WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2011 — USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Under Secretary Kevin Concannon today announced the results of USDA’s Household Food Security in the United States, 2010 report that found that the percentage of very low food security declined from 5.7 percent of households in 2009 to 5.4 percent in 2010. The USDA study indicated that in 2010, 17.2 million households in America had difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of resources. The number of food insecure households in 2010 was relatively consistent with statistics released in 2008 and 2009.

“This report underscores the critical role that federal nutrition assistance programs play in helping struggling American families put food on the table until they can get back on their feet,” said Concannon. “Many families receive assistance not because they want to, but because they need it as a last resort to make ends meet. As the economy continues to recover and jobs are created, we hope to see the number of families in need of nutrition assistance shrink.”

The report released today indicates that 59 percent of all food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest nutrition assistance programs near the time of the survey.

In fiscal year 2010, these programs provided much needed food assistance to millions of individuals, children and families in need:

• In an average month of fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provided benefits to 40.3 million people in the United States.
• In fiscal year 2010, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provided meals to an average of 31.6 million children each school day.
• In fiscal year 2010, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) served an average 9.2 million participants per month.

Food insecurity rates were substantially higher than the national average for households with incomes near or below the current federal poverty line ($22,350 for a family of four), households with children headed by single women or single men, and black and Hispanic households. Food insecurity was more common in large cities and rural areas than in suburban areas and other outlying areas around large cities. The media briefing kit can be obtained at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Features/HouseholdFoodSecurity2010/.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs including the Summer Food Service Program; SNAP; NSLP; WIC; and the Emergency Food Assistance Program. Together these programs make up the federal nutrition safety net. USDA administers these programs in partnership with state and local agencies and works with faith and community-based organizations to ensure that nutrition assistance is available to those in need. Additional information about the programs can be found at www.fns.usda.gov.

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross visits Cherta Farms in Fresno County.

One of the most remarkable things about our state and nation remains the opportunities available to immigrants. Even now, in the midst of recession, there are new Americans pursuing their dreams, just like many millions before them. In agriculture, many of them are farmers, and some are seeking their niche by growing the crops of their homelands.

I recently had an opportunity to visit Cherta Farms in Fresno County. The CEO, Tzeka Cherta Lee, is a first generation Hmong immigrant who began farming to put himself through school. He received a master’s degree in anthropology and returned to the farm full-time, where he and others are working to make Asian crop farming sustainable. We all stand to benefit if they succeed.

Asian vegetables are delicious, nutritious, and grown right here in California. The farmers I met at Cherta Farms are working together to promote these commodities with the first annual Asian Crop Harvest Festival, scheduled for September 16^th and 17^th at Manchester Mall in Fresno. 

What better way to learn about Asian vegetables? I hope you will attend, and give a boost however you can to the hard-working Americans producing these crops.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/09/05/national/a002547D48.DTL

By DINESH RAMDE, Associated Press

Monday, September 5, 2011

(09-05) 00:25 PDT MILWAUKEE (AP) —

With buying from small, local, family-run farms becoming more popular, the results of a new study from Wisconsin could be surprising: It found that milk from big dairies is cleaner than that from small ones.

The lead researcher was Steve Ingham, a former University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who now works for the state agriculture department. He says he looked at cell and bacteria levels use to evaluate a cow’s health and a farm’s cleanliness and found them lower in milk from big farms.

All the farms met federal safety standards.

Wisconsin Farmers Union spokesman Tom Quinn dismissed the results, saying a truly meaningful study of milk quality would have to evaluate factors like taste and nutrition.

The study was published last month in the Journal of Dairy Science.

CALIFORNIA FARM REVENUES REACH NEW HIGH IN 2010

The State’s 81,700 farms and ranches received a record high $37.5 billion for their output last year. California agriculture revenues increased 9 percent for 2010 from the revised 2009 income level of $34.6 billion, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and Economic Research Service. California’s cash receipts represented 11.9 percent of the U.S. total for 2010.

California’s increase in revenue was led by the dairy sector. Dairy producers received $5.93 billion for their milk production in 2010, up 31 percent from 2009, but down 14 percent from 2008. Herd size decreased 2 percent from 2009. Milk production from the state’s dairy farms increased 2 percent. Milk prices received by producers rose from $11.49 per hundred pounds of milk sold in 2009 to $14.69 in 2010. California produced 20.9 percent of the nation’s milk supply last year. The beginning of 2010 saw a dip in milk price for January, February and March. Milk prices began a slow recovery from April through October, before slipping in November and December. The higher price of milk was often offset by higher feed costs, which resulted in California dairies struggling to turn a profit in 2010.

Eleven California products exceeded $1 billion in receipts for 2010, up from eight products in 2009. Eight of the eleven commodities registered an increase in value. The commodity with the largest percentage increase was pistachios, at a 95 percent increase in value, making 2010 the first year pistachios have topped $1 billion. The value of walnuts also surpassed $1 billion for the first time. Pistachios and walnuts joined almonds, marking the first time more than one nut crop value exceeded $1 billion. The year was a banner year for nut crops, with almonds, pistachios and walnuts all setting records for production. Final grower returns could change the sales values for the commodities, resulting in an updated dollar amount in next year’s report.

More information is available at: www.nass.usda.gov (PDF)

Source: The Packer

VISALIA, Calif. — The task force fighting the Asian citrus psyllid is not prepared to declare victory in California, but it seems to have the enemy surrounded.

Barring surprise discoveries of the pest in citrus producing regions, fall/winter shipping should continue normally.

Infestations of the psyllid, which was first discovered in the U.S. near San Diego in 2008, continue to pop up in the Los Angeles area, said Ted Batkin, president of the Visalia-based Citrus Research Board.

Batkin

“Our joint focus is to concentrate on the inner core of the L.A. basin and to drop those populations down, so they’ll quit pushing out of the area,” he said.

“Our strategy is to treat all discoveries in a 400-meter radius.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture are the California citrus industry’s allies in the effort to control the psyllids, which can carry huanglongbing, a disease fatal to citrus trees.

Aware of the heavy damage the disease caused in Florida and in some foreign countries, growers have stepped forward to fund a major portion of the cost of keeping the pest under control.

“The growers are continuing to heavily invest at the rate of $20 million a year,” Batkin said. “The funds cover detection, research, treatment and public relations.”

The funds also have helped expand the detection areas in and around Los Angeles. At least one citrus tree is found at 70% of Southern California homes, according to University of California researchers, who estimate there are as many or more residential citrus trees as there are trees in commercial groves in Southern California.

Public service announcements on the radio and television and meetings with local government officials are paying off, Batkin said.

“Everybody has been helpful, but the area’s Hispanic and Indian communities have been fantastic,” he said.

The fact that those Southern California residents are aware of psyllid populations in Mexico and India is likely a factor in the cooperation the task force is receiving, Batkin said.

While there has been progress, eradicating the psyllids and preventing the disease from reaching California will be a long term affair, he said.

“I’d say we’re three to five years away from knowing what the compound is that’s going to work — and another several years of testing before we can actually put it into practice in the fields,” Batkin said.

“I’m going to say in less than 10 years we shall have solutions that we’ll be testing and then able to move into commercial application.”

In the interim, the trap-setting continues at an accelerated pace in nearly every corner of California.

“Everywhere there’s a block of citrus,” Batkin said.

Particular emphasis is being placed on the San Joaquin Valley, the state’s major citrus growing region. The southern end of the valley is only 90 miles north of Los Angeles and is separated from the urban area by the Tehachapi Mountains.

“If it (the psyllid) gets over the hill, we’ve got to find it fast,” Batkin said.

California is not alone in searching for a solution to the psyllid-carried disease. Several laboratories in Florida, along with Texas A&M University, are conducting research along with University of California researchers at several locations, Batkin said.

“We don’t have the magic bullet yet, but we’re looking,” he said.

Please see this link for video

Dale Yurong

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — California’s Secretary of Food and Agriculture came to the Valley to ask local growers and ranchers to help shape the 2012 federal farm bill.

Growers say they know there will be much less to go around in the next farm bill. Those seeking the least painful cuts spoke out in Fresno.

State Secretary of Food and Ag Karen Ross met with as many Valley farmers as she could during this farm bill listening session. A local dairy representative spoke out against subsidies in the federal ethanol program.

Eric Erba said, “There are few tools or strategies readily available to protect dairy producers from higher costs of feed.”

Secretary Ross says many growers seek crop protection, in the form of stepped up insurance and disaster aid.

Karen Ross said, “One thing all farmers are talking about is the need for a very strong safety net and I think they’re especially cognizant of that as we look at some of the extreme weather events cognizant that have happened in this state and all across the country.”

Whether it’s funding for specialty crops or enhancing the export market, farmers say it’s important California put up a unified front.

Ryan Jacobsen said, “Invasive species, probably one of the top priorities here. Obviously we’ve seen some of the detrimental effects we’ve had locally here so we want to continue to make sure those federal dollars are available.”

The money’s been used to keep destructive pests like the melon fruit fly out of California and to limit its spread once found.

Secretary Ross says the listening sessions around the state will help educate members of congress. She says agriculture has been one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy.

In early August, CDFA, working with its partners at the Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, began a Japanese beetle eradciation project at nearly 100 properties in the Fair Oaks area. Treatment was completed on Friday, August 26. The Japanese beetle is a voracious pest that threatens home gardens, lawns and crops. It has infested much of the eastern U.S., with annual costs for management running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

California has had several detections of Japanese beetles over the years. In each case, CDFA has successfully eradicated the pest. With the current treatment now complete, a two-year period of monitoring in the area has begun. If there are no new detections, the Japanese beetle will be declared eradicated. During this time, residents are asked to report any possible sightings and also not to move soil or potted plants from the treatment area without first contacting Sacramento County. If there are any questions, please contact CDFA’s pest hotline, 1-800-491-1899.

More information about the pest is available at : http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/target_pest_disease_profiles/japanese_beetle_profile.html

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2011/08/0373.xml&navid=NEWS_RELEASE&navtype=RT&parentnav=LATEST_RELEASES&edeployment_action=retrievecontent

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the winning proposals for the 2011 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG). Through CIG, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing nearly $22.5 million in innovative conservation technologies and approaches that address a broad array of existing and emerging natural resource issues.

“We’re announcing more than 52 grants today—these are 52 opportunities to help some of America’s top agricultural and conservation institutions, foundations and businesses develop unique approaches to enhancing and protecting natural resources on agricultural lands,” said Vilsack. “The grants will help to spur creativity and problem solving to benefit conservation-minded farmers and ranchers. Everyone who relies upon the sustainability of our nation’s natural resources for clean water, food and fiber, or their way of life, will benefit from these grants.”

Besides advancing innovations that address erosion prevention and other natural resource issues, the 2011 CIG award winners will demonstrate the effectiveness of new ways to reduce odors from poultry and livestock operations, reclaim mining lands, develop ecosystem markets and expand solar energy use on farms. Grant winners pay 50 percent of project costs.

Projects will be carried out in 40 states. Eight of the approved grants support development of conservation innovations in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and another eight focus on the Mississippi River Basin.

A summary of all proposals selected for a 2011 Conservation Innovation Grant is available at www.nrcs.usda.gov . Some examples include:

California – $372,478 to the Mokelumne Watershed Environmental Benefits Program to establish a regional ecosystem market that invests in improving water availability, water quality, habitat viability and carbon sequestration, and measures its benefits.

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia – $848,424 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to help farmers convert manure to energy to generate income and improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.

Florida – $581,625 to the New North Florida Cooperative Association, Inc., to develop and demonstrate conservation approaches and technologies that can be easily and inexpensively adopted by limited-resource, socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers.

Georgia – $122,712 to the University of Georgia to demonstrate the effectiveness of solar energy in cooling, heating, and pumping water, and for drip irrigation, aerating ponds, and watering livestock.

Iowa, Illinois and Indiana – $195,623 to the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition to develop and demonstrate ways to retrofit existing conservation buffers to better prevent nutrients from entering waterways from field drainage systems.

Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia – $541,136 to The American Chestnut Foundation to demonstrate the use of chestnut trees and other hardwoods to reclaim land on mining sites.

Maryland – $73,500 to the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts for conservation outreach to non-English-speaking poultry producers.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island – $60,954 to Walrus and Carpenter Oysters to turn nuisance macroalgae that harms oyster production into fertilizer.

Ohio – $1 million to the Quasar Energy Group, LLC, to demonstrate the effectiveness of anaerobic digesters to process and manage livestock waste in the Grand Lake St. Mary’s watershed, and to prevent livestock nutrients from entering the Mississippi River.

Oregon – $966,722 to the Freshwater Trust to demonstrate, through on-the-ground projects and transactions of verified and registered credits, a functional market system that uses proven tools and methodologies.

South Dakota – $859,671 to South Dakota State University to demonstrate the effectiveness of how mob grazing of cattle impacts the productivity and profitability of grazing land, plant species, and soil and water quality. In mob grazing, cows are restricted to grazing in a small area for a short period of time.

Washington – $410,491 to Washington State University to demonstrate the effectiveness of conservation practices for mitigating air emissions from dairy operations.

Wisconsin – $700,000 to the University of Wisconsin to demonstrate the effectiveness of how to preserve water resources in the state.

The NRCS administers CIG as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Grants are awarded to state and local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes, non-governmental organizations and individuals. NRCS uses CIG to invest in innovative, on-the-ground conservation technologies and approaches with the goal of wide-scale adoption to address water quality and quantity, air quality, energy conservation, and environmental markets, among other natural resource issues.

For more information about NRCS conservation programs online, visit: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov or visit the nearest USDA Service Center in your area.

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