The USDA and Esri have partnered in the implementation of a fully cloud-based geospatial portal. USDA’s prototype portal, Enterprise Spatial Mapping Service (ESMS), is built with Portal for ArcGIS, managed by Esri, and hosted on the Amazon cloud within USDA’s secure environment. The teams designed the prototype’s geospatial interfaces with a focus on search and discovery, managed service hosting, and … Read More
Precision Technology Could Provide Data for USDA
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative Project (ACRSIP) may well be the “most important thing that USDA has ever done,” according to Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse. Scuse talked about the initiative as the keynote speaker at the opening of InfoAg 2011 in Springfield, Illinois on Tuesday. The concept is … Read More
Technology Helps Beat the Weather
The new planted acreage report from USDA shows just how fast farmers can plant with the latest technology. According to USDA, corn planted area for this year is now estimated at 92.3 million acres, up 5 percent from last year, and the second highest planted acreage in the United States since 1944, behind only the 93.5 million acres planted in … Read More
Precision Farming for Manure?
The same precision farming techniques that work with crops can work with manure management on cattle feedlots, according to USDA scientists. Agricultural engineers and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Clay Center, Neb., map the distribution of manure on the surface of feedlots and the flow of liquid manure in rain runoff. This research could lead to both precision harvesting of … Read More
Computer Model Calculates Livestock Numbers
Ranchers in the central Great Plains may be using some of their winter downtime in the future to rehearse the upcoming production season, all from the warmth of their homes, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) soil scientists. The ranchers would use the GPFARM (Great Plains Framework for Agricultural Resource Management)-Range computer model to see which cattle or sheep … Read More
USDA Wraps Up Conservation Forums with National Meeting
Throughout March, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, with some help from the American Farmland Trust and Farm Foundation, has been holding a series of regional meetings across the country to examine conservation programs and policies. Now, the ideas talked about at those meetings will be brought together at the National Agricultural Landscapes Forum April 7-8 at the Marriott Metro … Read More
Benefits to No-Till
As Ann Perry reports: Wheat farmers in eastern Oregon and Washington who use no-till production systems can substantially stem soil erosion and enhance efforts to protect water quality, according to research by USDA scientists. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) hydrologist John Williams led a study that compared runoff, soil erosion and crop yields in a conventional, intensively tilled winter wheat-fallow system … Read More
Alabama NRCS Offers Precision Ag Incentive
The Alabama Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is encouraging growers to sign up for the Precision Farming Incentive under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). According to State Conservationist Dr. William Puckett, the Precision Farming Incentive is designed to encourage the adoption of variable-rate application of nutrients and pesticides and promote the use of GPS-enabled precision agricultural technology and equipment. … Read More
USDA to Hold Series of Forums on Conservation Policies
The USDA, with some help from our friends at Farm Foundation, is holding a series of forums across the across the country to discuss natural resource conservation policy issues. The first forum by the Ag Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is this coming Thursday, March 3rd at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois: The regional forums are opportunities for the … Read More
Deadline for Conservation Stewardship Program
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently extended the ranking period cut-off date for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to tomorrow, January 21. Producers interested in CSP should submit applications to their local NRCS Office by the deadline so that their applications can be considered during the first ranking period of 2011. CSP is offered in all 50 states, and … Read More