News & Opportunities

NEWSLETTERS Spring 2013, Vol. 5, No. 2 Fall 2012 Vol. 5, No. 1 Winter 2011 Vol. 4, No. 4 Summer 2011 Vol. 4, No. 3 Winter 2010/2011 Vol. 4, No. 2 Spring 2010 Vol. 4, No. 1 Winter 2009/10 Vol. 3, No. 4 Fall 2009 Vol. 3, No. 3 Summer 2009 Vol. 3, No. 2 Spring 2009 Vol. 3, No. 1 Winter 2008 Vol. 2, No. 4 Fall 2008 Vol. 2, No. 3 Summer 2008 Vol. 2, No. 2 Spring 2008 Vol. 2, No. 1

St. Paul, Minn., April 18, 2014 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that in an effort to further enhance the biosecurity and health of the US swine herd while maintaining movement of pigs in the US, the USDA will require reporting of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv) and Swine Delta Coronavirus in order to slow the spread of this disease across the United States. USDA is taking this latest action due to the devastating effect on swine health since it was first confirmed in the country last year even though PEDv it is not a reportable disease under international standards. PEDv only affects pigs and does not pose a risk to people and is not a food safety concern.

"USDA has been working closely with the pork industry and our state and federal partners to solve this problem. Together, we have established testing protocols, sequenced the virus and are investigating how the virus is transmitted," said Vilsack. "Today's actions will help identify gaps in biosecurity and help us as we work together to stop the spread of these diseases and the damage caused to producers, industry and ultimately consumers."

In addition to requiring reporting of the PED virus, today's announcement will also require tracking movements of pigs, vehicles, and other equipment leaving affected premises; however, movements would still be allowed. USDA is also working with industry partners to increase assistance to producers who have experienced PED virus outbreaks in other critical areas such as disease surveillance, herd monitoring and epidemiological and technical support.

As part of USDA's coordinated response, USDA's Farm Loan Programs is working with producers to provide credit options, including restructuring loans, similar to how the Farm Service Agency successfully worked with livestock producers affected by the blizzard in South Dakota. In the case of guaranteed loans, USDA is encouraging guaranteed lenders to use all the flexibility available under existing guarantees, and to use new guarantees where appropriate to continue financing their regular customers.

USDA is already providing assistance to researchers looking into this disease, with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) working with the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa to make models of the disease transmission and testing feedstuffs. This modeling work is contributing to some experimental vaccines to treat animals with the disease. ARS also has a representative serving as a member of the Swine Health Board. USDA also provides competitive grant funding through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program and anticipates some applications on PEDv research will be submitted soon. In addition, USDA provides formula funds to states and universities through the Hatch Act and National Animal Health Disease Section 1433 for research activities surrounding this disease.

In conjunction with the pork industry, state and federal partners, the USDA is working to develop appropriate responses to the PEDv and Swine Delta Coronavirus. A question-and-answer sheet on today's reporting requirement is available on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website here:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/2014/faq_ped_reporting.pdf (PDF, 31KB)
For a summary of USDA actions to date, additional information is available here:
http://www.usda.gov/documents/pedv-summary-actions.pdf (PDF, 150KB)

From an earlier forward from Dr. Marshall:
http://www.pork.org/News/3904/NationalPorkBoardStatementOnPEDV.aspx links to the National Pork Board's page on Porcine Endemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV). The disease causes severe diarrhea in pigs, and piglets are especially hard hit.  It is a disease that only infects pigs, therefore there is no risk to other animals or people.  Pork from infected pigs is safe to eat.

I strongly encourage all pork producers in the state to review and to redouble biosecurity efforts.  The article that I linked to has good recommendations regarding biosecurity and protection of your herd, your animals' health, and your livelihood.  As always, please contact me if your herd is experiencing any significant disease event so we can assess whether there exists any disease that could impact public health or animal health in the state.

New Website Connects Farmers to N.E. Farmland
New England Farmland Finder: This new online service helps farmers and landowners find each other. This farm property clearinghouse is free, simple and privacy protected. It contains information and resource links to inform and support farm seekers and landowners. The site was launched by a collaboration of New England organizations focusing on farmland access issues. The new service complements local and statewide efforts to match new farmers with available land. Ken Ayars, chief of state Department of Environmental Management's Division of Agriculture, is enthusiastic about this New England-wide resource.

"In our experience, people come from all over the country to farm in our area," Ayars said. "Yet, finding land to purchase or rent can be their biggest challenge. This new service helps make good connections. It also makes it easy for individuals, towns and organizations to let farmers know about their available farms and farmland." Thanks, ecoRI, for this abbreviated bit of their article!

• New England Farmland Finder

Opportunities ...

• Availability of Farm Viability Grant Funds RI Specialty Crop Grant Program
  Grant Funding period April 1, 2014 – March 31, 2016
  Funding is contingent on availability of funds from USDA
  VIEW FLYER
  
  The RIDEM/Division of Agriculture is pleased to announce the availability of Farm Viability grant funds for the purpose of enhancing the Competitiveness of Specialty Crops grown in Rhode Island.
  
  Specialty crops are defined by this Federally supported program as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, and nursery crops including floriculture including Christmas Trees, cut flowers, honey, hops, and turf grass production. Examples of enhancing the market competitiveness of specialty crops include, but are not limited to: Research, promotion, marketing, nutrition, trade enhancement, food safety, food security, plant health programs, education, ``buy local'' programs, increased consumption, increased innovation, improved efficiency and reduced costs of distribution systems, environmental concerns and conservation, product development, and developing cooperatives.
  
  Grant applications and projects must further the competitiveness of specialty crops only as broadly as possible in Rhode Island, and not just serve to enhance individual farm viability pursuant to USDA program guidelines.  Grant funds will not be awarded for Projects that solely benefit a particular commercial product or provide a profit to a single organization, institution, or individual. Single organizations, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate as project partners.
  
  For an overview of the program and some examples of grant requests, please go to:
  www.ams.usda.gov/scbgp and click on Grants, Rules, and Procedures  2013 Guidance Document.
  
  

  A total of $150,000 is available for projects with no direct match required. Awards will be made in amounts of  $10,000 to $50,000 for each project. Any Rhode Island agricultural or educational association or organization, individual farmer, or resident is eligible to apply.

• Got Something to Share?
  The quarterly RIRLA newsletter is primarily comprised of stories gathered by or written by Jane Christopher.  (Jane and her husband, Chris, also produce the newsletter.)  Occasionally an article falls in that was written by another member or associate.  If you have attended a fair, a livestock or breed show, attended a conference or workshop, or anything else you feel would be interesting to our members, please send me an email and let us know what you'd like to write about.  When space permits, these articles would be a nice addition to an already terrific newsletter.  What can you share?
   
• List Your Farm – Buy Local RI     FREE Listing!
  Farmers!  You are not taking advantage of this great, FREE resource!  When I go to Buy Local's website and search "pork" "lamb" "beef" I am still seeing only 2 to 3 of our farms for each meat.  Only four or five  farms show up when I simply search "meat"   If you have a listing, PLEASE take a moment to "search" yourself, your products, etc.  See if the public can find you!  Remember to use search terms in your listing that YOU would use to search for your farm's products.
  
  Buy Local RI is a program of the Lt. Governor's office. The Buy Local RI website is meant to connect RI's local independent businesses to consumers in the state.  There are a LOT of consumers out there who want to buy local meat but don't know where or how to find it. This is a great opportunity to market your farm and its products for FREE! Go to www.buylocalri.org and click on the "Sign Up" icon in the upper right corner of the home page.  Look for AMCC, The Mission Farm, Windmist and Ever-Breeze on the Buy Local RI site.  Let consumers find your farm, too!
   
• Got Equipment, Animals or Hay to Sell? Services to Offer?
  As part of its effort to become a true resource for farmers, RIRLA is looking to develop the "Classified" section of the RIRLA website, but we can't do it without your help! We need listings for For Sale, Services and Wanted. Listing is FREE!! Go to www.rirla.org/bulletinboard-classifieds.htm to list your item, service or need.
   
• Free Harvest To Hand App for iPhone and iPod Touch: A New Way to Promote Locally Grown Goods
  You can enroll in Farm Family's Harvest to Hand program which uses an app that will be available soon on iPhone or iPod Touch. This easy to use app allows consumers to locate farmers markets, local festivals, locally made products, family-friendly farms, local wineries, breweries, local eateries, and agritourism venues in their own town or wherever the road takes them. The venues may be categorized several different ways, and users can map out directions directly from the app wherever they may be located. Harvest To Hand app users can add venues to a list of favorites, and share finds with friends and family in a number of ways.
  
  Participants do not have to be clients of Farm Family to participate. The main criteria are that the venue, event or farm must be accessible to the general public, and feature locally produced or grown and harvested products  If you would like to get your event, agritourism venue or farmers market listed, simply go to www.HarvestToHand.com and complete the online form.
   
• USDA Funding to Test for Scrapie
  RI has been awarded $2000 by the USDA to enhance surveillance for the disease known as scrapie. This disease affects sheep (and less frequently, goats). Surveillance quotas for the disease must be met for each state to enjoy the benefits of being classified as low risk. The surveillance for the disease can only be reliably done on samples from dead animals. Therefore, any adult sheep that dies on the farm is appropriate for testing.
  
  The University of Connecticut has agreed to apply this money to subsidize 20 RI origin sheep submitted to them for a complete necropsy examination. The benefit of having this money available is two-fold. First, a necropsy examination is critical to knowing the cause of death of the animal, therefore the farmer will gain much more knowledge about that animal's health and often the flock's health. Second, is that maintenance of low-risk scrapie status by meeting surveillance quotas will prevent any interstate movement restrictions being imposed on RI origin sheep.
  
  The usual cost for necropsy at UCONN is $120 or $150 depending on the weight of the animal. UCONN will be paid through these funds directly by DEM, so, farmers will only be responsible for the balance of the necropsy fee at the time they submit their animals. This service will be a good value to them and I hope that they take advantage of this opportunity.
  
  Scott N. Marshall, DVM
  R.I. State Veterinarian
   
• RI Small Business Development Center
  The RI Small Business Development Center (RISBDC), hosted by Johnson & Wales University in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the RI Economic Development Corporation, is a program designed to provide the highest quality of business assistance services to established enterprises and promising new start-ups, including your farm business! The RI SBDC is a one-stop resource center for small and medium -sized businesses that tailors their services based on client needs. SBDC provides assistance in business plan development, market analysis, sources of capital, technology transfer, inventory assistance and other managerial and technical support services, including short-term professional counseling services e.g. financial analysis and advice (for FREE!), workshops and information services. Go to www.risbdc.org or contact Douglas Jobling, SBDC's agricultural specialist at 401-263-5124 or douglas.jobling@jwu.edu.
   
• Farm Hack Invention Blogs
  FarmHack is a resource for farmers who embrace the long-standing farm traditions of tinkering, inventing, fabricating, tweaking, and fixing things that they broke. Open to farmers of all ages, it has special relevance to young and beginning farmers, who may want to learn from their peers' and their elders' successes, mistakes and new ideas. Go to http://www.youngfarmers.org/practical/farm-hack/ for ideas!
   
• $1.3 Million available
  RI Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Office
  The RI Farm Service Agency has $1,393,000 available to lend beginning farmers to purchase a farm or to make improvements to an existing farm. Call 1-800-551-5144 or 401-828-3120 for more information.