NC General Assembly Approves Hurricane Relief Funding
Yesterday, the NC General Assembly passed the Hurricane Florence Supplemental Act (SB 823) which included $240 million for the NCDA Ag Disaster Program. The bill was passed unanimously by both chambers and is now on its way to Governor Cooper's desk for final approval.
Farmers with damage from Tropical Storm Michael may also be eligible for disaster assistance from the Hurricane Florence Agricultural Disaster Program of 2018. The seven additional counties pending a federal disaster declaration include: Avery, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Watauga and Yadkin counties. With this addition, 61 of the state’s 100 counties would have received either a primary Presidential or Secretarial-disaster declaration.
Two Weeks Left to Sign-up!
So far there has been a low number of sign-ups for the program. If you have not signed up yet make sure you do so before December 10th. Applications can be found online at https://www.ncagr.gov/agriculturaldisasterprogram/# and you can call NCDA's hotline for assistance at 1-866-645-9403.
|
|
Soil Sample Deadline Extended
The deadline for free NCDA soil sample submission has been extended. The last day to deliver samples to avoid the peak-season fee is Friday, Dec 14. The gate will close at 5:00 pm.
|
|
MFP Payments on Unharvested Soybeans
Our national affiliate, the American Soybean Association, is aware of soybean storage issues around the country and that many growers are not harvesting their crop, leading to questions about eligibility for Market Facilitation Program payments. ASA has confirmed with FSA that MFP payments will be made on bushels that are mechanically harvested. Crops do not need to be stored in bins or a local elevator for farmers to estimate production. FSA will accept a producer’s record of bushels harvested. Also, severe quality loss is not a factor in determining eligibility for the payment, just the volume of production. The initial MFP rate for soybeans is $1.65 per bushel. Producers can apply for the program until January 15, 2019
|
|
Murphy-Brown Lawsuits Start Back-up
The fourth in a series of lawsuits against Murphy-Brown, started again this month, this time focusing on a farm in Sampson County. The trial lawyer from Texas spent the first day telling the jury about Wendell Murphy, painting him as a man who industrialized hog farming, putting small farms out of business and secured passage of laws in his favor. The North Carolina Pork Council's "Beyond the Bacon" blog sums up the account of the day in the courtroom and explains the changes that North Carolina was experiencing during those times.
At new trial, it’s an old story: Tales being spun- https://www.ncpork.org/trialtales/
|
|
Where's the Farm Bill?
With only 9 days left on the joint congressional schedule, the nail-biting has commenced for the 2018 Farm Bill. House and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairmen Mike Conaway and Pat Roberts and Ranking Members Collin Peterson and Debbie Stabenow made the following announcement yesterday that they had reached an "agreement of principle."
“We’re pleased to announce that we’ve reached an agreement in principle on the 2018 Farm Bill. We are working to finalize legal and report language as well as CBO scores, but we still have more work to do. We are committed to delivering a new farm bill to America as quickly as possible.”
Before they can say that the committee has reached a deal the legislative text has to be written up and it has to go through the official Congressional Budget Office scores. Roberts also commented, "there's still some things out there that people have to agree on." Once the final bill has been prepared by the committee, it will have pass the House and the Senate and be signed by President Trump, all before Congress adjourns for the Christmas and New Year's Holidays.
|
|
|
|
|
