The US Department of Agriculture is issuing its final call for participation in the agricultural census, whose forms are due by May 31.

The census, completed every five years, is one of the most important tools for individuals in the farm sector. Congressional leaders use the information in the farm census to craft farm legislation and farm subsidies/supports. Farmers use the information in the census to help plan harvests and predict prices.

The importance of the census is reflected in its mandatory nature. Like the federal census, participation in the agricultural census is required. Farmers who refuse to fill out their census form could face fines or imprisonment.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made his final appeal to farmers earlier this week. “Agriculture in America is an industry built on tradition, honor and pride,” said Vilsack. “We have heard this from the farmers and ranchers who completed their Census of Agriculture form. It’s not too late for those who have not yet responded to join the generations of producers who participated in the Agriculture Census since it was first conducted in 1840. Only you can continue to provide the facts straight from the farm.”

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer

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Farmers across the country are concerned with recent threats by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that the animal rights organization will use unmanned drones to spy on American farmers.

PETA, like many other animal rights organizations, has never shied away from controversy. Despite resistance in several agricultural states, PETA has used undercover investigations, petition drives, and other confrontational tactics to highlight animal rights concerns.

With recent announcements from farm advocacy groups that farmers are considering the domestic use of drone technology, PETA has jumped on the bandwagon, pledging to use drones to enforce hunting regulations and to monitor factory farms.

The announcement has many farmers worried. In several states, undercover animal rights activists have made controversial videotapes that have embarrassed farmers (these tapes have led some state legislatures to criminalize the production of those videos).

Farmer inquiries, however, indicate that farmers may have no recourse. If they want to keep open the option to use unmanned drones for agricultural purposes, there may be little opportunity to ban them for use by animal rights activists.

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A British company that evaluates colleges and universities recently announced that the University of California, Davis was the nation’s number one agricultural school. The news, and the recently released ranking system, is big news for farmers seeing a gradual decline in interested young farmers.

For the past few decades, farmers have been on the losing end of some major demographic shifts. Farming is an increasingly greying profession. With fewer and fewer young people entering the farm profession, the average age of farmers is shooting up. Already it is around 60 in some communities.

In addition, with the increase in large-scale agricultural production and with fewer young farmers replacing their retiring elders, the total number of farmers is also on the decline.

In response to these grim numbers, officials at the US Department of Agriculture have sought to increase the number of young farmers by offering special loans and grants to young people. In addition, the USDA has attempted to increase funding to farm colleges.

The news that UC Davis, one of the most important and influential colleges in the country, is the number one farm college in the country gives many farmers hope that there may be a new pull bringing young people into the profession.

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A group of officials from the Environmental Protection Agency recently toured Louisiana, meeting with local farm officials to discuss the challenges facing Louisiana agriculture.

Louisiana has been in a tough agricultural position for the past several years. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, along with a series of major tropical storms throughout the past several years, many state farmers have been hurting. The destruction of coastland and serious damage done to much of the state’s valuable farmland has hurt production for the past several years.

A major part of the EPA tours looked at fragile, and severely damaged marshland along the coasts, inspected local waterways to investigate water quality, and considered some of the environmental challenges Louisiana farmers may face.

In addition, officials toured rice farms, sugar plantations, and seafood farms. “I feel that they got a real good taste of Louisiana agriculture,” said Carrie Castille, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry associate commissioner. “Our goal for this visit is for EPA to see our producers as valuable resources on environmental issues affecting agriculture and forestry.”

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A number of farm groups are already praising the recently released draft of the 2013 Farm Bill, throwing their weight behind the latest attempt to pass vital farm legislation.

The recently proposed draft of the farm bill released by Senator Debbie Stabenow and the Senate Farm Committee will differ very little from last year’s bill. The proposed legislation would save about $23 billion (the same amount the 2012 Farm Bill was supposed to save) through the elimination of direct payment farm subsidies, the reduction of food stamp eligibility and conservation funding, and the increase of crop insurance subsidies.

The National Milk Producers Federation is coming out in favor of the bill. Its president recently released a statement praising the work of the Senate Ag Committee.

“We are pleased that the dairy title of the Farm Bill released today by the Senate Agriculture Committee contains the Dairy Security Act (DSA), just as it was included in last year’s Senate Farm Bill. The DSA is the best approach for providing a cost-effective safety net for dairy farmers, and we commend Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-MS) for their efforts to pass the DSA into law. The DSA provides the right combination of effective risk management for dairy farmers while minimizing program costs to the taxpayer.”

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Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow recently released the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft of the 2013 Farm Bill, one claiming to save billions of dollars in a tough economic climate.

Throughout most of last summer, both houses of Congress struggled to pass a new set of vital farm legislation. Despite the Senate’s passage of a new bill and the House Agriculture Committee’s passage of a draft of the bill, Republican leadership in the House blocked a farm bill vote rather than be seen as increasing spending in an election year.

The Senate’s latest farm bill draft claims to reduce spending by about $23 billion (an increase given the Congressional Budget Office’s latest report indicated that last year’s bill only cut about $13 billion). The bill replaces most farm subsidy programs with increased crop insurance and price support programs. It also restricts access to food stamps programs, limiting spending on nutritional subsides.

Hints from the House indicate that their bill will cut about $38 billion, with more than $20 billion of that being cuts in food stamp funding.

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The Gaza Strip, which had been blockaded by Israel for several years, is finding itself increasingly reliant on urban farming and rooftop agriculture.

For the past several years, urban agriculture has become the latest fad in the farm sector. While the practice has been around in one form or another since the beginning of cities, in the past decade it has received increasing attention from municipal governments as a way to revitalize local economies and improve nutrition in urban food deserts.

Major American cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco have already passed a number of local regulations allowing for the production and sale of agricultural products within city limits. In addition, urban farming has taken off internationally, with cities like London, Berlin, Tokyo, and Singapore embracing rooftop agriculture.

Advocates argue that it is better for the environment (the smaller spaces allow for decreased use of pesticides and fertilizers that can pollute local waterways and removes the need for transportation and farm machinery, reducing carbon emissions).

The Gaza Strip, one of the most heavily urbanized areas in the world, is typically reliant on food imports to feed its people. With limited access to quality soil and water resources, and with Gaza having limited access to imported food, urban farming has become a major part of the regions food production, something that could help reduce Gaza’s severe food insecurity.

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After roughly a year of severe weather conditions, Southern farmers are facing another body blow delivered by Mother Nature, leading many farmers to question whether 2013 will be another bad year for corn production.

Last year, farmers across the country struggled in the grip of one of the worst droughts in modern history. With record-high temperatures across the country and record-low precipitation, many farmers (particularly those growing relatively fragile corn crops) saw their fields dry up and their harvests collapse.

Across the country, many farmers prayed for increased rain, hoping that increased rainfall would help reverse the drought and help farmers recoup their losses from last summer.

In many parts of the country, however, increased rainfall has been a hindrance as much as a blessing. In the South, for example, farmers have been struggling with unusually high rainfall and low temperatures. Central Mississippi, for example, has received about 10 to 12 more inches of rain this year than the typical norm.

The increased rain, plus the relatively cool weather has stunted corn production, leaving many farmers worried that their corn crop may fail again this year, leaving farmers across the South in an economic bind and increasing the costs of federal crop insurance programs.

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The 2013 Farm Bill is expected to take up the bulk of Congress’ attention in the next several weeks, representing a major shift away from recent budget concerns and government shutdown fears.

For the past few months, Congress’ attention has been far from farm concerns. With major immigration reform overhauls on the horizon, with fears of yet another government shutdown, and with concerns over sequestration cuts, many farmers have been concerned that they were receiving the short end of the congressional stick.

Recent announcements from the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, however, indicate that Congress is planning to spend the next several weeks focusing on the needs of the farm community.

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, for example, has pledged to bring the farm bill to the Senate floor by next week, following the markup process this week. The House, in a reverse from last year’s fiasco, is expected to bring the farm bill to a floor vote (Majority Leader Eric Cantor has already pledged to hold a vote).

A variety of US Department of Agriculture officials have already been scheduled to testify in the House and Senate regarding the needs of the agricultural sector.

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Taxpayer rights organizations are already criticizing the newly released farm bill draft, claiming that it represents more wasteful spending by Washington politicians.

For the past year, the farm bill has been stuck in congressional limbo. Last summer members of the House Agriculture Committee and the Senate reached a series of tentative agreements regarding the 2012 Farm Bill. While the Senate passed a version of the bill and the House Agriculture Committee passed a draft of the bill, the GOP leadership in the House let the bill die in committee after refusing to hold a floor vote.

With a temporary extension of the 2008 Farm Bill holding until this September, Congress is beginning the long process of crafting a new bipartisan bill.

While the Senate Agriculture Committee only just recently released a proposed draft, taxpayer rights groups are already attacking the proposal.

In particular, groups like Taxpayers for Common Sense are critical of crop insurance funding, which consumed a significant portion of the bill’s spending last year and will likely constitute the bulk of farm spending this coming year.

Taxpayer advocacy groups are also critical of the fact that, in the midst of sequestration spending cuts, farm organizations are calling for more money.

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