Latest News
Top Honors Given During 2010 American Honey Show
Entries Auctioned to Benefit the American Honey Queen Program
ABF members Stan Wasitowski and Liz Vaenoski took top honors at the 2010 American Honey Show. The two were among 23 entrants in the show, which was held during the 2010 North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow in Orlando, Florida.
Big Win for Bees: Judge Pulls Pesticide
Bee Toxic Movento Pulled from Market for Proper Evaluation
A pesticide that could be dangerously toxic to America’s honey bees must be pulled from store shelves as a result of a suit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Xerces Society. In an order issued last week, a federal court in New York invalidated EPA’s approval of the pesticide spirotetramat (manufactured by Bayer CropScience under the trade names Movento and Ultor) and ordered the agency to reevaluate the chemical in compliance with the law. The court’s order goes into effect on January 15, 2010, and makes future sales of Movento illegal in the United States.
USDA News & Notes
New Supplemental Revenue Program Announced for 2008 Crop Losses
Program to Include Loss of Honey Crop
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA has implemented the new Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program (SURE) in accordance with the 2008 Farm Bill. Vilsack also encouraged producers to visit their USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office beginning on January 4, 2010, to participate in the program if they suffered crop production losses during the 2008 crop year. This includes loss of a honey crop.
USDA Announces Implementation of Livestock Disaster Assistance Programs
Producers May Now Sign Up to Participate in These Programs
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that producers may begin applying for benefits under the provisions of the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) and the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP). These permanent disaster programs, authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, replace previous ad-hoc disaster assistance programs and are funded through the Agricultural Disaster Relief Trust Fund.
|