Farm bill Pilot Program:

Sue, thanks..MOST interesting

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Michelle

-----Original Message-----

From: Ratcliffe, Susan T [mailto:sratclif@ad.uiuc.edu]

Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 12:18 PM

To: Kokini, Jozef; Wander, Michelle; Loe, Richard

Subject: FW: Pilot Program

  Here is the message I received from Marty Draper along with the Sec. 1107 attachment.  My best, Sue

------ Forwarded Message

From: "Draper, Martin" <mdraper@csrees.usda.gov>

Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:32:34 -0500

To: Keith Smith <smith.150@osu.edu>, <baertsche.1@osu.edu>, Don Breece <breece.2@osu.edu>, <durga001@umn.edu>, Greg Cuomo <cuomogj@umn.edu>, <jpayne@iastate.edu>, Gerald Miller <soil@iastate.edu>, Paul Brown <pwbrown@iastate.edu>, "Campion, Dennis R" <dcampion@uiuc.edu>, "Gray, Michael E" <megray@uiuc.edu>, Tom Coon <coontg@msu.edu>, Stephen Lovejoy <lovejoy@anr.msu.edu>, Larry Olsen <olsenl@msu.edu>, Rick Klemme <richard.klemme@ces.uwex.edu>, Dave Williams <david.williams@ces.uwex.edu>, John Shutske <jshutske@cals.wisc.edu>, <chibberd1@unl.edu>, Tom Jordan <tjordan@purdue.edu>

Cc: susan ratcliffe <sratclif@uiuc.edu>, "Ratcliffe, Susan T" <sratclif@ad.uiuc.edu>, "Bahn, Henry" <HBAHN@csrees.usda.gov>

Subject: FW: Pilot Program

Folks,

A few weeks ago I contacted you all about a new pilot program from the 2008 Farm Bill that is being launched in your states. This new program will allow specialty crops to be planted on base acres. The question was being asked by FSA what the Extension Service will be able to do to help producers with this program. It appears that FSA is now targeting sign-up beginning in October, with completion by December.

Henry Bahn (National Program Leader, Economic and Community Systems) and I wanted to share with you the actual Farm Bill language. We noted that the crops allowed (Sect 1107, d, 1) and the acres per state (Sect 1107, d, 2, A-G) are very well defined. I would sense that the appropriateness of the specified crops is highly local. With these limitations it may be that few new specialty crop producers may enter market under the authority of this program. There are also some clear limits regarding marketing arrangements. Reference to pest management and crop rotations (I would say planting sequences) can be found in Sect 1107, d, 3, B (emphasis added).

FSA is providing Extension an opportunity and hopefully we can respond quickly enough to offer a positive contribution. This additional information is intended as a head's up and we hope you find it useful.

Regards,

Marty

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Martin A. (Marty) Draper, PhD

National Program Leader - Plant Pathology

Room 3453 Waterfront Center

Voice: 202.401.1990

E-mail: mdraper@csrees.usda.gov

"What a man hears, he may doubt; what a man sees, he may

possibly doubt; but what he does himself, he cannot doubt."

     - Seaman Knapp

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

________________________________

From: Bahn, Henry

Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2008 10:25 AM

To: Draper, Martin

Subject: Pilot Program

Marty:  Pertinent portion is highlighted in yellow.

JH

Henry M. "JH" Bahn, Ph.D.

National Program Leader, Economic & Community Systems

Cooperative State Research, Education & Extension Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Ave SW

Mail Stop 2215

Washington, DC USA 20250-2215

tel.  202-720-8143

fax. 202-690-3162

hbahn@csrees.usda.gov

CSREES advances knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and nutrition, and communities.

www.csrees.usda.gov/agriculturalmarketsandtrade.html <http://www.csrees.usda.gov/agriculturalmarketsandtrade.html>