Ag & Range

USDA provides $75 million ARP

u By Kamryn Kozisek

Ag and Range Editor

USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack announced the USDA’s plan to provide $75 million to the American Rescue Plan section 1006.

The plan will help fund technical assistance for historically underserved population to connect to USDA programs.

Funding was provided to 20 organizations that have helped underserved communities including veterans, new farmers, producers with limited resource and those living in high poverty areas.

“As we build back better than we were before, USDA is listening to our customers, and we are proud to offer new tools to help address inequities for underserved farmers and ranchers through the American Rescue Plan,” said Vilsack in a USDA press release. “We are committed to making each of our programs equitable so all can benefit from the opportunities USDA investments and programs help create. Our planned work with these important cooperators will help USDA achieve these important goals.”

Organizations receiving funding include the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Intertribal Agriculture Council, National Black Farmers Association, The Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher Policy Center at Alcorn State University, Indian Land Tenure Foundation, Land Loss Prevention Project, Rural Coalition, Center for Farm Financial Management, Hmong American Farmers Association, Farmer Veteran Coalition, The Kohala Center, Inc., Alaska Village Initiative, Farmers Legal Action Group, National Young Farmers Coalition, National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association, The Center for Heirs Property Preservation, National Immigrant Farmer Initiative, Inc., National Cooperative Business Association, National Black Growers Council and the World Farmers, Inc.

These organizations were picked to help provide underserved communities with financial assistance, tax planning, business curriculum development and farmer advocacy.

“Through Section 1006,” a USDA press release states. “USDA is also standing up an Equity Commission to advise the Secretary of Agriculture by identifying USDA programs, policies, systems, structures, and practices that contribute to barriers to inclusion or access, systemic discrimination, or exacerbate or perpetuate racial, economic, health and social disparities”

Photo courtesy of North Dakota Game and Fish A male pheasant stands in a field in North Dakota. Pheasants were introduced to Nebraska in the early 1900s.

Berggren plan draft released

u By Kamryn Kozisek

Ag and Range Editor

A draft of the 2021 Berggren Plan for pheasant management had been released for public comment by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

The plan is based on improving pheasant hunting in Nebraska over the next five years.

The draft outlines the goals of the plan as, increasing pheasant abundance, increasing hinter access to land, increase the amount of pheasant hunters and manage hunter expectations.

The original Berggren Plan or Berggren 1.0 was used from 20162020 and included 2,434 projects with private landowners with improving pheasant habitat in priority areas. The new plan includes efforts to incentivize Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land when improving pheasant habitat.

The plan splits the state into six habitat priority areas, part of Dawes County falls into Northern Panhandle Pheasant Opportunity Area (NPPOA). Other priority areas include Southwest, South-Central, Southern Panhandle, Central and Northeast. The Southeast and Central Platte priority areas that were including the original Berggren plan were removed.

Goals for NPPOA include 1,000 acres of new CRP land, 12,586 acres of re-enrolled CRP, 2,325.7 acres of mid-contract CRP land and 4,232.2 acres of grass establishment on pivot acres, over the next five years.

The plan also outlines the NPPOA having a goal of 35% of CRP acres having public access for pheasant hunting.

Other changes include goals to improve the number of minority group hunters, re-evaluating how cost-effective pheasant releases are and how they affect the number of new hunters.

The development of an “Upland Gamebird Science Literacy” website to help communicate science and research that applies to upland game bird management.

A virtual meet is being held at 7 p.m. Central Time Dec. 8. Registration for the meeting is available on the Game and Parks Commission website.

The draft of the plan is available on the website and comments can be made online at outdoornebraska.gov/pheasantplan.