BELCHERTOWN, Mass. With twice as many farmers over 65 years old as under 35, and about 400 million acres of farmland changing hands in the next 20 years, U.S. agriculture is at a crisis. Today, new farmers must overcome significant challenges to enter and succeed in farming. Farm entry has never been easy, but current barriers to ac cessing education and technical assistance, land, capital, credit, and markets are unprecedented. Yet those who work with new and young farmers know that there are many people who want to farm in the Northeast. They are a richly diverse group, bring ing a wide variety of skills and resources to their farming career choice. Traditional pathways of farm entry and sources of support for these new farmers are no longer adequate to meet their unique needs and challenges. A Northeast project, Growing New Farmers, is strengthening the regional service network and developing new programs focused on the next generation of farmers from Maine to West Virginia. With $1.7 million in USDA funding, the project brings to gether more than 150 Northeast organizations and agencies that have committed to serving new farmers as members of the Growing New Farmers Consor tium. According to the Project Di rector Kathy Ruhf, this is the first regional effort of its kind focused on new fanners. The consortium is an active network of “service providers” who exchange information and resources, participate in train ings to better understand and work with new farmers, and de velop programs Growing New Farmers also sponsors research projects on new farmer decision-making, farm succession, and farmer learning models each of which will add to the slim body of information about beginning and young farmers. Another component will make policy rec ommendations and conduct policy education forums around new farmer issues. New tools such as a market selection workbook, on-farm skills curriculum and mentor APHIS To ‘Consider’ Certain Rule Changes For U.S. Scrapie Eradication Program SAN ANTONIO, Texas A number of changes to streamline and simplify some of the regula tions governing certain aspects of the scrapie eradication pro gram that went into effect last year are being “considered”, ac cording to officials of the Animal and Plant Health In spection Service-Veterinary Ser vice (APHIS-VS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA.) Meeting with industry leaders and producers at the American Sheep Industry Association annual convention here. Dr. Mi chael Gilsdorf, Chief, National Animal Health Program Staff, APHIS, unveiled nearly 20 pos sible changes to the regulation. Further, Dr. Gilsdorf and Dr. Diane Sutton, National Scrapie Eradication program coordina tor, encouraged the industry to suggest other changes to im prove the program Most of the proposed changes Northeast Project Fosters Next Generation training, and access to land pub lications will help new farmers succeed. A new Website, www.northeastnewfarmer.org, features a searchable directory of programs and services for OSU Extension Tax Management Factsheets Available FINDLAY, Ohio Ohio State University Extension has made available several Farm Income Tax Management factsheets for producers and landowners who may need tax management tips. The topics include govern ment payment programs, income averaging, home office deduction, frequently asked ag ricultural questions, conserva tion programs and farm trucks, the last two of which are new factsheets for this year. Farm Income Tax Manage ment: Conservation Programs factsheet describes the various USDA-sponsored soil and water conservation programs that make available cost-share pay ments, which may be deductible or excluded from income. Some of these programs include the Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Reserve Enhance ment Program, Wetlands Re serve Program, Emergency Conservation Program, Emer gency Watershed Program, Wildlife Habitat Program and Forestry Incentives Program. “The information attempts to illustrate that not all conserva tion program expense items are treated the same way,” said Robert Fleming, an Ohio State Extension Farm Management District Specialist. For example, most conserva tion programs, such as the Con- are aimed at streamlining the record keeping from farm to market. Other changes have to do with various definitions, in cluding commingling. Dr. Sutton said that while the various proposed changes are under consideration, APHIS-VS may suspend enforcement of very specific aspects of the rule during the comment period and until final decisions are made. She said that APHIS also in tends to purpose for comment other amendments to the rule. “We will take input on these possible changes and sugges tions on other areas of concern until the suspensions and pro posal are published for comment in the Federal Register. After that happens, only official com ments will be considered. Publi cation may take several months,” according to Dr. Sutton. The basic rules for individual identification and transporting new farmers (also available in hard copy) and online learning courses for farmers and service professionals alike. A portion of the GNF project funds was allocated to a “com petitive initiative” to stimulate servation Reserve Program and the Conservation Reserve En hancement Program, are eligible for expense deductions, but cannot be excluded from a farm er’s income. Other programs, such as the Wildlife Habitat Program and the Forestry In centives Program can be ex cluded from a farmer’s income, but the expenses cannot be de ducted. Fleming said that farmers should be aware of which pro grams their income and ex penses fall under for proper reporting Another area that receives frequent questions is how to properly report the use of farm trucks. Fleming said that several factors are involved that may affect the allowable depreciation of a farm truck, including the vehicle’s gross weight and its po tential designation as “listed property”, if it is not used more than 50 percent of the time in a business. “There are many farmers who use their vehicles for personal travel, as well as business. This newsletter is designed for those who use their vehicles for busi ness purposes only,” said Flem ing. To receive a copy of the tax factsheets, contact your local Ohio State Extension office of log on to http://northwest. osu.edu and click under “farm management.” CERS sheep and goats across state lines remain unchanged. There fore, producers must continue to identify their animals as pre scribed. As of late January, about 11 percent of the industry had obtained official premises ID numbers. “During the next several months, the first time a pro ducer is found to not be in com pliance with the rule, he/she will be told by APHIS officials about the new regulations and advised on how to comply. Once the pro ducer has been given an ade quate opportunity to acquire official identification, if another shipment of animals comes in ‘not in compliance’, stronger measures will be taken,” Dr. Sutton said. Information on the acceler ated scrapie eradication pro gram can be found on the Internet at www.animalagricul ture.org/scrapie or www.aphis. usda.gov/scrapie.htm, or by call ing 1-866-873-2824. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 23, 2002-C5 new farmer program innovation among consortium members. Out of about 40 proposals being reviewed by peer consor tium members, several will receive a portion of the grant dollars. For example, some pro posals seek to create or improve community-based lending struc tures for new farmers. Others propose decision-making tools to help guide farm entry. A new farmer “typology” cre ated by project collaborators helps CNF participants custom ize and target services. For this effort, new farmers include those not yet farming recruits, explorers, and plan ners. They need specific kinds of information and assistance to guide their decision to enter pro- L PEANUT HULLS 1 For ] BEDDING Most effective as bedding for ail kinds of beef and , dairy cattle, hogs, ' horses, sheep and What could be better than usin Lancaster Farming's Mailbox Markets once a month? Using Mailbox Markets 2 TIMES* a month!! March and April you can submit I 2 Maiibox Markets eachmonth! *Ads must be different each time . duction agriculture. New farmer “start-ups” from 0-3 years have different needs from those who are re strategizing and becoming es tablished (4-10 years). The Growing New Farmers project is under the leadership of a collaborative of several Northeast organizations: Penn sylvania Farm Link, the Mary land Department of Agriculture, Cornell University, the Univer sity of Massachusetts, and the New England Small Farm Insti tute. The Institute is the grant recipient and houses the project in its Belchertown, Mass, offices. For more information, visit the Website and/or call Kathy Ruhf at (413) 323-4531 or e-mail gnf@smallfarm.org. Any (Ami
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