Farm Sense - December 2018

December 2018

Dates to Remember Jan. 11 - EQIP sign-up deadline.

Jan. 25-26 - Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SWAG) Conference, Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Feb. 1 - 63rd Annual Rural Life Conference. See article on page 2.

Feb. 22 - Arkansas Land Community Development (ALCDC) Winter Conference, ALFDC Business and Conference Center, Fargo, Arkansas

Feb. 22 - Conservation Scholarship application deadline

Feb. 28 - Crop Insurance deadline for summer crops Feb. 28 - Noninsured Assistance Program (NAP) for summer crops deadline

March 1 - Jefferson County Vegetable Production Meeting, Jefferson County Extension Office, 600 Idaho Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

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UAPB Small Farm Program

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Sign Up Now for New Farmers’ Academy

By Carol Sanders, writer/editor, UAPB

s the number of farms in Arkansas decrease and the average age of farmers increases, preparing new farmers to take the place of those who retire is becoming more important than ever before, Dr. Henry English, director of the Small Farm Program at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, said.

“According to the Census of Agriculture conducted every five years, the average age of U.S. farmers is now 58.3 years, up from 50.5 years,” Dr. English said.

To help replace retiring farmers, the Small Farm Program at UAPB is instituting a New Farmers Academy beginning March 2019. Its purpose is to provide farm training to individuals interested in becoming farmers or agricultural entrepreneurs. Ideal candidates are those new to agriculture, those who wish to transition into agriculture from another field such as military service or private sector work or those looking for a post-retirement opportunity.

Seven training workshops will be conducted over a seven month period to educate and train new farmers.

Workshop topics include farm business and basic marketing; agricultural production practices; the use of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs; and equipment operation, maintenance and calibration.

Both classroom and hands-on education will be provided. Soil suitability for farming, profitable enterprise selection, business planning and marketing strategies will be part of classroom dis-

cussion. Hands-on activities include sprayer and planter calibrations, farm tours, irrigation demonstrations and transplanting.

Academy participants will have access to a retired district conservationist who will assist them in developing a conservation plan for their farm. This plan will identify the different conservation practices needed on their land to improve the farm. Individuals will also have access to a UAPB associate who will help those needing to apply for a USDA loan. Individuals will also be given credit for managerial training if they apply for a USDA loan.

If interested in attending the New Farmers Academy, contact the Small Farm Program at (870) 575-7226 or 7246.

Christopher Doolittle, a new farmer, planting fall greens.

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Rural Life Conference Set for Feb. 1, 2019

By Carol Sanders, writer/editor, UAPB

The 63rd Annual Rural life Conference will be Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center, One Convention Center Plaza in Pine Bluff. The conference begins with registration at 7:30 a.m.; the opening session is at 8:45 a.m. The conference theme is “Working Together to Strengthen Farmers, Families and Communities.”

Sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences, this year’s conference features several workshops, a

poster session highlighting research projects and exhibits by governmental and community agencies.

Registration is requested of everyone even though the conference is free to producers, homemakers and retirees. Early-bird registration for professionals and agency personnel is $50; $75 after Jan. 14. To preregister, if you have special needs or for more information, contact Casandra HawkinsByrd at 870-575-8123 or byrdc@uapb.edu.

UAPB Is Offering Help with Farm Loan Applications

By Dr. Henry English, director, Small Farm Program, UAPB

One way growers manage is through loans. They use them to operate as well as to purchase or improve their farms or ranches.

But obtaining a loan is not always easy or automatic. One service available free of charge to growers from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Small Farm Program is help with the loan application process.

Some large farmers have an employee with such experience or they pay a consultant, but smaller

growers do not have this luxury.

But, they can use the services of the Small Farm Program. And, now is the time to call for an appointment.

Once growers have their appointment, they should get their records in order so they have all information to be included in the application. Growers should provide the names of the crops they plan to grow, the acreage to be devoted to each crop, yield data from three previous years to aid in

Stephan Walker (right), UAPB Extension associate, talks with a farmer about recordkeeping.

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making crop projections, three years of expenses associated with each crop and a balance sheet or information necessary to create one which includes all debts and assets.

When submitting an application to the Farm Service Agency, all items mentioned on the checklist should be included. If an item is missing or incomplete, farmers have a limited time to submit the missing information. Failure to do so results in the application being withdrawn and the farmer must start over. Associates go over the checklist with the farmer to insure checklists are complete.

For assistance, growers should contact their area Extension associate. In Chicot, Cleveland, Desha, Drew Jefferson, Lincoln, and Pulaski Counties contact Stephen Walker or Dameion White at 870575-7237. In Crittenden, Cross, Lee, Phillips, Monroe, and St. Francis Counties contact Alex Cole, 870-630-2005. In Little River, Hempstead, Howard, Sevier, and Miller Counties contact Kandi Williams, 870-571-9428.

Feral Hog Help Available from APHIS and NRCS Dr. Henry English, director, UAPB Small Farm Program

Feral hogs cause $30 million in damage each year to Arkansas’s agriculture industry. They can be aggressive towards people and transmit dozens of diseases to livestock and people.

These wild relatives of domestic swine threaten native wildlife, natural resources, agriculture, private property and public health.

The Arkansas Feral Swine Initiative involving the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts (AACD), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGF) and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Arkansas Wildlife Services (AR-WS) is providing resources for feral swine control.

NRCS provides EQIP funds for a feral swine management program in several counties including Arkansas, Ashley, Baxter, Desha, Drew, Izard, Sebastian, Searcy, Sevier and Yell counties. Contact the

Travis Collins, UAPB program aide, examining a hog trap in Drew County.

Arkansas NRCS state office or your local conservation district for information on feral swine control programs.

The USDA APHIS Arkansas Wildlife Services (AR-WS) will provide and set up hog traps to catch the hogs. AR-WS has increased efforts to help landowners, but they do ask for farmer assistance. They have eight employees working to resolve feral swine issues statewide.

AR-WS encourages landowners to direct their feral swine control efforts toward trapping with an emphasis on the “whole sounder” approach to population management.

Landowners willing to work with AR-WS to remove local feral swine populations should call the Sherwood State Office at (501) 8352318 or the Almyra District Office at (870) 673-1121.

Value-Added Producer Grants Now Available Dr. Tomekia White, UAPB research associate

Value Added Producer Grants are now available, and the Small Farm Program is ready to help producers get them. Two types of grants are awarded every fiscal year – planning grants and working capital grants.

Planning grants of up to $75,000 help farmers develop business and marketing plans for their “value added” product. Working capital grants, up to $250,000, can be used for all operations related to the processing and or marketing of the value added product.

The Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program was developed to help farmers or ranchers increase their incomes by processing

and marketing agricultural products.

Value Added includes any agriculture product that has increased in value. These products can be vegetables, row crops or any type of livestock. Some examples include tomatoes to tomato sauce, sweet potatoes to potato pies or grain to bread.

Producers can use VAPG for packaging items such as apples, onions, or oranges for sale at higher prices in produce markets or grocery stores. Livestock can be used to produce different types of meat such as steak, beef, or bacon for marketing and packaging.

All grant funding must be based on a 1:1 match in the form of cash or other eligible types of contribu-

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tions. For example, 25 percent of the total project cost can be in cash and the other 25 percent may be the farmers’ time and effort, known as “sweat equity.”

There is 10 percent VAPG funding reserved for beginning and socially-disadvantaged farmers/ranchers. Ten points will be awarded to applicants that qualify as small/medium sized family farms and farmer/rancher cooperatives.

For more information and assistance in applying for VAPG grants, contact Dr. Henry English at (870) 575-7246.

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Small Farm Outreach 1200 North University Drive Mail Slot 4906 Pine Bluff, AR 71601

Average Land and Rent Prices in Arkansas % UAPB %

By Dr. Henry English, director, Small Farm Program,

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UAPB SMALL FARM PROJECT STAFF

Muthusamy Manoharan, Interim Dean/Director Obadiah Njue, Interim Assistant Dean for Extension Henry English, Project Director – (870) 575-7246 Alexis Cole, Extension Associate - (870) 630-2005 Travis Collins, Extension Associate – (870) 355-7007 Kandi Williams, Extension Associate – (870) 774-0446 Stephan Walker, MultiCounty Agent – (870) 575-7237 Dameion White, Extension Associate – (870) 575-8955 Kellye Luckett, Extension Assistant Specialist (870) 575-7226

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The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is fully accredited

by The Higher Learning Commission, 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604, 1-800-6217440/FAX: 312-263-7462. Issued in furtherance of Extension work, Act of September 29, 1977, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Dr. Muthusamy Manoharan, Interim Dean/Director, 1890 Research and Extension Programs, Cooperative Extension Program, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The Cooperative Extension Program offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.