STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann
UNL Extension educator

     I am tempted to say BOO!!! It is Halloween. The last day of October is synonymous with costumes, parties and trick-or-treaters, but did you know that Halloween most likely got its start in agriculture? For ancient Celtic cultures, Oct. 31 was the last day of the year and a day to bring animals in for the winter and prep meat for the colder days. Many latter day historians believe that day was the spooky, ritualistic practice of sacrificing livestock; however, Oct. 31 was also a day the Celts believed unsettled spirits roamed the countryside playing tricks. Costumes were a way to scare them off.  There are a lot of other things that are just as scary. Let’s take a look at those things – which include some deadlines!
     November 14 Deadline for Comment on WOTUS: The proposed rule–Definition of Waters of the U.S. Under the Clean Water Act, published in the Federal Register, is open for public comment until November 14, 2014. I have written several articles on this and many, if not most, ag groups and other organizations across the nation are troubled by the very negative effects that this ruling could bring. Some more information has come to light and is interesting reading. The American Farm Bureau Federation today released a legal analysis, “Trick or Truth? What EPA and the Corps of Engineers Are Not Saying About Their Waters of the U.S. Proposal.” The seven-page paper shows how a recent Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “Q&A” misleads the public about their proposed expansion of federal jurisdiction over waters. On a thumbnail: The Trick: The EPA and Corps of Engineers claim to answer important questions about the rule. The Truth: The agencies withhold and misstate key information to hide the true impact of the rule. 
     This proposed rule would dramatically expand the reach of extremely costly federal permitting requirements to cover countless land uses, including ordinary farming and ranching activities – even mowing grass in a ditch. Even county roads are affected. Top-level EPA officials have portrayed farmers’ concerns as ‘ludicrous,’ when in fact they are perfectly valid. Farmers and other small business owners and land owners deserve better than misinformation from their government. “Trick or Truth” lays out in detail how the proposed waters rule would: Expand federal power to restrict land use; Regulate so-called “streams” that are nothing more than subtle landscape features where rainwater channels; and Establish federal permit requirements for essential farming practices like crop protection and fertilizer use. Farmers and ranchers need to read the fine print. “Trick or Truth” will help them do that. The paper is posted at: http://bit.ly/1E5Ujnb . 
     Pasture, Rangeland and Forage Insurance Due Nov. 15: The deadline is nearing for Pasture, Rangeland and Forage Insurance, designed to provide livestock and hay producer’s protection against acreage losses. The 2015 sign-up and acreage reporting deadline for this USDA Management Agency program is Nov. 15, and notices of premiums due will be sent by July 1, 2015 as I understand it.  I look at any insurance as a critical component in producers’ risk management portfolios during periods of drought or uncertainty. This policy benefited many cattle producers in 2011 and 2012 due to the low rainfall conditions. Even though 2014 is off to a much better start, having this insurance may still be worth considering.
     Basically, payment is not determined by individual damages, but rather area losses based on a grid system. Producers can select any portion of acres to insure, but they must also choose a minimum of two, two-month intervals or a maximum of six two-month intervals per year to insure. Coverage levels between 70 and 90 percent are available. Once coverage is selected, the producer chooses a productivity factor between 60 and 150 percent. The productivity factor is a percentage of the established county base value for forage. The base value is a standard rate published by the Risk Management Agency for each county. It is calculated based on the estimated per-acre cost of grazing in that county or region of Nebraska.
     Nebraska uses a rainfall index to determine the insurance coverage. The rainfall index is based on the rainfall experienced over an entire grid area, rather than the rainfall on an individual farm or ranch or at a specific weather station. In Nebraska, these grids measure about 13 miles from east to west, and about 17 miles from north to south. Rainfall index values are calculated by the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA utilizes daily rainfall measurements from the four closest reporting weather stations to a particular grid area to determine a composite rainfall value for that grid. (http://maps.agforceusa.com/prf/ri/ ) If you are interested in seeing if this insurance may be for you, a decision-support tool to help producers determine coverage levels and intervals can be found at: http://agforceusa.com/rma/ri/prf/dst . UNL info may be found at: www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g2217/build/  
     Farm Bill Education Meeting November 24: The Webster County FSA and UNL Extension will host a Farm Bill meeting on Monday, November 24, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. at the Blue Hill Community Center. It is important that growers have information they need as decisions regarding commodity program selection are complex and will last for the duration of the farm bill. The meeting will primarily focus on the Base Reallocation and Yield Update decision, as well as the ARC and PLC programs. Topics will include: The farm bill program sign-up process, including documentation needed and deadlines; Base, yield and commodity program decisions and considerations for your operation; How to calculate farm program payments; and Online decision-aid tools to help you determine which program is best for your operation and lets you input data specific to your operation and examine various options for your decision. The meeting is free and open to the public.

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home