This book may come in a little too late to be that perfect gift for the holiday but you may consider giving them an IOU if this resource is for them. MOSES has a new publication coming out that promises to ‘demystify’ farm finances. This book was developed to “help you understand basic financial management on your farm- how to collect and use numbers in ways that will give you real information that is helpful in making farm decisions”.
http://www.mosesorganic.org/farmfinances.html
The holidays are a time for giving and thinking of others. That is what Feeding Illinois does all year long. According to their website 1,532,238 people, including 500,000 children, now live in poverty in Illinois and requests for emergency food aid have doubled in the past two years. The purpose of Feeding Illinois is to provide food for hungry people in Illinois, to advocate for policies that reduce hunger, and to educate the public about the vital role food banks play in addressing hunger.
Feeding Illinois’ eight member food banks work through a network of member agencies, community partners and corporate and government partners to acquire and distribute food. Food and grocery products are donated by local food manufacturers, government agencies, food drives, and Feeding America and through food recovery programs partnerships with local restaurants and grocery stores. They use donated funds to help Food banks purchase needed food. Amazingly, 95 percent of Feeding Illinoi’s budgets goes directly to feeding programs.
To figure out how you can contribute to Feeding Illinois click here http://www.feedingillinois.org/need/
Or connect directly to the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, which is our local link to this network. http://www.eifoodbank.org/
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., December 1, 2011 – An announcement made by the Risk Management Agency (RMA) today outlines changes that will provide producers more flexibility when insuring a crop that follows a cover crop in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
Heavy spring rains last year delayed planting in parts of the Midwest raising concerns about the impact a cover crop may have on the insurability of a subsequent spring crop. Restrictions limited insurance coverage on crops that followed a cover crop that was harvested or reached the budded stage in the same crop year.
For 2012, crops planted following a cover crop are insurable as long as the cover crop is killed on or before June 5th. Whether the cover crop has headed, budded or has been harvested no longer effects insurability. These changes affect corn, popcorn, sweet corn, hybrid seed corn, pumpkins, soybeans, grain sorghum and processing beans. The cover crop practice is defined as a crop planted within twelve months of planting the insurable crop and is recognized as a sound agronomic conservation practice for the area.
Brian D. Frieden, Director of the Springfield Regional Office, RMA, said that this change recognizes the importance of crop insurance in protecting a producer’s livelihood and conservation in protecting the soil.
For more details on how cover crops may impact your crop insurance policy, contact a crop insurance agent. Winter is the perfect time to review your crop insurance needs for 2012. Information on cover crops can be found by going to the Information Browser link at the Risk Management Agency website at http://www.rma.usda.gov/ . Producers can get the specifics by entering the crop and county where the farm is located and looking at the Special Provisions.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).