past President P.O. Box 119 Henderson, TX 75652 Lipscomb, TX 79056 jamie.sugg@ag.tamu.edu
2021-2022 Directors
District 1 J.D. Ragland Megan Eikner District 5 Aaron Low Shaniqua Davis
District 2 District 6
Wes Utley
Dena Floyd Gary Roschetzky Cody Trimble
District 3 Josh Kouns Justin Hansard District 7 Michael Palmer Josh Blanek
District 4 Janet Laminack Callie Zoeller District 8 Floyd Ingram Erin Davis District 9 Chadd Caperton Allen Homann
District 10 Early Career
Troy Luepke
Justin Hale Samantha Shannon TJ Cummings
District 11
Life Members Adrian Arredondo Brian Cummins Corrie Bowen Brad Cowan
District 12 Warren Kopplin Nikolo Guerra
USDA Reminds Livestock Producers of Available Drought Assistance
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds droughtimpacted producers that they may be eligible for financial assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) to cover above normal expenses for hauling water or feed to livestock or hauling livestock to forage or grazing acres.
For eligible producers in qualifying counties, ELAP provides financial assistance for:
• the transportation of water to livestock; • the above normal cost of mileage for transporting feed to livestock, • the above normal cost of transporting livestock to forage/grazing acres.* * Hauling livestock one-way, one haul per animal reimbursement and no payment for “empty miles.”
Eligible livestock include cattle, bison, goats and sheep, among others, that are maintained for commercial use and located in a county where qualifying drought conditions occur. A county must have had D2 severe drought intensity on the U.S. Drought Monitor for eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period, or D3 or D4 drought intensity at any time during the normal grazing period. Producers must have risk in both eligible livestock and eligible grazing land in an eligible county to qualify for ELAP assistance.
Transporting Water
For ELAP water transportation assistance, producers must be transporting water to eligible livestock on eligible grazing land where adequate livestock watering systems or facilities were in place before the drought occurred and where water transportation is not normally required. ELAP covers costs associated with personal labor, equipment, hired labor, and contracted water transportation fees. Cost of the water itself is not covered. The ELAP payment formula uses a national average price per gallon. Transporting Feed
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who incur above normal expenses for transporting feed to livestock during drought. The payment formula excludes the first 25 miles and any mileage over 1,000 miles. The reimbursement rate is 60% of the costs above what would normally have been incurred during the same time period in a normal (non-drought) year. Transporting Livestock
ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who are hauling livestock to a new location for feed or grazing in drought-impacted areas. As with transporting feed, the payment formula for transporting livestock excludes the first 25 miles and any mileage over 1,000 miles. The reimbursement rate is 60% of the costs above what would normally have been incurred during the same time period in a normal (non-drought) year. An online tool is now available to help ranchers document and estimate payments to cover feed and livestock transportation costs caused by drought. Download the tool and view the demonstration video.
Reporting Losses
For calendar year 2022 forward, producers must submit a notice of loss to their local FSA office within 30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent. Producers should contact FSA as soon as the loss of water or feed resources are known.
For ELAP eligibility, documentation of expenses is critical. Producers should maintain records and receipts associated with the costs of transporting water to eligible livestock, the costs of transporting feed to eligible livestock, and the costs of transporting eligible livestock to forage or other grazing acres.
Additional Drought Assistance
ELAP assistance is also available to producers impacted by wildfire. Contact the local FSA office for more information on ELAP resources for wildfire losses. Additionally, beekeepers can benefit from ELAP provisions and should contact their county FSA office within 15 calendar days of when a loss occurs or is apparent.
FSA is now accepting applications for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) to provide financial assistance to eligible producers for 2022 grazing losses due to a qualifying drought or fire. The deadline to apply for 2022 LFP assistance is Jan. 30, 2023.
More than 200 Texas counties have met the drought severity levels that trigger LFP eligibility for the 2022 program year. For LFP, qualifying drought triggers are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor. A list of LFP eligible counties and grazing crops can be found on the FSA Texas webpage. More Information
Additional disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including the Farmers.gov Drought Webpage, Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-aGlance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool.
