NCRAT Weekly Update 12-4

Crops:

• The long mild fall has allowed cover crops and double cropped forages to establish well and for hayfields and pastures to recover from the summer damaging dry weather.

• Much of the Northeast received a good amount of rain over the past couple of weeks but drought conditions continue for NNY and much of NYS. Both streamflows and soil moisture remain lower than normal.

Dairy:

• Lindsay is on maternity leave now through to the New Year - please reach out to Casey for all dairy related topics
• NEW Troubleshooting Herd Health Podcast has been released! Click here to access the episodes
• Working on multiple research projects (calf diarrhea and cow comfort) and DAP calf discussion group (farm visits for calf weights and blood samples, forage variability feed project feed out sampling has started
• Working with producers and local CCE staff on the Workforce Protection Grant
• Details are finalized for our "Critical Calf Care: Decision Making for Urgent Calf Health" program. Click here to register

Farm Business Management:

• REMINDER: NY Farm Bureau (I confirmed this with the President) is offering ALL OF ITS COVID-19 related information to ALL FARMERS on their website. They want everyone to be aware and involved. Feel free to direct farmers there - they can all access it here is the link: https://www.nyfb.org/news/covid-19-news

The USDA Farm Service Agency shared the following reminders, loan rates and deadlines this week:

• Next Friday, December 11 ^this the deadline to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) for the 2021 program! At about $0.15 per hundredweight, DMC is the more cost-effective dairy risk management option available. In NY we only have 380 contracts as of yesterday, which is only 15% of those that signed up in 2019! Any help you can provide to make sure your dairy producers are signed up is appreciated!
• Next Friday, December 11 ^this also the deadline to apply for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 . The second round of this program has a greatly expanded list of eligible commodities. Here is a great website that includes a commodity finder (there are over 300 eligible commodities!): farmers.gov/cfap
• For our traditional direct Farm Loan Program these are the December interest rates:
• Operating loans: 1.250%
• Ownership loans: 2.375%
• Additionally, FSA has relaxed the loan-making process and added flexibilities for servicing direct and guaranteed loans to provide credit to producers in need.The rates for our Farm Storage Facility Loans are still very low. These loans are available to anyone who grows an eligible commodity (such as milk, meat, fruits & veggies, hemp, and grains), regardless of if they can get credit elsewhere. They are to build or buy permanent or portable storage and related equipment. There are tons of eligible uses, such as coolers and freezers or refrigerated trucks, for those growing their direct marketing sales. They come in many different term lengths:
• 0.250% for 3 year loan terms
• 0.375% for 5 year loan terms
• 0.625% for 7 year loan terms
• 0.875% for 10 year loan terms
• 1.000% for 12 year loan terms
• Most NY FSA Service Centers are open for business by phone, email or Microsoft Teams appointments. Some are also doing curbside service. We request people call first to find out the best way to work with their office.

Stress Management:

NY Farm Net is Open- 1-800-547-3276 and www.nyfarmnet.org

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) , www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Crisis Text Line Text “GOT 5” to 741-741 , www.crisistextline.org