Find Out What’s in the New Farm Bill
Public Meetings to be Held for
Ranchers and Farmers
Reno, June 17 —
Now is the time to find out what’s in the new 2008 Farm Bill.
Public meetings are being held to discuss Farm Bill programs with
farmers and ranchers in various locations statewide during July.
Topics to be discussed include payment schedules, grazing,
irrigation, pest management, wildlife, wildfire presuppression and
the new small farm initiative.
Meeting
Schedule
Date City
Time Location
July 8 Overton 9:00
am Overton Community Center
Overton 6:00 pm Overton Community
Center
July
9 Caliente 9:00 am
USDA Service Center
Caliente 6:30 pm USDA Service
Center
July
10 Tonopah
9:00 am Convention Center
Round Mountain
1:00 pm Public Library
Fish Lake Valley
7:00 pm
Community Club House NEW!
July 14
Elko
9:00 am
Cedar Room, Elko Convention Center
NEW! LOCATION!
Elko
6:30 pm
Cedar Room, Elko Convention Center
NEW! LOCATION!
July
15 Ely 1:00 pm
USDA Service Center
Ely 6:30 pm USDA Service
Center
July
16 Eureka 9:00 am
Opera House
Eureka 6:30 pm Opera House
July 17
Battle Mtn.
1:00 pm
Cooperative Extension NEW!
Battle Mtn.
7:00 pm
Cooperative Extension NEW!
July 21
Fallon
7:00 pm
Convention Center NEW!
July 22
Paradise Valley 1:00 pm Fire Station
Orovada 7:00 pm New Orovada
Community Center
July
23 Lovelock 9:00 am
NRCS Field Office
Lovelock 7:00 pm NRCS Field Office
July
24 Smith 9:00 am
Smith Valley Public Library
Smith 7:00 pm Smith Valley
Public Library
July
29 Reno 10:00 am
NRCS State Office
July 30
Schurz
10:00 am Tribal Conference Room NEW!
For more
information, contact
Rod
Dahl or
Liz Warner at (775) 857-8500. Persons requiring special
accommodations to attend the meetings should contact Warner at least
one week before the meeting date.
Public Meeting Agenda Posted
(PDF; 1.3M)
News Release (DOC: 54K)
Innovative Irrigation Systems Toured on Field
Day
by Tracey
Jean Wolfe, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Do you know how many
different irrigation systems are used to raise crops in Nevada? New
technology and improved equipment are creating irrigation systems
that are smarter and more efficient than ever before. 
Local farmers and
ranchers, members of the Smith and Mason Valley Conservation
Districts, and planners and engineers from the Natural Resources
Conservation Service had an opportunity to look at five different
systems during an irrigation field day on April 8. The purpose of
the field day was to provide an overview of local irrigation
practices and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each
irrigation system with clients.
The field day started
at Cameron Pedego’s new half pivot in Smith Valley. Pedego (right)
demonstrated how his system worked, including the Web site and
remote camera he developed to “talk” to his system and keep it
operating when he was not on site. The group also had an opportunity
to discuss irrigation water management and how to irrigate fields,
like Pedego’s, that have both loam and loamy coarse sandy soil.
David Groso demonstrated a new type of water measuring device that
is being tested in Smith Valley. The “Doppler Ultrasound Meter” uses
sound waves to measure the amount of water being transported in the
pipe. The meter will be installed in a 1-mile pipeline for the
Burbank Ditch Company.
The next stop was at a
tailwater recovery system on the FM Fulstone Ranch in Smith Valley.
Steve Fulstone had installed a pond, pumping station, and pipeline
to capture flood-irrigation water that comes off his alfalfa fields
as tailwater and divert it into the pond. When needed, Fulstone
pumps water from the pond to irrigate different fields. Fulstone
said that the tailwater has helped him conserve roughly an acre foot
of water on his fields. The pond also provides wetland and waterfowl
habitat, and livestock water. This project was installed in 2001
with EQIP funding.
The group then toured
a “W” weir on the 5-C Cottonwood Ranch installed with cost-share
funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service by StreamWise from
Mount Shasta, Calif. The purpose of the weir is two-fold: to provide
habitat for trout in the West Walker River, and to provide a “take
out” for a recently installed pipeline from the river to the ranch.
The “W” weir is the first of its kind to be used in the area.
Next up was Bob
Capurro’s innovative irrigation pipeline. After Capurro
flood-irrigates his fields, the water is captured (shown right) and
piped to the next field. This method uses almost all of the water
being applied. In addition to the unique pipeline designs, farm
manager Louie Scatena manages the fields to be irrigated without
borders. When establishing a crop, Scatena irrigates approximately
the top ¼ of a grain field. He irrigates the second time on the top
of the field after germination occurs. He staggers irrigation water
down the field as germination occurs and when there is vegetative
cover to hold the soil during the next irrigation. This method
reduces soil erosion on newly planted fields.
The last stop of the
day was at a Peri Brother’s field that was recently planted with
onions to see the micro-irrigation system used by farm manager Jeff
Pope. Each onion field has a solid set of sprinklers set up to be
used for germination. Once germination occurs, irrigation is
switched to buried drip line and used until harvest in the fall.
After harvest, the drip line is dug up and recycled.
The field day
generated discussion on NRCS practices, specifications, and applied
applications. Planners and engineers all gained more knowledge and
some new ideas on irrigation systems and management to share with
agricultural producers interested in improving their irrigation
systems.
If you’d like help with irrigation water
management, contact your local NRCS office.
Davidson Arrives in Nevada to Serve as NRCS
Acting State Conservationist
Reno, May 20 — Ron
Davidson will serve as acting state conservationist for the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service in Nevada for about 4 months.
“I am excited about my opportunity to be working as the acting state
conservationist for Nevada,” said Davidson, “and I’m very proud to
be part of an agency that has been the “technical go-to” for private
landowners.”
Davidson is the state
resource conservationist for the NRCS in Utah, a position he’s held
for 3 years. Most of Davidson’s career has been in Utah and
Idaho, states with issues similar to Nevada’s.
“Next month, I will
have 34 years with the NRCS and the former Soil Conservation Service
under my belt,” said Davidson. “Through all of the changes that our
agency has gone through during my career, I have never lost the
passion to do what we do best, and that is work with landowners to
help them apply good, solid conservation.”
Davidson earned a
bachelor’s of science degree in plant science/geology from Southern
Utah State University. He started working for the SCS as a soil
conservation technician, and worked as a district conservationist in
Idaho and assistant state conservationist in Hawaii before becoming
the state resource conservationist in Utah.
Davidson expects a new
Farm Bill by the middle of June. “With it will come some challenges
and opportunities,” he said. “I know without a doubt that together
we can face any challenge and prepare for the opportunities.”
Application
Period Closes for Nevada Farm Bill Conservation Programs
RENO, May 12—The
application period for several Farm Bill conservation programs
offered in Nevada will close on June 27, according to Curtis Tarver,
acting state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
Applications received
for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, EQIP Ground and
Surface Water, Agricultural Management Assistance, and Wildlife
Habitat Incentives Program must be submitted by 4:00 pm on Friday,
June 27.
Producers must meet
certain eligibility requirements and submit completed documents with
their applications by the deadline for them to be considered.
Tarver recommends that producers contact their local NRCS office to
get the necessary forms and for help completing the application
package.
The amount of funding
and type of program funding available for fiscal year 2009 will be
dependent upon the passage of the new farm bill or a continuation of
the 2002 farm bill.
Applications received
by June 27 will be reviewed and ranked in preparation for allocation
at the start of the new fiscal year on Oct.1. Applications received
after the June 27 deadline will be considered in a second batching
period if funding is available.
For more information,
contact your local NRCS office or Rod Dahl, (775) 857-8500 x 146.
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