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New USDA team to better serve farmers The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is standing up a new team that will lead a department-wide effort focused on serving beginning farmers and ranchers. To institutionalize support for beginning farmers and ranchers and to build upon prior agency work, the 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to create a national coordinator position in the agency and state-level coordinators for four of its agencies – Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Risk Management Agency (RMA), and Rural Development (RD). Denise Adkins was selected as the USDA Beginning Farmer Rancher state coordinator in Idaho. Denise has been with NRCS since 2004. She started out as a District Conservationist in two different offices in Idaho and one in Nevada. She now works in the NRCS Idaho State Office as a Natural Resource Specialist. Also on the team coordinating Idaho’s beginning farmers and rancher efforts is Susan Smith, Farm Loan Specialist with the Farm Service Agency. Each state coordinator will receive training and develop tailored beginning farmer outreach plans for their state. Coordinators will help field employees better reach and serve beginning farmers and ranchers and will also be available to assist beginning farmers who need help navigating the variety of resources USDA has to offer. More on Beginning Farmers Twenty-seven percent of farmers were categorized as new and beginning producers, with 10 years or less of experience in agriculture, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture. USDA offers a variety of farm loan, risk management, disaster assistance, and conservation programs to support farmers, including beginning farmers and ranchers. Additionally, a number of these programs have provisions specifically for beginning farmers, including targeted funding for loans and conservation programs as well as waivers and exemptions. More Information Learn more about USDA’s resources for beginning farmers as well as more information on the national and state-level coordinators at farmers.gov/newfarmers. For more information on available programs in your area, contact your local USDA Service Center. New USDA survey to measure areas for improvement The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Aug. 7, a new annual survey of farmers, ranchers and private forestland owners. The survey will help USDA understand what it is doing well and where improvements are needed, specifically at the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA). A selection of 28,000 producers will receive the survey over the next few weeks, but all farmers are encouraged to take the survey at farmers.gov/survey. “We want to hear from our customers so we can learn what we’re doing right and where we’re missing the mark,” Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey said. “Good data is critical to good decision-making. The more responses we receive, the better we can understand what we need to do to improve our services to America’s farmers, ranchers and private forestland owners.” This survey is part of the President’s Management Agenda. It requires High Impact Service Provider agencies across the federal government, including FSA and NRCS, to conduct annual surveys to measure and respond to areas needing improvement. “We recognize producers and our staff may be experiencing a lot of change in how they interact with USDA,” Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce said. “This is a good time to check in with our customers.” “We will use this input to help improve the delivery of our conservation programs as our sister agencies will do for their programs.” Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Matthew Lohr said. “We’re about our customers,” Risk Management Agency Administrator Martin Barbre said. “RMA works to provide producers with crop insurance policies that meet their needs and we need to know where we can improve.” The survey consists of 20 questions and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Responses are confidential, and individual responses will be aggregated. The survey will be open for at least six weeks and will be closed once USDA receives a 30% response rate. Learn more and take the survey at www.farmers.gov/survey. USDA sets income guidelines for school free and reduced price meals The U.S. Department of Agriculture has set new income guidelines for the free and reduced price meals provided to students in schools operating the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, and for free milk in schools operating the Special Milk Program. Free and reduced price meals are available for eligible students throughout the state and are announced each year by Idaho State Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs. Qualifying Idaho schools may offer the Special Milk Program. Eligibility is determined by household size and income. Qualifying students receive meals or milk without charge or may pay a reduced price of no more than 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast. Children from households with incomes at or below the following levels are eligible for free or reduced price meals or the Special Milk Program if meals are not offered:  The household will be notified of any child’s eligibility for free meals if the individual child is known to be receiving educational support through migrant, homeless or runaway education, Head Start or court-ordered foster care. Households notified of their children’s eligibility must contact the school if they choose to decline the free meal benefits. The household will be notified by the district if the school is operating a Special Provision Option (Provision 2 or CEP) that provides free breakfasts and/or lunches to all students. Households not receiving notification of eligibility may complete a confidential application for free or reduced price meals or free milk. A school official will review the confidential application and determine eligibility. Children in eligible households may receive meal benefits regardless of immigration status. Applications may be submitted any time during the year. Children of parents or guardians who become unemployed are eligible for free or reduced price meals or for free milk during the period of unemployment, provided that the loss of income causes household income to be within the eligibility criteria. Information provided on an application may be verified at any time during the school year. An application cannot be approved unless it contains the following information: A Food Stamp, SNAP or TAFI case number (not Medicaid) for each child or an indication that the household is receiving FDPIR and the signature of an adult household member. OR The names of all household members, the amount and source of income received by each household member in the prior month, the signature of an adult household member, the actual number of household members, and the last four digits of the Social Security number of the adult household member who signs the application (or an indication that the signer has no Social Security number). Parents or guardians dissatisfied with the ruling of the school official who determines eligibility may discuss the decision with the official. Parents wishing to make a formal appeal may make a written or oral request to the school’s food service hearing officer (contact the school food service office for the name, address, and phone number of the officer) for a hearing on the decision. |
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