1. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals, 1167-1168 [E9-301]

Jan 12, 2009      Federal Register

The Risk Management Agency (RMA) has developed procedures for the preparation, submission and evaluation of applications. Risk Management Agency Title: Risk Management and Crop Insurance Education; Request for Applications. FCIC operating through the Risk Management Agency (RMA) has two application programs to carryout certain risk management education provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act. more...

2. USDA Release: USDA FIELDS FARM BILL, PREPARES GROUND FOR NEXT ADMINISTRATION

Jan 13, 2009      USDA Office of Communications

USDA enrolled 1.8 million DCP contracts for 2008 and issued $5.1 billion in direct payments. Implemented the 2009-2012 DCP and Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program on December 29, 2008. In addition, USDA provided additional work in conservation, rural development, nutrition, research, energy, farm credit and crop insurance sections of the 2008 Farm Bill. more...

3. Healthy Forests Reserve Program 1954-1971 [E9-506]

Jan 14, 2009      Federal Register

Easements One commenter asserted that the HFRP should provide for permanent easements. In response, NRCS received two comments, asserting that the HFRP should use the standard conservation easement deed for HFRP. There is no requirement that HFRP participants obtain any Landowner Protections. more...

4. Environmental Quality Incentives Program 2293-2317 [E9-530]

Jan 15, 2009      Federal Register

NRCS first allocated $130 million in EQIP funds in 1996. This section also addresses EQIP contract funding limitations. To receive payment, an applicant must enter into an EQIP contract. more...

5. Nieman Named Conservation Farmer of 2008

Jan 10, 2009      Greensburg Daily News

His son, Greg Nieman, is a 2000 graduate of Greensburg Community High School who attended Purdue University to study agronomy and now sells Federal crop insurance through John Deere's Farm Risk Management Services. His youngest son, Curtis Nieman, will be graduating from Greensburg this spring with intentions of attending Purdue University and the possibility of studying something related to agribusiness. more...

6. Online ag mapping gets caught in the crossfire of privacy dispute

Jan 13, 2009      Agweek

This information defines the borders of agricultural fields, helping to provide information relative to that field's acreage, location and land value. AgriData has been using this data since 2004. Before it was made available to the public, Hagert had to pay a team of people to manually draw in the field borders for his customers. That's one the farmers usually don't like to have floating around," Hagert says. But he remains concerned only with the CLU data. more...

7. Growing raw data into useful ag information

Jan 13, 2009      Agweek

They got their start in 1997, working with crop insurance agents to provide more informative acreage reports to farmers. A typical acreage report always had included township and section data to describe the areas being planted and with what crop. When a hail storm goes over, it takes Doppler weather radar information and compares it with all of the land descriptions that an agent has in his company's portfolio. more...

8. County officials back premium tax hike They wonder if 4% increase should be phased in

Jan 14, 2009      Messenger-Inquirer

...county's insurance premium tax to pay for downtown development, and the ordinance needed to increase the tax will be introduced at Fiscal Court in early February. That would put the tax increase on track to take effect on July 1. But commissioners are unsure if they will increase the tax rate by 4 percentage points -- as the Owensboro City Commission plans to do with its insurance premium tax -- or if they will phase it in over two years. The county has an insurance tax rate of... more...