Another new change to the agency’s lending rules for new producers is to allow more flexibility in the minimum experience requirement. Under the new rule, FSA loan officers are now allowed to consider all prior farming experience, including on-the-job training and formal education when determining eligibility for FSA Farm Operating and Ownership Loans. To qualify for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Loan Program, applicants must have a minimum level of agricultural experience, but not more than 10 years operating a farm or ranch. Schaunaman also recommends that people considering a farming career visit the new USDA website www.start2farm.gov to learn more about loan programs available for beginning farmers and ranchers.

For additional information about FSA programs, contact your local FSA office or visit us online at www.fsa.usda.gov.

February 14, 2012

A more cost-effective, longer-lasting selenium supplement for livestock may soon be available, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist.

Animals as well as humans need selenium, a trace mineral and component of antioxidants, to stay healthy. Inadequate selenium in sheep reduces conception rates, increases neonatal mortality, and in some instances, causes “white muscle disease”-nutritional muscular dystrophy. Selenium deficiency in sheep and cattle costs livestock producers an estimated $545 million annually in losses and affects livestock in more than 35 states where regions are deficient in the mineral.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) animal scientist Bret Taylor at the ARS U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (USSES) near Dubois, Idaho, along with researchers at North Dakota State University, studied the effects of a milling coproduct, derived from selenium-rich wheat harvested in South Dakota, on ewes and their lambs.

ARS is USDA’s chief intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports USDA’s priority of promoting international food security.

The scientists added the natural coproduct to diets fed to a group of ewes during their last 40 to 50 days of pregnancy and to another group during the first 19 days of lactation. Pregnant sheep passed the supplemental selenium to their fetuses, while lactating ewes delivered it to offspring through their milk. Both of these groups maintained an adequate selenium status six to 10 times longer than sheep that received sodium selenite, the most commonly used inorganic form of selenium.

By using this feeding strategy, livestock producers will be able to eliminate the cost of delivering selenium supplements to sheep in hard-to-reach regions, especially in the West where selenium in some soils is lacking or unavailable for absorption by vegetation that animals eat, according to Taylor.

Sheep can be fed the selenium coproduct before being released to graze selenium-deficient range. The coproduct will provide enough to meet their selenium requirement, according to Taylor. Animals will not need any additional supplements until they return for lambing the following year.

February 9, 2012 – Visitors planning camping trips to South Dakota state parks and recreation areas will soon be able to make reservations for the summer camping season.

“Camper numbers at state parks have increased in the past several years,” said Doug Hofer, director of the Division of Parks and Recreation. “The growing number of people camping in South Dakota state parks makes reservations even more important.”

Reservations for camping in most state parks can be made within 90 days of arrival. The first day to make reservations is Feb. 18 for a May 18 arrival. May 18-20 is Open House Weekend in South Dakota state parks. During Open House Weekend, no entrance fees are charged, but camping fees still apply.

Camping reservations are available for dates between May 18 and Sept. 3 in most parks. A limited number of parks also accept autumn reservations through Oct. 8.

Reservations for Memorial Day weekend can be made beginning Feb. 25 for a May 25 arrival. Reservations are currently being accepted for the entire camping season for campsites at Custer State Park and for lodges in all state parks and recreation areas.

Reservations can be made online at www.campsd.com or by calling 1-800-710-2267. The telephone reservation center is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time daily. Online reservations may be made 24 hours a day, though campsites do not become available until 7 a.m. on the first day of the 90-day window, both online and at the call center. There is a $7.70 per site non-refundable reservation fee, which does not apply to South Dakota residents.

People may sign up to receive text message reminders about reservation openings for holiday weekends. Text “SDGFP ROD” to 368638. Message and data rates may apply.

Despite last year’s Missouri River flood that closed campsites and damaged facilities, the camping season outlook is promising for two Pierre-area state parks.

State Park officials expect both Farm Island and Oahe Downstream Recreation Areas to have many campsites and the majority of facilities available for Open House and Memorial Day weekends in May. Most campsites and facilities should be open by mid-June, but total restoration from the flood will continue throughout the year.

“We’re making progress in terms of recovering from the flood,” said State Parks and Recreation Director Doug Hofer. “The mild winter has benefited us greatly, and crews are working hard to get the parks up and running as soon as possible. After last summer with little camping opportunities in the Pierre area, we know lots of folks are anxious to get out and enjoy the outdoors.”

Hofer released the timeline now for Farm Island and Oahe Downstream Recreation Areas because reservations open soon for those popular campgrounds. Reservations can be made 90 days before arrival, with reservations opening on Feb. 18 for the first official camping weekend of the summer, referred to as Open House Weekend, on May 18-20. Memorial Day reservations open Feb. 25 for arrival Friday, May 25.

Campers should keep in mind that full recovery will take quite a while, Hofer said. While most areas and facilities will be open, many will not be in the same condition as they were before the flood. Visitors will see the effects in eroded shorelines, accumulated sand dunes, patchy grass, damaged trails, and fewer trees.

“The aftermath of the flood will be felt in these parks for some time to come,” Hofer said. “We appreciate visitors’ understanding as we work to make things right again. There is much to do to restore the parks to their former condition, but we’re focusing first on the major projects to get them in useable condition for the summer.”

At Farm Island Recreation Area, 17 campsites, three camping cabins, and picnic shelter 4, all located in the east campground, will be reservable beginning with May 18 arrival. All 70 campsites in the main campground and picnic shelters 1, 2, and 3 are expected to open for June 15 arrivals, making March 17 the first day to reserve those sites.

Throughout the summer, park visitors will have use of the sanitary dump station, fish cleaning station, swimming beach change house, day-use area, disability fishing pier and one of the comfort stations in the main campground at Farm Island. New electrical hookups will also be in place, and grass is expected to begin growing this spring.

The causeway to Farm Island is open, and the island trails and the Lewis and Clark Trail are in usable condition. This spring, GFP staff will work to re-establish a trail base and lay materials to improve the trail surface.

The main boat ramp will be open to Hipple Lake, but access to the main river channel will not be possible due to the build up of silt at the end of the island. Boaters will be able to access the main river channel from the west boat ramp located near the polo field, which will be improved into a two-lane ramp with expanded parking later in the summer.

At Oahe Downstream Recreation Area, facilities reservable beginning with a May 18 arrival include 56 campsites, located in Campgrounds 1 and 3; four camping cabins located in Campground 3; and picnic shelters 1 and 3. Another 137 campsites (including all of Campground 2) and three more comfort stations are expected to open for June 15 arrivals. The first day to reserve those campsites is March 17.

This summer’s visitors should have use of the comfort stations in Campgrounds 1 and 3, the boat ramp at Oahe Marina, fish cleaning station, disability fishing pier, swimming beach, sanitary dump station and the Cottonwood Path hiking trail. New electrical hookups will also be in place, and grass is expected to begin growing this spring.

Not available this summer at the Oahe Downstream Recreation Area are several campsites and camping cabins in Campground 3. The force of the rushing water along the stilling basin caused a massive amount of shoreline erosion, obliterating 12 shoreline campsites and forcing removal of camping cabins along the water. Only four camping cabins will be available for summer reservations in Campground 3; they were relocated to existing campsites to the west of their original locations.

LaFramboise Island Nature Area, located in the city of Pierre, will be closed throughout the year. Floodwaters destroyed the causeway road leading to the island, and it is unknown at this time when all repairs can be finished.

Campgrounds and facilities at other parks in the area, including Cow Creek, Okobojo Point, Spring Creek and West Bend Recreation Areas, are operational and on schedule for summer reservations.

Hofer said sites and facilities will continually be evaluated and opened as soon as conditions allow. He encourages park users to check the parks’ individual webpages and sign up for email news releases at www.gfp.sd.gov to stay current on the latest information.

By Kim Kaplan
January 25, 2012

WASHINGTON—The The US Department of Agriculture(USDA) today released the new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM), updating a useful tool for gardners and researchers for the first time since 1990 with greater accuracy and detail. The new map—jointly developed by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service  (ARS) and Oregon State University’s (OSU) PRISM Climate Group—is available online atwww.planthardiness.ars.usda.gov. ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of USDA.

For the first time, the new map offers a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based interactive format and is specifically designed to be Internet-friendly. The map website also incorporates a “find your zone by ZIP code” function. Static images of national, regional and state maps also have been included to ensure the map is readily accessible to those who lack broadband Internet access.

“This is the most sophisticated Plant Hardiness Zone Map yet for the United States,” said Catherine Woteki, USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and  Economics. ”The increases in accuracy and detail that this map represents will be extremely useful for gardeners and researchers.”

Plant hardiness zone designations represent the average annual extreme minimum temperatures at a given location during a particular time period. They do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature for the location over a specified time. Low temperature during the winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants at specific locations.

The new version of the map includes 13 zones, with the addition for the first time of zones 12 (50-60 degrees Fahrenheit) and 13 (60-70 degrees Fahrenheit). Each zone is a 10-degree Fahrenheit band, further divided into 5-degree Fahrenheit zones “A” and “B.”

To help develop the new map, USDA and OSU requested that horticultural and climatic experts review the zones in their geographic area, and trial versions of the new map were revised based on their expert input.

Compared to the 1990 version, zone boundaries in this edition of the map have shifted in many areas. The new map is generally one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the United States. This is mostly a result of using temperature data from a longer and more recent time period; the new map uses data measured at weather stations during the 30-year period 1976-2005. In contrast, the 1990 map was based on temperature data from only a 13-year period of 1974-1986.

However, some of the changes in the zones are a result of new, more sophisticated methods for mapping zones between weather stations. These include algorithms that considered for the first time such factors as changes in elevation, nearness to large bodies of water, and position on the terrain, such as valley bottoms and ridge tops. Also, the new map used temperature data from many more stations than did the 1990 map. These advances greatly improved the accuracy and detail of the map, especially in mountainous regions of the western United States. In some cases, they resulted in changes to cooler, rather than warmer, zones.

While about 80 million American gardeners, as well as those who grow and breed plants, are the largest users of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, many others need this hardiness zone information. For example, the USDA Risk Management Agency uses the USDA plant hardiness zone designations to set some crop insurance standards. Scientists use the plant hardiness zones as a data layer in many research models such as modeling the spread of exotic weeds and insects.

Although a poster-sized version of this map will not be available for purchase from the government as in the past, anyone may download the map free of charge from the Internet onto their personal computer and print copies of the map as needed

Basic requirements for market participation.

More info in March……..simply, you need a SD Tax Number, ALL vendors are required to carry a certificate of liability insurance. You must abide by Custer City Transient Vendor Ordinance 707. A copy will be provided upon application. Vendors must  be approved and meet all requirements before being allowed to set-up at Custer Farmers Market