February 11, 2022
Newsletter for February 11, 2022
This Issue:
  • Farm Bureau And Other Agricultural Interest Urged Agencies To Not Move Forward With New Effort To Define Waters of the United States
  • If You Haven’t Shared Your Thoughts – Please Do So!
  • Regulation Changes Considered On Beekeeping – Workshop Feb. 16
  • Secretary of Agriculture Moves Forward With Climate Smart Farming Program
  • Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources Schedule Next Meeting For Feb. 28
  • Workshop Series Planned For Humboldt River Corridor – March 8 & 9
Farm Bureau And Other Agricultural Interest Urged Agencies To Not Move Forward With New Effort To Define Waters of the United States
Along with offering organizational comments to meet the February 7th deadline for the public comment period covering the proposed regulation rewrite the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers are pushing through, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and other agricultural organizations urged the agencies to stop and wait. Part of the basis for this encouragement for delay is related to the Idaho case that the U.S. Supreme Court has accepted that is related to what considerations enter into defining whether federal authority applies to a specific location.

AFBF submitted an extensive set of comments related to the Federal Register Notice regarding the proposed changes that the Agencies are working to implement.  Nevada Farm Bureau also submitted comments covering a host of problems with the federal agencies attempting to expand authority for regulation of more than simple and easy to identify waters of the U.S.

An interesting twist to the comments submitted includes those submitted by the Small Business Administration (SBA).  The Agencies stated in the Federal Register Notice in regard to the proposed changes in the regulations that their actions were not going to have any impact on small businesses or those impacted by the federal agencies extending their command and control activities.  The comments that SBA submitted refuted those assertions and took exception to the impacts the Agencies would have.  AFBF President Zippy Duvall drew attention to the actions taken by the SBA in making the comments that they offered.
If You Haven’t Shared Your Thoughts – Please Do So!
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been asking f or your input on the 2022 American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Strategic Issues Action Plan.

Within the general issue areas that have been provided… 
  • Agricultural Labor 
  •  Farm Policy
  •  Infrastructure 
  • Regulations
  • Rural Health
  • Supply Chain 
  • Sustainability 
  • Taxes and Trade 

We’d be interested in learning from you, the priority ranking you believe best fits Nevada agricultural producers as well as the priorities for details that are within the broader general subjects.  Please click on this survey and share your ranking of what needs the highest degree of attention to best serve the needs of Nevada farmers and ranchers.
Regulation Changes Considered On Beekeeping – Workshop Feb. 16
We’ve been giving repeated reminders for the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s plan to hold a virtual workshop for proposed changes to beekeeper regulations on Wednesday, February 16, starting at 10 a.m..  After the lengthy messages of coming events…we are now quickly approaching the actual workshop.  The information on how to obtain the link for participating, click on this agenda.

The regulation changes that are being proposed for Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 552 are spelled out here and include requirements of identification that a beekeeper must provide with their hives.
Secretary of Agriculture Moves Forward With Climate Smart Farming Program
On February 7th US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack announced a $1 billion grant program for pilot projects associated covering climate smart commodities.  With the announcement by Secretary Vilsack, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall reacted positively for the program’s approach for supporting agricultural producers who voluntarily decide to be engaged in whatever funding options that participating grant recipients create.  There is a host of eligible applicants to apply to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  These include State and County Governments, Non-profit organizations, Native American Tribal Governments, Institutions of Higher Education, etc.

In a somewhat related topic, we offer this information piece by John Cochran of the Hoover Institution, drawing attention to where matters associated with  climate change activities fit into the context of maintaining healthy economies. 
Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources Schedule Next Meeting For Feb. 28
The agenda for the next meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources is not available, but at this point we are making an assumption that the February 28th meeting will be held virtually at 9:30 a.m.. This link provides an overview of what areas fit into the purview of the Committee’s scope of work.  As the we get closer to the February 28th meeting, we will offer information on the Committee’s agenda.
Workshop Series Planned For Humboldt River Corridor – March 8 & 9
For a number of years a series of meetings by the Nevada Division of Water Resources have traveled the Humboldt River Corridor to offer updates on the modeling development by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Desert Research Institute.  This year’s meetings are scheduled for March 8 and 9.  The specific details for these meetings:

  •  Tuesday, March 8 – 9 a.m., Lovelock City Hall, Lovelock, NV
  •   Tuesday, March 8 – 2 p.m., Humboldt County Cooperative Extension Building, Winnemucca, NV
  •  Wednesday, March 9 – 8:30 a.m., Nannimi Administration Building, Elko County Commission Chambers, Elko, NV

Indications are that the modeling process will be nearing a conclusion this calendar year, which could advance the present preliminary conjunctive management plans for the Humboldt River Corridor to the next level of implementation.  Participation in this year’s information meetings should be a priority for those who could be impacted by the decisions to come from the State Engineer’s office for conjunctive management along the Humboldt River.
Have a great weekend!