Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced last week a new microloan program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture designed to help small and family operations, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers secure loans under $35,000. The new microloan program is aimed at bolstering the progress of producers through their start-up years by providing needed resources and helping to increase equity so that farmers may eventually graduate to commercial credit and expand their operations...

By mid-January, the 2012 Census of Agriculture has found its way into the mailboxes of most farm and ranch folks in this area. At the FSA office, we have fielded a number of questions concerning this new census document. It is several pages long (24 if you are counting) with a considerable number of questions included about every possible farm business enterprise...

Some years ago in my youth (or a long, long time ago however you want to put it), I recall chasing after a prairie chicken or two with my brother on the family farm east of Hammond. I say "chasing after" as I don't recall ever shooting one, or getting close enough with a shotgun to shoot one (those rascals can fly a long way!), but we did engage in the chase upon occasion...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced in mid-December that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's measures to open conservation land to emergency haying and grazing during the 2012 drought freed up a record 2.8 million acres and provided as much as $200 million in forage for producers facing critical feed shortages. Vilsack made the announcement during the national drought forum in Washington, D.C., co-sponsored by numerous federal agencies, governors' associations and academic partners...

This past year has been an interesting time for several reasons at the Farm Service Agency. We had our second very dry/very hot summer in a row which fortunately doesn't happen too often, but makes it tough on farmers and ranchers when it does occur. ...

The election for positions on the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Committee in Bourbon County has now been completed. The election was accomplished with a ballot listing this year's candidates being mailed to all eligible voters shortly after Nov. 1. Dec. 3 was the deadline for returning completed ballots. Ballots were then counted by the sitting committee members on Dec. 6...

There are times in everyone's journey on this planet when it is time to "shift gears" and take a slightly different "fork in the road." That could be changing jobs, getting married, going back to school, or many others. One of those times is coming up soon for Cheryl Bennett who has been the Bourbon County Conservation District Manager since 2000. ...

As mentioned a couple of times in the past few weeks, Farm Service Agency (FSA) crop reporting dates have been accelerated with the intent of matching crop insurance needs. This should eventually allow the filing of only one report that can be used by all USDA agencies and affiliated insurance companies. Those revised deadlines include the wheat/barley closing date of Dec. 15...

When thinking about a title for this writing to encourage participation in the FSA Committee election process (deadline for ballots is Dec. 3 by the way), the heading "Participating in Life" crossed my mind, but I continued to seek other possibilities thinking something else would surely be more appropriate. However, the more I thought about it, the more I thought this an appropriate introduction...

The commodity markets, though down some from earlier in the fall, remain strong as this year's harvest progresses. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the average Kansas corn price was $7.45 per bushel in August, dropped to $6.87 in September, then bounced back to $7.20 in October. So as harvest time price trends go, that's not bad!...

Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia announced last week that the 2012 FSA county committee elections began on Monday, Nov. 5, with the mailing of ballots to eligible voters. The deadline to return the ballots to local FSA offices is Dec. 3...

It has been really great to get some September-October rainfall after enduring what turned out to be a long, hot summer. I even noted a full pond or two in the Devon area following the 4.5 inches of rain received at the end of September, as well as many fescue pastures showing a surprising measure of fall growth...

Adrian J. Polansky, state executive director of U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency in Kansas, announced last week that drought assistance could become available for livestock producers affected by drought in all Kansas counties except Republic. ...

Recent rains have visibly changed the appearance of the landscape. For many weeks through this summer, I was not sure whether most of our grass was alive or dead. It sure looked dead. Then we got some rain in September and the countryside greened unbelievably. What an amazing creation we live in...

My younger daughter is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, and while there, became a fan of Huskers football. Going to a game there is always fun with a sell-out crowd of 85,000 fans. Since she graduated a few years back, we have continued to attend a football game or two each year when we can get tickets. The game we got tickets for this year was last Saturday, so we took off for Lincoln on Saturday morning, attended the game, then drove home following the afternoon contest...

The cool rain last Friday, along with some other cooler and more noticeably pleasant evenings, has convinced me that fall has at long last arrived. The calendar supports that conclusion as Saturday the 22nd marks the official commencement of autumn. That's a good thing as I think I have had about enough "good ol' summertime" for one year...

Storms in this area come and go. Some come and go very quickly and with a vengeance -- like the one last Friday. It is kind of spooky to drive around town in the total darkness: No street lights; no lights in businesses; no house lights. I did not hear of any casualties from the storm, but there were plenty of lost frozen items, a bunch of trees and limbs down and some damage to roofs and structures from falling trees and wind...

U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency officials announced late last week that emergency grazing of Conservation Reserve Program acreage has been authorized to extend to Nov. 30 beyond the original Sept. 30 final date. The period for baling CRP acres has ended as of Aug. 31...

The rain gauge at the USDA Service Center in Fort Scott showed a total of 1.75 inches of rain over last weekend. That is the most rainfall -- and the first time we have received over one inch at a time -- since April 30. We actually did record over 5 inches on that late April day, but no significant accumulations had been recorded since then...

Most Bourbon Countians have been able to hear as well as see and feel the drought this summer with the seemingly omnipresent "hot" temperatures, abundance of "brown" vegetation, along with the "crunch, crunch" underfoot when walking across the crispy grass. With the drought in the news and affecting such a widespread area, talk of some kind of disaster program has been ongoing...

The nomination process for the FSA committee elections has been completed for this year. We appreciate the interest voters have shown in this process and congratulate the nominees on their appointment to the ballot. FSA committees provide an important grassroots "connection" with USDA programs offered to the farm population of this area through programs like the Conservation Reserve Program, Commodity Loan and Loan Deficiency Payment efforts, Direct and Counter-cyclical Program, Supplemental Revenue Assistance, etc. ...

July 2012 has delivered a knockout punch to many of this year's crops around the county. Conditions on July 1 were noticeably more favorable than conditions 31 days later at month's end. Unlike 2010 when we received 6.57 inches of rain in July, this year's menacing seventh month provided only a scant .50 inches of rain as measured by the National Weather Service in Fort Scott. The "July tradition" of "too dry and too hot" has been dreadfully perpetuated for another year...

Over the past couple of weeks, we have had numerous Conservation Reserve Program participants take advantage of the release of some CRP practices for emergency haying or grazing. However, not all practices have been available for release. This included the most predominantly used practice in Bourbon County -- the CP-25 Restoration of Rare and Declining Habitat practice. ...

Wow. Still very hot and very dry. More 100-plus degree days. One of the bank signs I saw read "113 degrees" on Sunday. I have not found the need to note the high since, as I can tell (even with my eyes shut), the days continue to sizzle. Interestingly, at the Olympic games in London, the days are relatively cool with 60s and 70s as the high on sunny days. ...

When I was looking over some past files in preparation for this week's column, I ran across this "intro" paragraph from a July 2011, column: "I have been reminding myself lately how much I dislike really cold weather, and how much I do like the extended daylight hours of summer. Other than that, my most applicable description of our recent weather condition is 'breathtaking.' When I walk out of our air-conditioned office, the hot temperatures and hot winds nearly take my breath away!"...

The emergency release of Conservation Reserve Program acreage for grazing or haying in most Kansas counties was announced last week. Those on our email list received this announcement on Thursday of last week. This development was covered by several media sources as well. Read on for more information about this opportunity...

The Bourbon County Fair is coming up next week, the swim team has already completed all four of its scheduled meets in the new pool complex, most of the local baseball/softball leagues are in the final few weeks of league play and the hot and dry reality of 2012 blasts through another week. Another memorable summer for sure...

Program note: The deadline for filing a timely report of acres for this year is Monday, July 16. This is earlier than in the past. Call ahead for an appointment at (620) 223-1880. Committee nominations will be accepted through Aug. 1 for the position on the FSA committee representing the townships of Timberhill, Freedom, Osage, Mill Creek and Scott north of U.S. Highway 54. Contact our office for a nominating petition...

On the second Sunday in July 1987, Kevin and Cindy Moyers made their way to Fort Scott for Kevin to begin a new job as senior minister at Community Christian Church. Kevin, born and raised near St. Louis, had been working for several years as an associate pastor at Tyro Christian Church between Coffeyville and Caney, Kan...

Program Note: The deadline for filing a timely report of acres for this year is July 15. This is earlier than in the past. Call ahead for an appointment at (620) 223-1880. From the USDA Newsroom: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced earlier this month that he intends to appoint voting members from socially disadvantaged (SDA) communities to serve on county committees in county jurisdictions that lack fair SDA representation...

Based on an objective to eventually coordinate crop reporting requirements for USDA programs and crop insurance (requiring only one crop report), the final date to report spring and summer planted crops for 2012 was moved up to July 15 for both Kansas and Missouri producers. This is the first year for this earlier deadline...

Opportunity presents itself periodically in different ways for each of us. Sometimes we have a chance to help out a friend or family member in need. Other times might include an expanded business opportunity or promotion; or a chance to travel or work in an exotic new place; or some other way to impact our own existence, and at the same time, the lives of others...

My mom suggested to me many times during my growing-up years that I learn to "roll with the punches" a bit more than my adolescent temperament would seem to tolerate. As the years passed, the more I realized the wisdom of that advice. For most farm folks, it may seem like "rolling" with the various "punches" that are currently affecting the rural way of life as well as the farm/ranch economy has progressed to a point of constantly "rolling." All kinds of technology, changes in lifestyle, changes in farming/ranching practices, etc. ...

On Friday, May 25, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will accept 3.9 million acres offered under the 43rd Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup. During the extended five-week signup, the department received nearly 48,000 offers on more than 4.5 million acres of land, demonstrating the CRP's continuing leadership as one of our nation's most successful voluntary efforts ever to conserve land and improve our soil, water, air and wildlife habitat resources.. ...

Deadlines, deadlines ... always deadlines. Our office hosted an FSA Committee meeting on May 10 -- the last day to timely file the second half of Kansas property taxes. The consensus around the table that day was one of "dread and torment" from this particular time limit. The same emotions apply to the ubiquitous income tax date -- March 1 for farmers and April 15 for most others. These and other deadlines are a part of each of our lives -- like it or not...

One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, in the midst of a great Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed legislation to establish a Department of Agriculture to "acquire and to diffuse among the people of the United States useful information on subjects connected with agriculture ... and to procure, propagate and distribute among the people new and valuable seeds and plants."...

The following remarks were made recently by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Mr. Vilsack is the 30th Secretary of Agriculture, having served in this position since 2009. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Mr. Vilsack graduated from Albany Law School (New York) in 1975, and then settled in to practice law in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, (his wife's home town) where he also served as mayor in the late 1980s. ...

My observation over the past few years is that planting a corn crop is progressively becoming more and more of an "adventure." Seed costs are soaring as it is costing up to $75-plus per acre for corn seed alone. I don't expect my dad ever invested that much total per acre in planting any crop (corn or anything else) in the nearly 50 years prior to his leaving the farm in 1994...

A couple of weeks back, one of the topics in this column was the deadline dates for some of the Farm Service Agency programs effective for this year. At the risk of seeming too repetitive, another quick review of those upcoming closing dates follows...

For those who are fans of college basketball, the two weeks of the NCAA tournament that just recently concluded was an interesting time. Some of the television networks have finally figured out (after all these years) that if they cooperate, they can provide coverage for all the tournament games from start to finish. That was great. What a treat. Right, basketball fans?...

As we now proceed directly into the planting season of 2012 -- a very busy time on the farm -- there are some USDA program deadlines that remain on the schedule. The extended CRP general sign up ends this Friday, April 13. Reporting wheat, oats, and barley acres for the year can be accomplished by May 31...

According to Farm Service Agency Deputy Administrator Juan Garcia, the current general sign up period for the Conservation Reserve Program, set to end on Friday, April 6, has been extended a week through Friday, April 13. Due to some computer software technical problems when the enrollment period started, progress was delayed through those first weeks...

The following editorial/opinion dissertation was recently released by Adrian Polansky, the current state executive director for the Kansas Farm Service Agency (FSA). Mr. Polansky and family operate a family farm and seed business in the Belleville area of Republic County, Kan. He formerly served as the Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, appointed in 2003 and worked for six years in this position...

The abundant rain of recent days and weeks has put an ultimate end to the drought of 2011. If conditions are dry again this summer, we at least will get to start over on a "new" drought period (if, in fact, a drought is repeated). Lord willing, we will miss out on any hot or dry flashbacks to 2011...

Economic conditions in our country over the past several years have been challenging. Available jobs in most areas are scarce, and securing one of those jobs is a difficult task. This is perhaps the most "economically dismal" period that most of us can remember...

The topic of last week's column was the new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign up currently in progress. Following a four-year break in enrollment offerings (2006-2009), this new enrollment opportunity marks the third year in a row that eligible land can be offered in a CRP general sign up. Having started on Monday, March 12, the current enrollment will conclude Friday, April 6...

As announced a few weeks back, USDA/Farm Service Agency will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup beginning on March 12 and ending on April 6. This will be the 43rd enrollment period for CRP since the program was implemented in 1986, and will be a general sign up (for whole fields, etc.) as compared to the continuous sign up that targets sensitive areas like stream and field borders, sod waterways, etc...

Believe it or not, daylight savings time begins again in just a couple of weeks -- on Sunday, March 11. This winter has been uncommonly mild with many pleasantly warm days clear through, but the additional daylight hour in the evening will still be quite welcome. Not a morning person by nature, I much prefer the additional daylight time at the end of the day. And, oh yes, this is also a sign that spring is imminent -- another welcome occurrence!...

In this day of "Facebook," "mobile apps," and wireless Internet access, those who are appropriately equipped can look up almost anything, read email, keep up on family and friends, send a new picture anywhere in the world, check game scores (or watch the game for that matter), and generally stay "plugged in" to what is going on around the world...

Acting Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (FFAS) Michael Scuse announced last week that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup, beginning on March 12 and ending on April 6...

The enrollment period for the 2010 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payment Program, commonly called "SURE," is currently ongoing and will conclude on Friday, June 1. This is one of the "permanent" disaster program parts of the current farm bill. The program is actually ending as the current legislation is also ending this year, but it does cover 2010 and 2011. We are taking applications for 2010 right now. The 2011 sign up time will be a year from now...

As we enter into the final year of the current Farm Bill legislation, farms can now be enrolled into the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) or the Average Crop Revenue Election Program (ACRE) at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. The enrollment period started on Jan. 23, and will conclude on June 1...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted USDA's commitment to renewable energy on Jan. 10 at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument's Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Pearl Harbor naval base was the first Hawaii military marine fleet to use biodiesel, replacing the Department of Navy-operated tour boats that shuttled visitors to and from the USS Arizona Memorial with five new boats capable of running on 100 percent biodiesel...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced loans and grants for agricultural producers and rural small businesses across the country to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in their operations. The funding is provided through USDA Rural Development's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)...

When the first enrollment period for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was announced in 1986, I had just transferred from a USDA office in central Kansas (at Newton) to the Fort Scott office of the old Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS)...

This past year has been a trying one weather-wise --one for the ages, so to speak. It is one the young folks will remember for a lifetime and recount to their children and grandchildren many times. I recall hearing about 1954 on the farm many times from my parents and have recounted the long summer of 1980, myself, to family and friends a few times, recalling the hot and dry conditions of that year...

Janie Hipp, senior adviser to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for Tribal Relations, recently reminded Native American farmers and ranchers that the period to file a claim in the Keepseagle class action settlement remains open through Dec. 27. "Native American farmers and ranchers who feel entitled to funds under the Keepseagle settlements have just a few days remaining to file a claim before the Dec. ...

The election for positions on the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Committee in Bourbon County has now been completed. The election was accomplished with a ballot listing this year's candidates being mailed to all eligible voters shortly after Nov. 1. Dec. 5 was the deadline for returning completed ballots. Ballots were then counted by the sitting committee members on Dec. 8...

Very few business ventures involve the same sort of risks regularly confronted by our farmers and ranchers. When planting a crop, needed tillage is completed and seed is spread out carefully throughout the field being placed entirely in a non-recoverable position, as is the fertilizer, weed control herbicide, etc...

It is interesting and rewarding (most of the time anyway) to take advantage of opportunities that come our way. For example, I took the opportunity to share in a Thanksgiving meal that my daughters prepared for our family last week. Kara made her way to our house (from Iola) as did Kristin (from Panama City, Panama) for the cooking mission...

The commodity markets continue to be a puzzle as we settle into the marketing year for the 2011 harvest. I am not convinced that anyone has a really good handle on what might transpire through these post-harvest months, but at least for now there have been no radical market crashes -- though there have been plenty of ups and downs...

U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Bruce Nelson announced recently that the 2011 FSA county committee elections began on Nov. 4 with USDA mailing ballots to eligible voters. The deadline to return the ballots to local FSA offices is Dec. 5...

The fact that the disaster programs included in the last farm bill expired as of Sept. 30 has been mentioned in this column in recent weeks. A common question now is: "Where does that leave us if this drought continues into next year?" This week's rainfall could make this a moot point (at least for now) as approximately five-plus inches of rain were recorded on Monday and Tuesday around the county. But if drought would eventually persist through next summer, what then?...

The harvest of 2011 is nearly done. There have not been many rainy days or muddy fields to interrupt completion of this task. Looking at the bright side, then, (if the combine didn't break down) this harvest has been smooth sailing, right? Keeping to the bright side theme -- it didn't take as many trucks or fuel fill-ups to keep the harvest hauled away from the field either...

The fall temperatures of late have been a very pleasant respite from this summer's relentless surge of hot/dry days. The "dry" part is sticking with us for now; but, thankfully, the "hot" part appears to have passed. The rainfall measured at Fort Scott during September was 2.17 inches compared to 15.37 inches received in September 2010. ...

Eric B. Banks, state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), announced recently that the application evaluation cutoff date will be, Tuesday, Nov. 15, for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)...