Vessel Composting

 
 
 
 

On Wednesday, March 24th, invited members of the SCPF met at the State Farmer’s Market on Bluff Road to view a compost demonstration. The Ecodrum In Vessel Composter is considered by many to be a superior form of dealing with poultry mortality and composting of litter. The presentation was made by Bill Townshend, Project Manager of the South Dade Soil and Water Conservation District.
The advantages of Ecodrum Composting include
• Uses half the shavings than Bin Composting
• Compared to Incineration a lot less energy
• Ecodrum eliminates leaching and soil contamination
• Fewer odors than other composting method
• Reuse up to 50% of composting back in the process
• Allows for cold weather composting
• Neighbor friendly
With the interest generated by this presentation, we have asked to visit a poultry farm in the North Carolina area that is currently using this system. Once we have a time, date and place established we will post the info on our blog and anyone interested may sign up. Space will be limited, and it will be on a first come first served basis.
A special thanks to those who attended: Dr. Boyd Parr, Dr. Julie Helm, Leon Fulmer, Tommy Smith and Mark Baxley.

USDA Rural Development Grant Workshops

USDA Rural Development (RD) will hold a series of Grant Workshops for agricultural producers and rural small businesses in South Carolina to discuss the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) programs. The Workshops will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Anderson, Chester, Florence, Kingstree, and Orangeburg.

REAP grants can pay for up to 25% of the cost of doing energy efficiency improvements to a facility, building or a process within the agricultural operation. The maximum grant amount is $250,000 and the minimum grant is $1,500. Assistance is also available for a system that produces or produces and delivers usable energy from a renewable energy source with a maximum grant of $500,000 and a minimum grant of $2,500. Applications can be filed at any time, but the awardees are not usually selected until September.

VAPGs are used to help eligible producers of agricultural commodities develop strategies to create marketing opportunities for their Value-Added Agricultural Products and/or to help develop Business Plans for viable marketing opportunities regarding production of bio-based products from agricultural commodities. The maximum grant amount for planning purposes is $100,000, and $300,000 for working capital.

Workshops are scheduled to be held at the following locations:

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
511 Michelin Blvd., Anderson, SC
864-224-2126, Ext. 4

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
525 College Place, Chester, SC
803-581-1906, Ext. 4

Thursday, April 1, 2010
527 Sumter Hwy., Kingstree, SC
843-354-9613, Ext 4

Tuesday, April 6, 2010
2200 Pocket Rd., Florence, SC
843-669-9686, Ext. 4

Wednesday, April 7, 2010
1550 Henley St., Rm. 100, Orangeburg, SC
803-649-4221, Ext. 4

For more information or to confirm attendance, contact Starla Turnage at
803-253-3183.

Celebrate agriculture! National Ag Day, March 20

March 20 is the first day of spring, but it’s also National Ag Day. The Agriculture Council of America hosts National Ag Day as part of the week long observance National Ag Week, March 14-20, to celebrate agriculture’s impact on our lives. Each March, producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and countless others across America join together to recognize the contributions of agriculture.

Hugh Weathers, Commissioner of Agriculture, says that this observance is a reminder that the things we eat, use and wear on a daily basis are all products of agriculture. “For one week out of the year, the focus is on agriculture’s contributions,” he said. “I like to think here in South Carolina we recognize those contributions every day.”

There are many reasons to celebrate American agriculture – for the jobs it creates, the innovation it spurs and for giving us the world’s most abundant and safest food. Agriculture’s accomplishments may touch us in different ways, but they all improve our quality of life.

Agribusiness is our state’s number one industry creating nearly 200,000 jobs and generating $34 billion a year for the state’s economy. Our total output for our state’s economy is approximately $140 billion. Break all these billions down and you realize that agribusiness accounts for almost one-fourth of our economy.

Today, one American farmer feeds more than 144 people. Here in South Carolina, the ratio of principle farm operators to non-farmers is about 1 to 170 people, assuming there is one principle operator per farm in South Carolina with a population is 4.6 million. Quite simply, agriculture is doing more and doing it better. As the population grows, there is an even greater demand for food, feed, fiber, and fuel.

Commissioner Weathers said that a bumper sticker circulated a few years back says it best – “What would you be without farmers? – naked, hungry, and homeless”

“So, this year,” Commission Weathers said, “let’s not celebrate agriculture for one day or one week, let’s celebrate it all year long and recognize what farmers do for us.”

Tax Extenders Bill Passes Senate

Farmers affected by weather-related disasters are one step closer to receiving relief, after the U.S. Senate approved by a vote of 62 to 36 a disaster package as part of the Tax Extenders Act of 2009. Senate Ag Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln says, "We cannot afford to see our farmers forced out of business because of weather conditions out of their control. This will provide the relief producers need to stay in business."

The legislation, introduced by Lincoln, would provide an estimated 1.1-billion dollars in supplemental payments to producers who suffered crop losses in counties declared “primary” disaster areas by USDA. It also includes a clause extending the biodiesel tax incentive. If passed, the biodiesel tax incentive would, in effect, permit biodiesel producers to increase or, in some cases, resume production.

Also included is 300-million to assist specialty crop producers, 75-million in emergency loans to poultry producers, 50-million in assistance for livestock producers, 25-million in aquaculture assistance and 42-million dollars to aid first handlers of cottonseed.

Legislative Update

A recent attempt was made in the SC senate to move Clemson's PSA(Public Service Activities) under the SC Department of Agriculture, which would strip Clemson of their land-grant institution status. The SC Poultry Federation along with many other interest groups and organizations including, Clemson University, SC State University (also a land-grant institution), and Clemson's Cooperative Extension Service, Experiment Station, Livestock-Poultry Health, and Regulatory Services, all came out against S.872, the bill that made the proposal to move Clemson's PSA. After much testimony against S.872, the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee tabled the bill, keeping it from moving forward.

Clemson University (formerly Clemson College) was founded in 1889 on Thomas Green Clemson’s belief that education could create a better way of life for the people of South Carolina. Clemson is South Carolina’s 1862 land-grant university, with a federal mandate to improve the quality of life for the citizens of South Carolina by developing and delivering research and education programs that support the state’s largest industry, the $34 billion agribusiness community.