USDA rule encourages purchase of local agricultural products for nutrition programs

Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon announced that United States Department of Agriculture's child nutrition programs are implementing new rules designed to encourage use of local farm products in school meals. The final rule, published in the Federal Register, will let schools and other providers give preference to unprocessed locally grown and locally raised agricultural products as they purchase food for the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Special Milk, Child and Adult Care, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable, and Summer Food Service programs.

The rule is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 signed into law by President Obama and one of the key provisions to bolster farm to school programs across the country. "This rule is an important milestone that will help ensure that our children have access to fresh produce and other agricultural products," said Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon. "It will also give a much-needed boost to local farmers and agricultural producers."  Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers

Corn, Soybean farmers could be rewarded for participating in Federal Crop Insurance Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced today that it has published a proposed rule in the Federal Register  that would reward farmers participating in the federal crop insurance program for good performance.

"This proposed Good Performance Refund will benefit qualifying farmers and ranchers across rural America and strengthen the federal crop insurance program," says RMA administrator, William J. Murphy. "It encourages producers to use the best available management practices in order to qualify for the refund in future years and rewards good performance by returning a portion of the out-of-pocket costs paid for crop insurance premiums back to those who have paid into the program and have had limited or no losses."

Under the proposed program, payment amounts would vary by producer and will be based on each qualified producer's history in the program. RMA estimates that the average refund amount per producer this year will be about $1,000. The program has a proposed maximum limit at $25,000, with a minimum payment of $25. The first year of the proposed program will use data from 2009 and prior crop years because not all 2010 data is finalized. Read more...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.