Brownwood, Texas, January 19, 2012 Brown County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Cody B Norris, announced that sign-up for the 2012 Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) and the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program starts on January 23, 2012 and continues through June 1, 2012.
“I encourage producers to make an appointment with our office to sign-up for program benefits,” said Norris.
Eligible DCP participants receive a direct payment and/or a counter-cyclical payment. Direct payment rates are established by statute regardless of market prices. FSA reminds producers that the 2008 Farm Bill does not authorize advance direct payments. Counter-cyclical payments vary depending on market prices, and are issued only when the effective price for a commodity is below its target price (which takes into account the direct payment rate, market price and loan rate).
ACRE protects producers from farm market revenue declines when revenue triggers are met for a commodity at both the state and farm level. Farms that are already enrolled in the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program (DCP) for a crop year can elect to switch to ACRE before the end of signup.
Both DCP and ACRE participants must sign annual contracts to be eligible for program benefits. All signatures of producers who will receive a share of DCP and ACRE payments must be on file by the June 1, 2012 deadline. For more information about DCP and ACRE, please contact the Brown County FSA office at 325/643-2573 or visit the web at: www.fsa.usda.gov/tx.
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ONLINE VIDEOS OFFER TIPS TO CATTLEMEN
RanchTV.org is a video library developed and maintained by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service for the purpose of extension information to cattle producers. The primary speakers in these videos are from the Extension Beef Cattle Unit. Some videos that would be of interest now during this drought include a channel on Drought Cattle Management. Individual videos on this channel address water issues, prussic acid and nitrate toxicity in forages, supplementation, and culling, just to name a few.
The Nutrition Feeds and Feeding Channel provide excellent information related to nutrient requirements of cattle. Individual videos address evaluating forage conditions, hay considerations, feeding for intended use, which feed to purchase, reading a feed label, mineral supplementation, non-protein nitrogen, protein limiting factors, use of co-products, protein cubes/cakes, pelleted feeds, using tubs, supplements in tubs, supplements in blocks, loose minerals, mineral blocks, cottonseed hulls, soybean/cottonseed meal, corn gluten/distillers grains/ rice hulls, and wheat mids/soy hulls/alfalfa leaf meal. Videos on many other aspects are also available on RanchTV. These videos can be accessed on the Internet at www.ranchtv.org
Another option available at this web site is Cowsense U, a good option if you are interested in taking online courses that teach best beef cattle management practices. At this site you will find multiple online courses, many of which are free. Upon the successful completion of each course you will receive a certificate that says that you completed and passed the online course from the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Topics include Beef Quality Assurance, Low Stress Cattle Handling, and Market Cow Management. Other courses will come online in the near future.
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LAST CHANCE CEU PROGRAM
Tom Green County presents ” Last Chance Pesticide License CEU Program” on Thursday February 9th, 2012. The program will be presented at the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center 7887 US Hwy 87 North San Angelo, Texas.
Registration begins at 12:30p.m. and the program will begin at 1:00p.m.. Registration fee is $25. There will be a total of 5 CEUs available, 1 general, 2 IPM, 1 Laws & Regs, and 1 Drift Min. For more information and to RSVP, contact: Tom Green County Extension Office 325-659-6522 or 325-659-6524.
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age or national origin. The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners’ Courts of Texas Cooperating
