County Commitee ballot deadline; "Cowculator"
Washington Ag Today December 1, 2010 This coming Monday, December 6th, is the deadline to get ballots returned to local Farm Service Agency offices in the election of county committee members. As national FSA administrator Jonathan Coppess explains, the county committee is a very fundamental, important part of how FSA serves farmers and ranchers through the programs the agency administers. Coppess: “The county committees are farmer elected. They are producers in those counties elected by their peers, farmers in the area, and they are responsible for applying their knowledge, their judgment, experience for local decisions on matters from producer appeals on agency decisions, price support, conservation programs. They also employ the county executive director. So this is a very important position for the agency but more important it is an important position for the farmers in the county.” Again the ballot return deadline is December 6th. According to Tom Platt, Washington State University Extension Educator, winter rations for the beef herd are the single largest expense ranchers incur during the year. Platt says a computer program from Oklahoma State University, called “Cowculator” simplifies the challenge of minimizing winter feeding costs while ensuring that winter beef rations meet the nutrient requirements of the herd. The program can be downloaded for free the university’s website. Tonight however, Platt is demonstrating the program at the Spokane County Extension Center at 7:00 p.m. http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/software/ ? I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net. ? ? ?
