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NRCS This Week

April 11, 2003

"Happiness is a state of mind, not a set of circumstances. We either experience happiness right now – or not at all."

Dr. Richard Carlson, American author.

In This Issue

Status of Farm Bill Rules

NRCS Drought News

Focus on the Field
Georgia: From Rights-of-Way to Wildlife
Mississippi/Tennessee: “We’ll Have an Order of Your Bamboo with a Side of Sugar Cane, Please”
North Carolina: Anaerobic Digester Summit
Ohio: Prairies, Parks, Wetlands, and Wildlife

Word from Washington
USDA Appoints Agricultural Air Quality Task Force
Technical Service Provider Agreement with University of Tennessee Signed
Proposals for the Farmland Protection Program Requested
Secretary Announces $44 Million in Grants for Renewable Energy Initiatives

Tech Tip
Soil Survey Characterization Database to be Online

This Week's NRCS NewsLinks!
 

Status of Farm Bill Rules

Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) Program
The AMA final rule will be published in the Federal Register soon.
Contact: Dave Mason, Program Manager, at 202-720-1873.

Conservation Security Program
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Extended comment period closed April 3, 2003.
Contact: David McKay, Team Leader, at 202-720-1845.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program
Proposed Rule
30-day comment period closed March 12, 2003.
Contact: Melvin Womack, Team Leader, at 202-720-1845.

Farmland Protection Program
Request for Proposals was published in the Federal Register on April 3, 2003. Deadline for proposals is May 19, 2003.
Contact: Denise Coleman, Program Manager, at 202-720-9476.

Technical Service Providers
An amendment to the Technical Service Provider Assistance – Interim Final Rule was published on March 24, 2003. Comments on that amendment must be received by June 30, 2003.

The TSP Cost Survey solicitation period has been extended until April 30, 2003.

A correction to the Technical Service Provider Assistance – Interim Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on March 31, 2003. The comment period for the TSP Interim Final Rule (published November 21, 2002) was re-opened, with comments due by April 30, 2003.

The policy, handbook, and amendment to the rule are available on the NRCS website at http://techreg.usda.gov/WhatsNew.aspx.
Contact: Melissa Hammond, TSP Group Leader, at 202-720-6731.

NRCS Drought News

Drought Eased, Not Ended
Amid varying reports of Colorado's current drought situation and water supply outlook following the March blizzard of 2003, climatologists at Colorado State University's Colorado Climate Center stress that recent rain and snowfall, although beneficial in easing the State's drought, are not enough to end the State's drought. The climate researchers add that, even with a wetter than average spring, it is not likely that Colorado will pull out of long-term drought impacts in 2003, and that the State will continue to face serious irrigation and municipal water shortages throughout the spring and summer.

According to the NRCS Water and Climate Center (WCC) water supply forecasting staff, many locations from central Colorado received more liquid equivalent precipitation from the recent blizzard than was recorded from October through early March. However, despite some enormous totals, many locations' season-to-date snowfall totals are still only near or below average; expert consensus indicates that the storm will reduce but not come close to eliminating drought and water supply concerns in Colorado. In mid-February, snowpack was approximately 75 percent of average statewide. According to the WCC, as of April 1, snowpack is 94 percent of average statewide and 177 percent of last year's snowpack for this date. Perhaps more important, according to the Climate Center, is that snowpack statewide is currently 91 percent of the average seasonal peak accumulations, or the average maximum for the year, which generally occurs on April 13. Therefore, Colorado's mountains need to not only maintain the snowpack they have but also receive a significant amount of precipitation within the next few weeks to gain the additional 9 percent of snowpack needed to truly get the State back to its average snowpack.
From an article in the North Forty News, Drought Eased, Not Ended

Check out the National Drought Monitor website at http://drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

Check out the NRCS Drought Website at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/highlights/drought.html

Focus on the Field

From Rights-of-Way to Wildlife
NRCS, the Two Rivers Resource Conservation & Development District (RC&D) of LaGrange, Georgia, and the Atlanta Gas Light Company (AGLC) are working together to transform thousands of “idle acres” along natural gas pipeline rights-of-way into fertile habitat for quail, turkey, deer, and other wildlife. Through Project Wildlife Incentives for Non-Game and Game Species (WINGS), Georgia landowners are encouraged to create wildlife habitat along gas line and electrical power line rights-of-way through grants from utility companies and technical assistance from NRCS and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division. Two Rivers RC&D administers the process whereby landowners receive the grants if they agree to follow NRCS conservation practices such as special plowing, brush control, and plantings to feed birds and animals. AGLC is the first natural gas company in the Nation to participate in a project like WINGS. “What’s significant about Project WINGS is the partnership of State, private, Federal, and local organizations. Any State can replicate the program, and we’re glad to give them our format,” said Forrest Hill, executive director of Two Rivers, RC&D, which is an environmental non-profit organization whose members are 14 county governments and four soil conservation districts.
Your contact is Forest Hill, Executive Director, Two Rivers RC&D, at, 706-885-0101.

“We’ll Have an Order of Your Bamboo with a Side of Sugar Cane, Please”
Giant pandas, Le Le (pronounced Luh Luh) and Ya Ya (pronounced Yah Yah), arrived hungry and tired after their long trip by FedEx from Beijing, China, this week, but the NRCS Jamie L. Whitten Plant Materials Center (PMC) in Coffeeville, Mississippi, and the Memphis, Tennessee, Zoo were ready for them. Through an agreement between the zoo and NRCS, the PMC will provide the panda’s dietary staple of 20 to 40 pounds of bamboo daily until the zoo is able to cultivate its own crop. During a typical day, a panda spends 14 hours eating bamboo, sugar cane, and vegetables and the other 10 hours sleeping. Ya Ya (which means "beautiful little girl” in Chinese) is a two year-old, 140-pound female giant panda, from the Beijing Zoo. Le Le (which means “happy happy” in Chinese) is a four year-old, 160-pound, male giant panda from the Chongquing Zoo. Zoo officials say Le Le and Ya Ya will make their first public appearance on April 25, after settling into their $16 million, three-acre, China Exhibit “home,” which opened last July.
Your contact is Jeannine May, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 601-965-4337, or jbm@ms.nrcs.usda.gov.
Anaerobic Digester Summit
NRCS and other Federal agencies will sponsor the Anaerobic Digester Summit to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, June 2-4, 2003. The event is being organized and managed by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and is intended for those with an interest in anaerobic digester technology; animal waste management; and rural economic, energy, and environment issues. The summit will look at the technical and institutional challenges to expanding adoption of anaerobic digester technologies and opportunities for the public and private sectors to work together to facilitate digester adoption within the context of animal waste management, rural economic development, and environmental improvement. The mix of plenary sessions, panel presentations, individual presentations, and discussions and displays will focus on the appropriate application of anaerobic digester technology for waste management and use in animal agriculture.
You can access the preliminary program on the Water Environment Federation (WEF) website at: http://www.wef.org/pdffiles/AnimalManureinfo.pdf as well as the Call for Papers http://biosolids.policy.net/relatives/25561.pdf and Author Instructions http://biosolids.policy.net/relatives/25562.pdf
Your contact is Dan Meyer, NRCS natural resource specialist, at 301-504-2226, or daniel.meyer@usda.gov.

Prairies, Parks, Wetlands, and Wildlife
With help from the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), a partnership effort between NRCS, the Nature Conservancy, and local and State government are working to restore natural prairie vegetation, create wetlands, and design stream channels on 225 acres, near Columbus, Ohio. This wildlife habitat would likely have been lost to urban sprawl had it not been for the WRP funds and quick work by this conservation partnership. The Prairie Township Park District WRP site inside the Darby Creek Watershed – a WRP priority area – is mostly bottom land with a creek running through it. The land had been approved for WRP, so when the landowner decided to sell, the Nature Conservancy quickly found an interested buyer in the Prairie Township Park District who wanted to preserve the wildlife habitat. The park district lacked funds to buy the site so NRCS and the Nature Conservancy created a plan to secure funding through a Clean Ohio Grant and keep the land’s WRP easement intact through the transaction process. Within a year, the partnership facilitated the successful purchase of the natural area by the park district. Currently the partnership is developing plans to protect and enhance this valuable wildlife habitat and natural area for local residents to enjoy.
Your contact is Jeff Raifsnider, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 614-255-2471, or jeff.raifsnider@oh.usda.gov.
 

Word from Washington

USDA Appoints Agricultural Air Quality Task Force
Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced this week the members of the recently
re-established Agricultural Air Quality Task Force for 2003-2004. The task force is chaired by NRCS Chief Bruce Knight and made up of USDA employees, industry representatives, and other experts in the fields of agriculture and air quality. “Conservation of our natural resources, including air quality, is important to our farmers and ranchers,” Veneman said. “I am pleased these individuals have agreed to serve on this task force.”

The Agricultural Air Quality Task Force charter is renewed every 2 years to address agricultural air quality issues. The task force will serve as an advisory committee and will operate under the terms of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The role of the task force is to advise the Secretary on issues related to agricultural air quality, including strengthening and coordinating USDA air quality research efforts and identifying cost-effective ways in which the agriculture industry can improve air quality. Representatives from USDA’s Forest Service; Agricultural Research Service; and Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service also will participate on the task force.

The first meeting of this task force will be May 20-21, 2003, in Washington, D.C. Additional information is available on the Web at http://fargo.nserl.purdue.edu/faca.
Your contact is Beth Sauerhaft, NRCS designated federal official (DFO), at 202-720-8578, or beth.sauerhaft@usda.gov.

2003-2004 USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force

Alabama
Tommy L. Coleman, Alabama A&M University Arizona
Kevin G. Rogers, Producer California
Mark P. Boese, San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District
Manuel F. Cunha, Jr., Nisei Farmers League
Robert G. Flocchini, University of California-Davis
Roger Isom, California Cotton Ginners & Growers

Hawaii
Stephanie A. Whalen, Hawaii Agricultural Research Center

Idaho
Dave Roper, Producer
Dar Olberding, Idaho Grain Producers Illinois
James K. Trotter, Producer

Indiana
Robert N. Jackman, Veterinarian, State Senator
Rita Sharma, Producer

Maryland
Phillip J. Wakelyn, National Cotton Council of America New York
Douglas Shelmidine, Producer

North Carolina
Viney P. Aneja, North Carolina State University
Garth W. Boyd, Smithfield Foods, Inc
Joseph Rudek, Environmental Defense
Sally L. Shaver, US Environmental Protection Agency

Oklahoma
Annette H. Sharp, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality

Utah
Nan Wankier Bunker, Producer

Texas
Robert V. Avant, Jr., Texas Food and Fibers Commission
Calvin B. Parnell, Jr., Texas A&M University
John M. Sweeten, Jr., Texas A&M University

West Virginia
Timothy Wade Maupin, Cargill Turkey Products

Technical Service Provider Agreement with University of Tennessee Signed
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced a cooperative partnership with the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service (UT-Extension) that will offer producers options in developing their comprehensive nutrient management plans. This is the first agreement where NRCS recognizes a university’s comprehensive nutrient management plan certification program as a source for technical service providers. USDA and the university signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at a ceremony held this week in Washington D.C. The signatories were Bruce Knight, Chief, NRCS; Dr. Jack Britt, Vice President, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture; Dr. Charles Norman, Dean, University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service; and Dr. Robert T. Burns, Designated Technical Leader, University of Tennessee’s Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP) Certification Program.

The three-year agreement allows UT-Extension to recommend certified nutrient management specialists in manure and wastewater handling and storage, nutrient management and land treatment practices as NRCS technical service providers. These providers must perform work that meets NRCS standards and specifications for effective nutrient management.

“We recognize the value of the award-winning CNMP program offered by one of our Nation’s land grant universities,” Chief Knight said. “By making UT-Extension a certifying organization, we will ensure producers who need conservation assistance can choose from a cadre of top-notched experts.”

The certified specialists will be placed on a national, web-based registry called TechReg that is available to landowners, farmers, ranchers and others seeking conservation technical assistance.
Additional information on technical service provider assistance is available at http://techreg.usda.gov. Information on the 2002 Farm Bill can be found at http://www.usda.gov/farmbill.

Proposals for the Farmland Protection Program Requested
NRCS is requesting proposals for the Farmland Protection Program (FPP) from Federally recognized Indian tribes, States, units of local government or nongovernmental organizations to cooperate in the acquisition of conservation easements on farms and ranches. “Our productive soil is a national treasure—and keeping America’s farm and ranch lands producing is a high priority now and for the future,” Chief Bruce Knight said. “Land use devoted to agriculture also provides important contributions to environmental quality, historical and archaeological resources, our rural heritage and scenic beauty.”

FPP is a voluntary program, reauthorized in the 2002 Farm Bill, that helps farmers and ranchers keep their land in agriculture. Eligible land includes farm and ranch land that has prime, unique or other productive soil or that contains historical or archaeological resources. These lands also must be subject to a pending offer from eligible entities for the purpose of protecting topsoil by limiting conversion of that land to nonagricultural uses.

The request for proposals was published in the Federal Register on April 3, 2003. Proposals must be received in the appropriate NRCS State office by May 19, 2003.
The request for proposals and additional information on FPP can be found at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill/2002. Information on the 2002 Farm Bill is at http://www.usda.gov/farmbill.


Secretary Announces $44 Million in Grants for Renewable Energy Initiatives
$23 Million Targeted for Farmers, Ranchers and Small Business to Improve Energy Efficiencies and $21 Million Provided for the Biomass Research and Development Initiative

This week, Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced the availability of approximately $44 million in grants that will support President Bush’s energy plan to develop renewable energy and expand the economic prospects and environmental promise of biomass. “These programs support the President’s goal to enhance renewable energy supplies,” said Secretary Veneman. “Developing alternative energy sources that reduce pollution and increase energy security is an important part of the Administration’s overall energy policy.”

Both programs were authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill and will be conducted in collaboration with the Department of Energy. Veneman said that $23 million are available from USDA’s Rural Development for the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements programs to assist farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses develop renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements to their operations.

Through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, $21 million in grants are available to eligible entities to carry out research, development and demonstrations on biobased products, bioenergy, biofuels, biopower and related processes.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, on behalf of USDA and DOE, is requesting proposals for biomass research, development and demonstration projects. The solicitation package (USDA-GRANTS-031803-001) is posted on the Federal funding opportunities website at http://www.Fedgrants.gov, and in more detail at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov and http://www.bioproducts-bioenergy.gov/. Proposals for this joint solicitation must be submitted by May 16, 2003, to USDA-NRCS, Management Services Division, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013-2890, Attn: Sheila Leonard.
Information about additional energy grants provided for by the Farm Bill and about USDA’s energy policy can be found at http://www.usda.gov/farmbill and http://www.usda.gov/energy/, respectively.
 

Tech Tip

Soil Survey Characterization Database to be Online
A database of soil survey characterization data has been created at the National Soil Survey Center's Soil Survey Laboratory. It contains the "legacy" data from the mainframe database and the complete, verified data from the Soil Survey Laboratory-Laboratory Information Management System (SSL-LIMS) database. The database serves as a staging area for the soil data warehouse and is replicated at the NRCS Web farm in Fort Collins. Anyone using a web browser will be able to view and print standardized reports of characterization data from the Web farm. Users will also be able to search and download delimited text files of user selected data. Selection methods include criteria related to project, site, and pedon information (i.e., State, county, series name, and taxonomic classification). A report of the soil profile descriptions associated with the characterization data will also be available at the Web site. The Web pages are 508 compliant and, therefore, are accessible to all, including those with disabilities. The database will be available from http://soils.usda.gov/soil_survey/nscd/main.htm. It is anticipated that the URL (http://vmhost.cdp.state.ne.us:96/) will continue to be available until archiving of the legacy database is completed. The legacy mainframe database, including descriptions stored on the mainframe and Pedon Description Program databases, will be archived in several formats. The archived formats will be delimited ASCII files, Microsoft Access database, and report files. These formats will be stored on CDROM. Future enhancements to the Web delivery system include the capability for lab project submitters to view their project's progress to completion, access to provisional data before project completion and verification, and the capability to suggest additional analyses and additions/corrections to the project's information.
Your contact is Steve Reinsch, Director, NRCS Soil Mechanics Center, at 402-437-5337 or sreinsch@nsmc.nrcs.usda.gov.
 

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