Under USDA’s Blueprint for Stronger Service, Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse has announced a package of technology enhancements from the Farm Service Agency. These enhancements include Web access for handheld and smartphone users, as well as a more efficient and timely option for receiving news and critical program information. Now available are: loan deficiency payment rates, posted county prices, FSA news releases and AskFSA, the agency’s online self-help knowledge base.

By signing up for free online communications through GovDelivery, farmers and ranchers can receive news, via e-mail, directly to their home or farm office or to their mobile devices—allowing them to receive immediate notification of farm program news that is pertinent to their agricultural operation.

Scuse says – the mobile website is an added convenience for farmers and ranchers and an effective, efficient way for USDA to deliver news, program information and reliable guidance on a variety of agricultural issues. To access FSA’s mobile website visit www.fsa.usda.gov/mobile. To sign up for FSA’s GovDelivery electronic news service, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/subscribe.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates U.S. farm exports set a record during 2011. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says this record demonstrates once again—that American agriculture remains a bright spot in our nation’s economy. Agricultural exports for calendar year 2011 were a robust 136.3-billion dollars as international sales rose a record 20.5-billion dollars.

According to the Secretary, – these figures indicate how demand for the American brand of agriculture continues to soar worldwide, supporting good jobs for Americans across a variety of industries. Every one-billion in agricultural exports supports 84-hundred American jobs, meaning that U.S. farm exports helped support more than one-million U.S. jobs in 2011.

The Secretary continued, – that gets to the innovation of our American farmers, ranchers and growers. American agriculture continues to apply the latest in technology and achieve a nearly unparalleled level of productivity. In fact, U.S. agriculture is the second-most productive sector of our economy in the past few decades outside of information technology.

The Secretary concluded, – exports of almost all major U.S. commodities rose in calendar year 201l. Grains were the biggest contributor to the overall record, reaching an all-time high of 37.7-billion dollars, a 9.2-billion dollar increase over 2010. Cotton experienced the biggest year-to-year increase, up 44 percent.

Courtesy: NAFB News

For those who once had to go to a desktop computer to study soil survey information, there is now an “app” for that. SoilWeb combines online soil survey information with the GPS capabilities of smartphones. This combination allows users to retrieve a graphic summary of soil types in the form of soil profile sketches. Each profile sketch shows soil horizons, often compared to a vertical ice cream sandwich made up of layers of soil. Soil names, locations and taxonomic categories are also shown.

Clicking on soil sketches sends the user to the corresponding Official Series Description, a user-friendly narrative of commonly used soil properties such as horizon depths, colors, texture and rock fragment content. Clicking on a soil name provides the user with a more detailed description, including: physical and chemical properties, definitions and links to a variety of environmental databases.

The SoilWeb app is a portable version of the UC Davis California Soil Resource Lab’s Web-based interface to digital soil survey data from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The National Corn Growers Association is voicing it’s disappoint after the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Energy and Environment Subcommittee voted in favor of legislation that will, what NCGA says – hamper consumer choice in fuel. The legislation will require the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct additional testing on E15 before allowing use of the blend. H.R. 3199 is co-sponsored by James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin.

NCGA President Garry Niemeyer says – EPA has thoroughly tested and approved the use of E15 in motor vehicles. This legislation will create further government bureaucracy and generate unnecessary costs to American taxpayers for something that has already been appropriately vetted.

The bill will require the National Academies of Science to conduct further research that would compare mid-level ethanol blends to blends containing 10 and zero percent ethanol.  The National Academies would be required to report their results 18 months after enactment of the legislation.

Courtesy: NAFB News

Experts from the United States and Canada are calling for increased usage of biodiesel in North America, saying the sustainable transportation fuel protects the continent’s energy security and augments the food supply of the entire world, while providing a positive impact on climate change. Central to the discussion is biodiesel’s ability to alleviate dependence on foreign oil, a dependence that threatens national security and is subject to the uncertainty produced by the world’s most politically unstable regions.

According to Robert Zubrin, PhD., the United States’ foreign policy is largely driven by a thirst for oil in countries that are considered unfriendly to American interests. He says, today – we are 60 percent dependent on imported oil and spend more on imported oil than we spend on national defense. He calls is a – disaster waiting to happen.

Scientists, academics and economic analysts gathered in Orlando, Florida for the National Biodiesel Conference and Expo. Others noted that a lack of an effective energy policy also weakens the nation’s economic recovery, calling for increased usage of renewable fuels that provide an important alternative to petroleum and support tens of thousands of domestic jobs

Courtesy: NAFB News

Agricultural Research Service scientists have developed an evapotranspiration and drought modeling system that may someday help farmers and water managers assess drought and irrigation impacts on water use and crop development.

The model, known as ALEXI, or Atmosphere-Land Exchange Inverse, uses thermal infrared imagery from satellites and calculates soil and plant temperatures that can be used to create maps of ET rates of plants growing around the world.

The system is expected to become particularly relevant as climate change presents challenges for growers and water managers in areas such as the Texas Panhandle, the Florida Everglades and the southwestern United States. With help from new satellite imagery, scientists hope to be able to move toward routine mapping at the “field scale” level.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The American Soybean Association says the European Union’s heavy-handed policies on biotech soybeans, as well as inaccurate characterization of biodiesel by the Renewable Energy Directive, have contributed to a 70 percent drop in total soybean export quantity and a 44 percent decrease in soybean export value to the EU over the last 14 years. That was the message sent to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk who wants to improve the nation’s trade relationship with the European Union as part of the recently-formed U.S.-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth.

According to ASA President Steve Wellman, a soybean farmer from Syracuse, Nebraska, – as a direct result of more than a decade of discriminatory biotech traceability and labeling practices, America’s soybean producers have lost a significant portion of what was a viable and thriving export market. Wellman says, – with a Renewable Energy Directive that omits biodiesel based on inaccurate information and arbitrary standards, the remainder of that export market is threatened.

In its comments, ASA points out that multiple EU policies hinder the importation and use of biotech crops from the United States, including delays in approvals of new biotech traits, despite positive assessments by the European Food Safety Authority; commercially infeasible requirements on biotech content in food products under EU Traceability and Labeling Regulations; state-by-state restrictions on biotech imports; and application of National Seed Catalog and Coexistence requirements to planting of biotech crops by certain EU member states.

Courtesy: NAFB News

The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Energy and Environment Subcommittee has marked up E15 legislation which would require even more study of E15 blends and delay it use by consumers.  Growth Energy CEO tom Buis calls the action – unneeded and duplicative regulation. He also considers the legislation, sponsored by Representative James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, – a waste of time and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

According to Buis, they’ve been looking at E15 for more than three years. Now Representative Sensenbrenner wants to move the goal posts again – a move that would only add more red tape and regulation. According to Buis, – no fuel blend has been tested as thoroughly as E15. No fuel blend has undergone the level of scrutiny E15 has – and passed the tests like E15 did.

According to Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen, – to suggest more testing is needed is nothing more than a stall tactic that has but one outcome – our continued addiction to oil. Dinneen calls this bill – a perfect example of Congress trying to address a problem that doesn’t exist.  Understandably, concerns will be raised any time a new fuel is introduced.  The concerns raised, however, are largely superficial and do not require the intervention of Congress to resolve.

Courtesy: NAFB News