Official Fact Sheet on Drought Help

Because I live in a drought-plagued state, I value the most recent tallying of the federal government's efforts to help those of us living in dustbowl conditions.  Here's the White House's official Fact Sheet on the President Obama's Drought Responses:

Fact Sheet: President Obama Leading Administration-wide Drought Response

As communities across the country struggle with the impacts of one of the worst droughts in decades, President Obama is committed to ensuring that his Administration is doing everything it can help the farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and communities being impacted.

To respond to immediate needs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other federal agencies are using their existing authorities wherever possible to address the hardships arising from the lack of water, feed, and forage. Within the last month, USDA has opened the Conservation Reserve Program to emergency haying and grazing, has lowered the borrower interest rate for emergency loans, and has called on crop insurance companies to provide more flexibility to farmers. The Department of the Interior has provided additional grazing flexibility on federal lands and the Small Business Administration is working to help with access to investment capital and credit in affected communities.

On Tuesday, August 7, 2012, President Obama convened his White House Rural Council for one of a continuing series of policy meetings to review Executive Branch response actions and to develop additional policy initiatives to assist drought-stricken Americans. Following the meeting, the White House announced several new measures the Administration is implementing to help those impacted by the drought, including providing additional assistance for livestock and crop producers, increasing the capacity for lending to small businesses, and waiving certain requirements on trucks helping to provide relief. President Obama also stressed the need for the entire Administration to continue to look at further steps it can take to ease the pain of this historic drought.

As the drought continues, the Administration will actively implement its longer-term strategy for assessing and managing the effects of the crisis. In addition to impacts on farming and ranching operations, a long-term, widespread drought will also have implications for wildfires, water availability, navigation, and power generation across much of the country and across other sectors. As we move forward, the Administration will work closely with state and local governments, farming and ranching communities and others to ensure an effective and efficient response and recovery.

Finally, while the Administration is exploring every possible avenue to provide relief from the impacts of the drought, Congress still needs to act to ensure that the needed disaster assistance is available to these communities. The best way to do that is by passing a comprehensive, multi-year farm bill that not only provides much-needed disaster assistance but gives farmers and ranchers the certainty they deserve while enacting critical reforms.

New Actions by Federal Agencies to Help Respond to the Drought

United States Department of Agriculture
· Additional Emergency Funding to Assist Livestock and Crop Producers: To assist producers facing extreme drought conditions, USDA announced Tuesday that it will utilize nearly $16 million in financial and technical assistance to immediately help crop and livestock producers in 19 states cope with the adverse impacts of the historic drought. In addition, USDA will initiate a transfer of $14 million in unobligated program funds into the Emergency Conservation Program. These funds can be used to assist in moving water to livestock in need, providing emergency forage for livestock, and rehabilitating lands severely impacted by the drought. Together these efforts should provide nearly $30 million to producers struggling with drought conditions.

The National Credit Union Administration
· Allowing an additional 1,000 Credit Unions to increase their lending to small businesses: The National Credit Union Administration will announce that more than 1,000 credit unions are eligible for a low-income designation, which permits unlimited lending to small business owners including farmers; nearly half of those eligible credit unions are located in a severely drought-stricken state. Small business lending by credit unions is normally capped at the statutory 12.25 percent rate. This designation exempts designated credit unions from this cap. Currently, approximately 1,100 CUs are designated low-income and can offer unlimited lending to small businesses. The average credit union member business loan is $223,000.

The Small Business Administration with USDA and the Department of Commerce
· Community Outreach Events: SBA, USDA, and the Department of Commerce (DOC) through its Economic Development Administration (EDA), will host targeted events in communities severely impacted by the drought to provide detailed information on what federal resources are available to assist small businesses, farmers, and others in the community. These events will also be webcast to ensure audiences in other drought impacted communities can attend virtually. At these events SBA disaster assistance staff, small business counselors from its network of resource partners, and field staff from SBA district offices along with interagency staff will provide information and offer technical assistance on applying for loans and where to find additional resources after the event.

Leverage State and County Fairs in Regions: In addition to the standalone events, SBA, USDA, and EDA will conduct outreach at already scheduled State and Country Fairs.
· Online Outreach: Since the drought's full impact may take months to be fully felt by small businesses and communities, SBA, USDA, and DOC will continue to reach out to affected regions through online webinars and conference calls that will further raise awareness and provide opportunity to gather real-time detail on the impact to communities.

The Department of Transportation
· Existing Emergency Exemptions of Federal Operating Requirements: This authority can put more commercial drivers behind the wheel—driving large trucks needed to assist the farmers and ranchers in need. If a qualifying drought emergency has been declared in a state by the Governor or appropriate official, the state automatically gets Hours of Service and other regulatory relief for those providing emergency assistance; no application is needed. If the situation does not qualify for emergency relief, the Federal rules regulating large truck and bus operations may be waived in certain circumstances. DOT can process a request to waive regulations in 7-14 days.

o In addition, the transportation bill President Obama signed in July provides a new authority for States to issue special permits for overweight vehicles and loads that can easily be dismantled or divided in an emergency. The legislation makes the new special permits available beginning October 1, 2012. DOT is expediting the process of developing guidance for States to support their permitting programs, and the way in which “relief supplies” are defined may provide states with a new tool to use for hauling heavy loads of grain, livestock, etc. for drought relief.

Today’s Actions Build on Steps Taken by Agencies across the Federal Government to Help Drought-Stricken Counties

United States Department of Agriculture
· Use of Indemnity Payments for Crop Insurance Premiums. To assist farmers in meeting cash flow challenges, USDA has taken steps to ensure that farmers will be able to apply this year’s crop indemnity payments toward their crop insurance premiums for the following crop year. As of August 1, 2012, the sixteen major providers of U.S. crop insurance have all agreed to forego interest charges on unpaid premiums through November.
· Disaster Designation Regulation. On July 12, USDA announced an expedited disaster designation process, allowing farmers and ranchers to obtain disaster assistance faster. USDA projects a 40 percent reduction in processing time for affected producers as a result of this change.
· Reduction of USDA’s Emergency (EM) Loan Rate. Emergency Loans will help producers recover from production and physical losses associated with natural disasters. The current rate was set in 1993 at 3.75 percent. Effective July 15, the Administration lowered the interest rate on loans, effectively lowering the rate from 3.75 percent down to 2.25 percent.
- Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Haying and Grazing. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) allows farmers and ranchers to receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving covers (grasses) on eligible farmland. Nationwide, 29 million acres are enrolled in the CRP. Due to the drought, the federal government has opened up virtually all of the CRP grassland acres for emergency haying and grazing and reduced the payment penalty for haying and grazing from 25 percent to only 10 percent. Further, the Administration took additional steps to ensure that appropriate wetland and riparian buffer areas will also be available for haying and grazing.

Department of the Interior
· Grazing on Federal Lands: The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service are providing relief to ranchers who graze on public lands byemploying flexibility to accommodate needs and conditions on the ground. BLM will issue refunds to cattlemen that were displaced by early season fires and therefore not able to make use of their allotments and the Forest Service has liberally granted Permittee requested non-use. Both agencies are making vacant land available for grazing and allowing for: changes in grazing use, including delayed or early turnout if conditions allow; increased salting to improve livestock distribution; water hauling and temporary portable water troughs; and other measures.

The Small Business Administration
· SBA Drought Disaster Declarations. To date, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has followed USDA’s disaster declarations and has issued 71 agency declarations in 32 states covering 1,636 counties, providing a pathway for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and non-farm small businesses that are economically affected by the drought in their community to apply for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).

The Army Corps of Engineers
· Army Corps of Engineers Preserving Navigation: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has published guidance to coordinate a collective Common Operation Picture (COP) to monitor ongoing drought impacts on navigation. At this time they have identified the 15 most critical river gages (of 2000+) as key monitors for navigation impacts and implemented Water Way Action Plans. USACE will continue coordinating with Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and navigation industries on the mitigation of drought impacts by:
o Working with contract dredges to identify areas of concern to divert resources based on priority.
o Identifying available channel depths and widths to navigation industries, so barge tow drafts and widths can be modified accordingly.
o Ensuring that storage reservoirs are releasing flow to augment natural flows downstream.
o Continuing to do public and media outreach via, conference calls, webinars and emails with respect to the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers and tributaries.
o Monitoring the National Weather Service outlook on short and long term rainfall forecast to prepare for potential reservoir releases are other mitigation measures.

The Department of Transportation
· DOT Outreach to the State DOTs: On Wednesday August 1, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood convened a call with states to listen and discuss the ways in which DOT can work with Governors and State Departments of Transportation to help communities impacted by the drought. Issues raised during the call included emergency waivers of hours of service requirements and emergency waivers for Federal truck weight regulations.

http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDAOC-4dba29

Obese smokers who have no insurance. . . OOOOOklahoma is the place to be!

Can you hear the song in your head?  Yes, it seems that yet another article has been written about Oklahoma's poor health.  Nearly one-third of its citizens are obese, many smoke, and many don't have health insurance.  What does this mean?  The rest of us in this highly conservative, gun-toting state are carrying the medical costs of those people who don't take care of themselves and who protest the individual mandate of the ACA (lest they actually receive preventative care and have to pay something).  Separating my call for some sense of fiscal and personal responsibility from the health issues, I'm going to try to focus on the public health issue of obesity that is at hand.  The Gazette's article quotes the OK Commissioner of Health as saying that parents don't know how to recognize obesity in their children;  this is a real issue.  I would have never thought that education about classification of obesity would be necessary, but it appears it is.  This sounds like part of a good practicum experience for our MPH students at the OU College of Public Health.  Of course, as with anything in Oklahoma, you're going to have to deal with various cultures.  In addition to Caucasians, African-Americans, and Hispanics, there is also a sizeable Native American population.  Differing cultural techniques will need to be used to educate people about obesity.  Let's face it, you can't just waltz in and call someone's kid fat and leave. 

Linked with the recognition issue (and needing to do it tactfully and after building trust), I've noticed since living here that people do not make wise choices in the grocery stores.  I often see people buying many processed foods, already made foods, high in sugar foods . . . you name it.  Although there would definitely be an initial air of paternalism, it's almost like people need to have health educators go to the grocery with them, help them pick out healthy foods, and then teach them how to quickly prepare such foods.  As someone who grew up eating McDonald's, canned ravioli, boxed macaroni and cheese, and frozen dinners, I can vouch that the change in palatte takes time, but it can happen.  I now eat almost no prepared foods, I cook with very little salt, and I eat many fresh fruits and veggies . . . and I LOVE it!  Even into college, I would eat brownies or cake from a box regularly, but now I can take all the synthetic ingredients.  It just doesn't even taste good to me.  This change can happen for others.  Again, perhaps this education, grocery shopping, and cooking lesson is a good practicum project for an MPH . . .  we'll see.  Either way, Oklahoma needs to make a change because its people are just huge.  Jaime Oliver, are you listening?  (http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/home)

Read the Oklahoma City Gazette article here:  http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/article-15941-state-of-health.html

We're literally broiling out here

Most of my readers are not in Oklahoma, which I appreciate greatly, and consequently are not experiencing the horrific weather we have.  Oklahoma has been experiencing temperatures over 100 degrees for weeks on end.  It has been 115 for the past several days.  Literally, when I go outside I can feel my flesh burn --- it's that hot. 

Yeah, yeah, it's summer.  Well, it's a real issue here because Oklahoma is home to a lot of cattle and other grazing creatures along with crops.  Thankfully, the farmers and the farmer insurance industry have put pressure on the federal government to give them some relief, as best as a government can . . . really what we need is a lot of rain, but that isn't quite possible.  The federal government has opened up some grazing lands.  While I am really opposed to the harm that will come to the delicate marshlands and swamplands, I am feeling the heat, and I know how desparate these farmers are.  Let's remember that if the farmers' crops and herds fail, then food supplies swindle and prices go up.  People are already hurting financially, and it would only intensify the pain. 

Thinking about a longer-term solution, this country needs to become a real leader in fighting greenhouse gas emissions and becoming an environmentally-friendly country.  I'm encourage by today's news that 20 different governors have asked detroit to develop natural gas cars (http://www.npr.org/2012/08/03/157713686/states-ask-detroit-build-us-a-natural-gas-car-please), and I'm encouraged that more cities are doing bicycle share programs, but we need to do more.  Greenland's ice caps are disappearing.  The Jet Stream is jacked, and our country's woes are only going to get worse.  Declaring over half the counties in the US as natural disaster zones is not sustainable --- we need to address the real cause of the weather issues --- we need to become proactive about taking care of our planet.  What will your next step be?  Write your congressman, recycle more, combine driving trips . . . let's hear your ideas and pledges!

Here is the link and a portion of the announcement from the Secretary of Agriculture on the drought relief:
http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDAOC-4ca9e6

Nearly 4 Million Acres of Land Open to Haying and Grazing; Obama Administration-wide drought response continues

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2012—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced two new pieces of disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers impacted by the nation's worsening drought. First, Vilsack is expanding emergency haying and grazing on approximately 3.8 million acres of conservation land to bring greater relief to livestock producers dealing with shortages of hay and pastureland. Second, the Secretary announced that crop insurance companies have agreed to provide a short grace period for farmers on insurance premiums in 2012. As a result, farming families now have an extra 30 days to make payments without incurring interest penalties on unpaid premiums.

Earlier in the day, Vilsack signed disaster designations for an additional 218 counties in 12 states as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat. Counties designated today are in the states of Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming. More than half (50.3 percent) of all counties in the United States have been designated disaster areas by USDA in 2012, mainly due to drought.

"President Obama and I will continue to take swift action to get help to America's farmers and ranchers through this difficult time," said Vilsack. "The assistance announced today will help U.S. livestock producers dealing with climbing feed prices, critical shortages of hay and deteriorating pasturelands. Responding to my request, crop insurance companies indicated that producers can forgo interest penalties to help our nation's farm families struggling with cash flow challenges. The Obama Administration intends to continue helping those who farm or ranch and live and work in rural America through this period of hardship."

Emergency Haying and Grazing

In response to the expanding drought, Secretary Vilsack today announced that livestock producers and other participants in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will now be able to hay and graze acres that have been ineligible in the past. Many of these additional acres have wetland-related characteristics and are likely to contain better quality hay and forage than on other CRP acres. There are approximately 3.8 million acres that will now be eligible for emergency haying and grazing, subject to certain conditions. Haying and grazing may only occur under strict compliance rules to help minimize impacts on these sensitive specialty practices. In addition, USDA will conduct follow-up monitoring and evaluation of these opened CRP areas to study the effects of the drought and USDA's emergency haying and grazing actions. Producers should contact their local Farm Service Agency offices for additional information.

Federal Crop Insurance

Secretary Vilsack announced today that crop insurance companies have agreed to provide a short grace period for farmers on insurance premiums in 2012. To help producers who may have cash flow problems due to natural disasters, Secretary Vilsack sent a letter to crop insurance companies asking them to voluntarily defer the accrual of any interest on unpaid spring crop premiums by producers until November 1, 2012. In turn, to assist the crop insurance companies, USDA will not require crop insurance companies to pay uncollected producer premiums until one month later.

During the 2012 crop year, USDA has designated 1,584 unduplicated counties across 32 states as disaster areas—1,452 due to drought—making all qualified farm operators in the areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans. The U.S. Drought Monitor indicates that 66 percent of the nation's hay acreage is in an area experiencing drought, while approximately 73 percent of the nation's cattle acreage is in an area experiencing drought. During the week ending July 29, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that U.S. soybeans rated 37 percent very poor to poor, matching the lowest conditions observed during the drought of 1988. NASS also reported that 48 percent of the U.S. corn crop was rated very poor to poor, while 57 percent of the nation's pastures and rangeland are rated very poor or poor condition.

Last week, President Obama met with Secretary Vilsack and members of his Cabinet to discuss additional steps the Administration could take to help farmers, ranchers and business owners manage and recover from the current drought. Later in the week, President Obama directed Secretary Vilsack to convene a meeting of the White House Rural Council to update members and stakeholders on the Administration response to the drought. Vilsack will update Rural Council members and stakeholders again next week on new steps taken by the Administration to combat the drought.

Under Secretary Vilsack's leadership, USDA has announced a variety of steps to get assistance to producers impacted by the worsening drought, including:

•Allowing additional acres under CRP to be used for emergency haying or grazing. The action allows lands that are not yet classified as "under severe drought" but that are "abnormally dry" to be used for haying and grazing.

•Allowing producers to modify current Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts to allow for grazing, livestock watering, and other conservation activities to address drought conditions.

•Authorizing haying and grazing of Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) easement areas in drought-affected areas where haying and grazing is consistent with conservation of wildlife habitat and wetlands. USDA has expedited its authorization process for this haying and grazing.

•Encouraging crop insurance companies to provide a short grace period for farmers on unpaid insurance premiums, as some farming families can be expected to struggle to make ends meet at the close of the crop year.

•Reducing the emergency loan interest rate from 3.75 percent to 2.25 percent.

•Lowering the reduction in the annual rental payment to producers on CRP acres used for emergency haying or grazing from 25 percent to 10 percent in 2012.

•Simplifying the Secretarial disaster designation process and reduced the time it takes to designate counties affected by disasters by 40 percent.

USDA agencies have been working for weeks with state and local officials, as well as individuals, businesses, farmers and ranchers, as they begin the process of helping to get people back on their feet. The U.S. Small Business Administration has also made 63 agency declarations in 33 states covering 1,675 counties, providing a pathway for those affected to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). SBA's EIDLs are available to small, non-farm businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that are economically affected by the drought in their community.

Also today, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will convene a call with states to listen and discuss the ways in which U.S. DOT can work with Governors and State Departments of Transportation to help communities impacted by the drought. Secretary LaHood will be joined by both Anne Ferro, Administrator of the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration and Greg Nadeau, Deputy Administrator for the Federal Highways Administration.

The Obama Administration, with Agriculture Secretary Vilsack's leadership, has worked tirelessly to strengthen rural America, maintain a strong farm safety net, and create opportunities for America's farmers and ranchers. U.S. agriculture is currently experiencing one of its most productive periods in American history thanks to the productivity, resiliency, and resourcefulness of our producers. A strong farm safety net is important to sustain the success of American agriculture. USDA's crop insurance program currently insures 264 million acres, 1.14 million policies, and $110 billion worth of liability on about 500,000 farms. In response to tighter financial markets, USDA has expanded the availability of farm credit, helping struggling farmers refinance loans. In the past 3 years, USDA provided 103,000 loans to family farmers totaling $14.6 billion. Over 50 percent of the loans went to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

Healthier kids --- Healthier US School Challenge

The USDA announced today that 3717 school across the country met and exceeded the goal of 2,250 schools becoming meeting the challenge of offering healthier food and beverage options while educating about correct nutrition.  The USDA offered schools awards based on their levels of performance, and the program was tied to the government program Let's Move!  I looked at the list, and Metro Nashville has a wonderful helping of schools (MLK magnet isn't on the list --- get on it, Sarah Laos), Ohio has a smaller helping of schools than Tennessee (and Lebanon didn't have any), and poor little Oklahoma only had one school in the entire state on the list.  Check out your state and see what you can do to get the schools in your area to help kids become healthier:  http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/HealthierUS/index.html.

USDA news link:  http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDAOC-49ca2f

Putting this program in a little bit of context, remember that the CDC has predicted that by 2030, 42% of Americans will be classified as obese. That will continue to bankrupt our healthcare system as we care for diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and many other weigh-related health issues.  Let's help ourselves and our kids be healthy for the future.

CDC warning:  http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2012/t0507_weight_nation.html

A gem of a snake!

This is Ella the Dog here.  Tonight while on our family walk (Momma, Henry, and me), we came across a dead snake!  This is so exciting!  Henry wouldn't get close to the snake --- he just sniffed towards it and stayed away.  I, however, gave it a full inspection (and I would have rolled on him if Momma had let me).  The snake had been squashed on the road, so he was really dead and safe for us to approach.  Momma was really interested too, and she picked him up and moved him to the grass so we can show him to Dad.  After studying the snake and where we found him (right by the swamp) and comparing him to what we've seen online, we think he's a water moccasin/ cotton mouth.  Grandpa suggested that we very carefully pry open the snake's mouth to see if he has fangs, but we're afraid to do that.   Here are the pictures Momma went back and took after she brought us back to the house.


The snake's head  -- it's definitely triangular, which means it is venomous:

This gives you an idea of how long he was --- about a yard long:

His markings:

More markings: