Agriculture

St. Croix filmmaker Ramon Richardson recently released a documentary about the importance of agriculture on his home island.

Farmers and ranchers have until Aug. 2 to nominate candidates to serve on the St. Croix County Farm Service Agency (FSA) Committee. This year, St. Thomas County is accepting nominations for local administrative area 3 (LAA 3).

The panel discussion, "Creating Resilient Food Systems in the Caribbean," will be held at 3 p.m., Monday, July 19.

Chair of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research Stacey Plaskett delivered the following statement at Monday's hearing titled “Supply Chain Recovery and Resiliency: Small Producers and Local Agricultural Markets.”

Do not confine or tie animals during the storm because they can get trapped, injured or killed in the event of building collapse or flooding.

Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster.

Drought conditions limit people’s ability to refill cisterns and ponds, and, although convenient, buying water is often an expensive proposition for families and farmers.

This designation qualifies the territory for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) through the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), which offers payments to eligible livestock producers and grazed forage crop acreage.

Once repairs are completed, the abattoir will update the community on the reopening date, and the St. Croix Abattoir will resume normal operations.

The tropical bont tick, also called Amblyomma variegatum, feeds on horses, cattle, sheep and goats and has the potential to transmit fatal disease to these animals.

It is critical that the taskforce receive input from the public, especially those engaged in the agriculture industry.

The bill expands participation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School Grant Program to preschools, after-school programs and summer food service sites, and increases annual mandatory funding.

Students in grades 7 – 12 are eligible to apply by visiting the University of the Virgin Islands website. There are no registration fees.

Commissioner Positive T. A. Nelson is encouraging livestock farmers to take swift action to ensure that food and water are available for their animals during dry weather.

The survey is a periodic survey conducted throughout the U.S. that aims to understand how many private forest landowners there are and why they own forested or wooded land.

There will be a recognition and celebration of the fair’s 50th anniversary celebration next year.

The V.I. Department of Agriculture will continue to communicate directly to its customers, and it will be updating the community of the opening date, shortly.

Food Producer Network grants are used to fund extraordinary capital investments, such as in tractors, ice machines, walk-in freezers, irrigation systems, engines and other similar equipment or infrastructure.

The program has helped millions of small businesses, including non-profit organizations, sole proprietors and independent contractors.

The V.I. Department of Agriculture has announced the opening of the St. Croix Market at the Rudolph Shulterbrandt Agricultural Complex in Estate Lower Love on Dec. 24.