USDA Finalizes New Microloan Program
Microloans up to $35,000 aim to assist small farmers, veterans, and
disadvantaged producersWASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2013 — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
today announced a new microloan program from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) designed to help small and family operations,
beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers secure loans under
$35,000. The new microloan program is aimed at bolstering the
progress of producers through their start-up years by providing
needed resources and helping to increase equity so that farmers may
eventually graduate to commercial credit and expand their
operations. The microloan program will also provide a less
burdensome, more simplified application process in comparison to
traditional farm loans.
“I have met several small and beginning farmers, returning
veterans and disadvantaged producers interested in careers in
farming who too often must rely on credit cards or personal loans
with high interest rates to finance their start-up
operations,” said Vilsack.“By further expanding access
to credit to those just starting to put down roots in farming, USDA
continues to help grow a new generation of farmers, while ensuring
the strength of an American agriculture sector that drives our
economy, creates jobs, and provides the most secure and affordable
food supply in the world.”The new microloans, said Vilsack, represent how USDA continues to
make year-over-year gains in expanding credit opportunities for
minority, socially-disadvantaged and young and beginning farmers and
ranchers across the United States. The final rule establishing the
microloan program will be published in the Jan. 17 issue of the
Federal Register.Administered through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) Operating Loan
Program,
Tag Archives: farmers
Farmers and other people own most of Germany’s reneable energy production
Power companies aren’t the only possible owners of solar power farms,
and centralized isn’t the only power distribution model.
In Germany, most renewable energy production is owned by
people, not power companies.
Matthew McDermott wrote for Treehugger 6 January 2011,
Over Half of Germany’s Renewable Energy Owned By Citizens & Farmers, Not Utility Companies
Germany’s promotion of renewable energy rightly gets singled out for
its effectiveness, most often by me as an example of how to do
things well versus the fits and starts method of promotion common in
the US. Over at Wind-Works, Paul Gipe points out another interesting
facet of the German renewable energy saga: 51% of all renewable
energy in Germany is owned by individual citizens or farms, totaling
$100 billion worth of private investment in clean energy.Breaking that down into solar power and wind power, 50% of Germany’s
solar PV is owned by individuals and farms, while 54% of its wind
power is held by the same groups.
Not only is that more distributed, but it also may be a faster
way to get solar deployed:
In total there’s roughly 17 GW of solar PV installed in
Germany—versus roughly 3.6 GW in the US (based on SEIA’s
figures for new installations though the third quarter of 2011 plus
the 2.6 GW installed going into the year).Remember, Germany now produces slightly over 20% of all its
electricity from renewable sources.
Nothing prevents Georgia Power or Colquitt Electric
or any of the other power companies operating in Georgia from
leading the solar pack.
For example, power companies concerned that solar doesn’t produce
at night could still deploy solar peak load generation,
thus dispensing with natural gas peak load generation.
While the power companies are not leading,
private organizations such as
Tabby Solar,
founded by a pair of doctors,
are forging ahead anyway.
-jsq
Jack Kingston from Valdosta to Tifton to Atlanta
You may have seen by the front page of the VDT this morning
that Jack Kingston was in Valdosta yesterday morning
and by
the VDT editorial
that he will be in Atlanta today.
The VDT whines:
Why do you have to take the one politician that actually works for us?
Well, some farmers in Tifton didn’t take kindly to
the main idea Kingston was pushing yesterday.
Said a farmer:
I have tried working with probationers
and I’ll just say that it was a very inconsistent supply of workers.
Hm, the VDT previously was of a similar opinion,
an opinion that got quoted in the AJC.
Maybe the VDT didn’t know Kingston was pushing HB 87,
even though they sat down with him yesterday morning?
We don’t need an ALEC-organized private prison law like HB 87
to profit private prison company CCA,
and we don’t need a CC private prison in Lowndes County.
Spend those tax dollars on rehabilitation and education instead.
-jsq
Local Food for Economic Benefit in Georgia
The UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development has
quantified the economic effects of eating local food in Georgia,
in this report:
The Local Food Impact: What if Georgians Ate Georgia Produce?
Prepared by: Sharon P. Kane, Kent Wolfe, Marcia Jones, and John McKissick Center Report: CR-10-03 May 2010
If Georgians produced all of the fruits and vegetables that they consumed,
it could provide a way to close this utilization gap (the difference
between state-wide production and consumption) of over $780 million
per year. Even if this level can’t be achieved, simply closing the gap
in one commoditylettuce, for examplecould mean an additional $83.6
million of direct revenue to local producers.
What is the lettuce gap?
The
Cordele Dispatch explains it: