'AG IS WELL POSITIONED FOR THE FUTURE'

(Forbes) -- In a column published at Forbes.com, columnist Joel Kotkin writes, "No sector in America is better positioned for the future than agriculture -- if we allow it to reach its potential." The problem is, Kotkin writes, ag producers are in the "crosshairs of urban aesthetes and green activists who hope to impose their own Utopian vision of agriculture" -- replacing larger-scale operations "with small organic homesteads and urban gardens." He writes that "the assault on mainstream farmers is moving into the policy arena," with restrictions on water, pesticide use, animal production, and genetic engineering of crops. "The emerging war on agriculture threatens not only the livelihoods of millions of American workers," Kotkin writes. "It could undermine our ability to help feed the world." See more at http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/18/agriculture-farming-organic-opinions-columnists-joel-kotkin.html>

INDIAN FARMERS SEE HOPE IN SUIT AGAINST THE DEPT OF AG

Native Americans class action suite against the DOA may be coming to a close. Read about the problem in the attached Washington Post article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/28/AR2009092803838.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

ROY SMITH NEWSLETTER - ACRE and CSP

I receive a really good ag newsletter from Roy Smith. Roy calls his newsletter FARMER TO FARMER $easonal $trategies Newsletter. If you are interested you can get more information from his website http://www.soyroy.com/ or email him at roy@soyroy.com.

Here is an excerpt from his latest newsletter that I thought you might be interested in.

"ACRE and CSP? I signed up for the ACRE program on my home farm but not on the rented farm as I alluded to last month. With the anticipated good yields predicted for non-irrigated land in Nebraska, I probably am going to sacrifice some direct payment because the price probably will not get low enough to compensate for the yields. What happens to the crop between now and harvest and what cash prices do in the next year are the determining factors.

Just when I thought I had the program figured out, along came the Conservation Stewardship Program, or CSP. I understood that it was designed to reward those farmers who already have conservation practices implemented. At a meeting last week, I discovered that to get a payment, a farmer also has to agree to implement additional practices. I posed the question of what I would be expected to add since my farm already has nearly every practice on the approved list. The one thing that would fit their requirement would be to include wheat in my crop rotation. That isn’t going to happen because I sold my wheat growing machinery. I see some traps in this program that we all need to be aware of before we sign up for a five year commitment. The deadline for getting in on the first sign up is September 30. See your local FSA or NRCS office."