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Member Company Spotlight for Newsletter Call to Action

The PSA Communications Committee is starting a Member Spotlight as an added membership benefit to PSA members. Member Spotlights can help improve retention, boost engagement, help create a sense of community, expand our reach as an organization and attract new members. We would like to invite all current PSA member companies to submit information about your company so we can feature you on an upcoming PSA social media highlight (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn & Twitter). If your company would like to participate, please email the following to pacificseedassoc@gmail.com.

What we need from you:

Company Logo file
Photo or video of your company, team, farm and/or warehouse (a couple if you have them) with a caption about what or who is pictured.
Basic Company Data
- What is the name of your company or organization?
- Where is your company located?
- What does your company do in the seed/agriculture industry?
- What products or services does your company offer?
Pick your 3 favorite questions from each category below to answer:

Company Questions

What’s your company’s elevator speech?
How long has the company existed?
What does your company do for public service or outreach efforts for us to highlight on PSA Cares?
What is an interesting fact about your company that not many people know?
Has your company received any awards, new leadership opportunities or press mentions that we can spotlight? Please describe.

PSA Questions

Why did your company join PSA?
How does PSA benefit your company?
How long has your company been a member of PSA?
What’s your favorite part of being a member of PSA?
How many PSA events have you attended? What have you enjoyed about them? Favorite PSA convention location?
Any tips or advice for new PSA members?

Quarterly Luncheon Meeting – March 29^th

You are invited to join us on Zoom for the 1^st Quarter of 2023 PSA Educational Quarterly Lunch Meeting.   The PSA board members in partnership with the PSA communications committee are hosting these series of educational zoom calls for PSA members to enhance our educational outreach program to benefit all members. These quarterly meetings are complimentary to all members. Our first one for 2023 is scheduled for Wednesday, March 29^th from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm (pacific time). Join us for the 1st quarter meeting. Our topic this quarter will be a continuation of the topic addressed at the Annual Convention in regards to Communications and Leadership. A look at handing over the baton to a newer employees and focus on training, tips on taking on leadership roles within your company. More details on the speaker and topic to follow via email soon.
PSA is inviting you to a scheduled PSA Zoom meeting. (a follow-up outlook invitation will also be sent next week)
Link information for your calendar is:
PSA is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85341474428
Meeting ID: 853 4147 4428
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Meeting ID: 853 4147 4428
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Stabenow, Boozman Ask for Stakeholder Comments on Farm Bills

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member on the committee, announced that stakeholders can file feedback on the 2018 farm bill and input on the 2023 farm bill on the committee’s portal.

In a joint statement, the senators said: “Every farm bill impacts a vast array of industries and stakeholders at the center of our country’s agricultural economy, rural communities, and efforts to support vulnerable Americans. As we begin our bipartisan work on the 2023 farm bill, we are again inviting this valuable input so that the Senate can deliver a farm bill for the American people.”

U.S. Sees Record Value for Ag Exports in 2022

The U.S. exported a record of about $196 billion worth of agricultural commodities in the 2022 calendar year, an 11% increase from 2021, according to new USDA data and reporting by Agri-Pulse.“ When 2021 values came out, we were all super excited and wondered if we could ever top that, but in 2022 U.S. ag exports blew previous records out of the water,” said Veronica Nigh, senior economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation. While the value of ag exports rose in 2022, the volume did not. That dropped by about 6% from 2021, said Nigh.

Vilsack Announces IRA Climate-Smart Funds

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of two types of funding for climate-smart agriculture provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided an additional $19.5 billion over five years for climate smart agriculture through several of the conservation programs that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) implements.

NRCS is making available $850 million in fiscal year 2023 for its conservation programs that have had more applicants than funding: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

The IRA funding includes an additional $8.45 billion for EQIP, $4.95 billion for RCPP, $3.25 billion for CSP, and $1.4 billion for ACEP. The increased funding levels begin in fiscal year 2023 and build over four years. Additionally, the IRA provides $300 million to quantify carbon sequestration and greenhouse gases (GHG) through the collection and use of field-based data to assess conservation outcomes. Information gained through this effort will be used to improve practices and technical assistance to customers.

NRCS accepts producer applications for its conservation programs year-round, but producers interested in EQIP or CSP should apply by their state’s ranking dates to be considered for funding in the current cycle. Funding is provided through a competitive process and will include an opportunity to address the unmet demand from producers who have previously sought funding for climate-smart conservation activities.

Neonic Legislation in NY Targets Treated Seeds

Manufacturers of neonicotinoids and the growers and applicators who use them are keeping a close eye on legislation in New York state that would ban the planting of corn, soybean and wheat seeds coated with the insecticides, reports Agri-Pulse.

Either through legislation or regulation, a growing number of states – New Jersey and Maine, for example – have in the past few years restricted the use of the products to licensed applicators and banned spraying by homeowners in an effort to protect pollinating insects such as bees. But the New York bill, introduced in the Assembly and the Senate, would specifically prohibit the treated seeds used by row crop farmers, beginning in 2025.

The bill would specifically prohibit sales starting in 2026 of seeds coated with five neonics – clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, dinotefuran or acetamiprid. It also would allow the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, after consultation with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, to issue an order “determining that there is a lack of commercially available untreated seed or that compliance would result in undue hardship to agriculture producers.”

“The New York bill has been one that we've been especially keyed in on just because of the risk of the precedent that it might set,” says Max Moncaster, manager of public and government affairs at neonic maker BASF.

If the Birds and Bees Protection Act were to pass, Dan Raichel, acting director of the Pollinator Initiative at the Natural Resources Defense Council said “it would be the first law in the U.S. to address neonic seed treatments.”

EPA Proposes to ‘Modernize’ Pesticide Application Zones

The Hagstrom Report writes that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule to modernize the pesticide Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements under the 2015 Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) in what the agency said was “reaffirming the agency’s commitment to protecting farmworkers, pesticide handlers, their families, and agricultural communities from pesticide exposure during National Pesticide Safety Education Month.”

The proposed rule is open for comment for 30 days.

Among the changes, the revised standard included a new provision requiring agricultural employers to keep workers and all other individuals out of an area called the AEZ during outdoor pesticide applications. The AEZ is the area surrounding an ongoing pesticide application that people must not enter to avoid exposure. An AEZ moves with the equipment during applications to protect farmworkers and bystanders that could be contacted by pesticides.

The agency is also proposing to reinstate several provisions from the 2015 WPS to strengthen protections for farmworkers and bystanders including: applying the AEZ beyond an establishment’s boundaries; and when individuals are within easements (such as easement for utility workers to access telephone lines); and establishing AEZ distances for ground-based spray applications of 25 feet for medium or larger sprays when sprayed from a height greater than 12 inches from the soil surface or planting medium; and 100 feet for fine sprays.