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Page 8B — Wednesday, August 3, 2016, The True Citizen
Pork Quality Assurance Training
By: Katie Burch,
County Extension Agent
Consumer demand for food
safety and animal welfare has
become a top priority for live
stock producers. In the state of
Georgia, hogs have been raised
for not only commercial use but
for personal use as well. Many
farmers rely on swine produc
tion for part of their income.
Therefore, it is vital for farmers
to understand the importance of
will begin at 9 am until lunch.
There will be a lunch break and
then the TQA meeting will last
until 3 pm. Robert Dove, UGA
Animal & Dairy Science, will
conduct the training sessions.
If you are interested and would
like to participate, please call the
Screven County Extension of
fice at 912-564-2064 to register
before July 29, 2016 by 5 pm.
The Pork Quality Assurance
Program is required by packers
in order for a producer to market
tices allow producers to manage
livestock that meet consumer
demand. The Transport Qual
ity Assurance Certification is
required by most packers for a
driver to be eligible to enter the
plant grounds to deliver pigs
for harvest. The TQA program
assists swine producers, trans
porters and handlers in under
standing the importance of how
to move and transport pigs and
the impact their actions have on
the industry. These certifications
safe animal health and humane
handling practices.
The Screven County Exten
sion Office will be hosting a
Pork Quality Assurance Train
ing as well as a Transport Qual
ity Assurance Program Training
on August 3. The PQA meeting
their pigs. The PQA Program
is designed to help producers
measure, track and continuously
improve animal well-being by
following the good production
practices that ensure safe, clean
and responsible use of animal
health products. These prac-
will open access to more mar
kets and allow the producer to
sell their product at a premium
rate. Without the PQA and TQA
programs, producers in Georgia
would not be able to stay in
business.
Peanut Leadership Academy
are now accepting applications
The Georgia Peanut Com
mission announced that ap
plications are now being ac
cepted for the next class of the
Peanut Leadership Academy.
To be eligible for participa
tion, candidates must derive
their primary livelihood from
farming and currently produce
peanuts, make a commitment to
the program and agree to attend
all sessions except in times of
illness or a family emergency,
be between the ages of 30 and
45 (preferred, but not required)
and provide a completed ap
plication.
The Peanut Leadership Acad
emy is a cooperative effort
between Syngenta Crop Pro
tection, the American Peanut
Shellers Association and grower
organizations. The program
began in 1998 with the first
class of 14 peanut growers from
Alabama, Florida and Geor
gia. Since then, the academy
has grown to include growers
from Texas, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Virginia and sheller
representatives.
During the program, partici
pants are taught how to become
more effective spokespeople
for the peanut industry, de
velop industry relationships and
further grow their leadership
skills. Five sessions take place
throughout the 18 month class
and require approximately 20
days of travel. During the ses
sions, activities are structured to
give participants a thorough un
derstanding of the U.S. peanut
industry and include held trips,
meetings with industry leaders
and professional development
training. Each class also has
one leadership session in Wash
ington, D.C. where participants
have an opportunity to visit with
members of congress on issues
affecting the peanut industry.
To download a copy of the
upcoming class application,
visit www.southernpeanutfarm-
ers.org. Applications must be
postmarked by Sept. 1,2016, for
consideration. The first session
will begin in December 2016.
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2016 National Urban and Community
Forestry Challenge Grants Available
Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack announced the 2016
USDA Forest Service's National
Urban and Community Forestry
Challenge grant recipients. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) is providing $900,000
in funding to four goal re
cipients who will demonstrate
how healthy urban forests can
increase public health benefits,
improve development and re
development efforts, and con
tribute to urban food production
"Urban forests are integral to
strong, vital, and healthy com
munities, enriching the lives
of the more than 80 percent of
Americans who live in cities
and towns," said Vilsack. "The
grants announced today will
make important strides in inno
vative research and community
projects that will help keep our
urban forests valuable contribu
tors to our daily lives."
"As our urban communities
grow and confront rapid de
velopment and climate change,
urban trees will be more impor
tant than ever by providing rich
habitats, capturing storm water
and helping provide clean air
and water," said Forest Service
Chief Tom Tidwell. The grant
recipients will help to improve
the public's health, well-being
and create resilient ecosystems
for present and future genera
tions."
The grant recipients, whose
work will highlight the eco
nomic and social value of ur
ban forests, are committing
an additional $1.1 million to
their projects bringing the total
investment through this project
to $2 million.
In the United States alone,
urban trees store over 708 mil
lion tons of carbon, which is
equivalent to the annual carbon
emissions from about 500 mil
lion automobiles. Urban trees
help further reduce emissions
by lowering electricity demand
for summer air conditioning and
winter heating. Well-maintained
urban forests can help address
climate and extreme weather
impacts by reducing
storm water runoff,
buffering high winds,
controlling erosion
and minimizing the
impacts of drought.
Urban forests also
provide critical social
and cultural benefits
providing places for
people to recreate
and gather with their
communities.
The U.S. Forest
Service, together
with many partners,
plays a pivotal role in
ensuring urban, and
community forests
continue to provide
their life-enriching
benefits. In partner- 1
ship with state forest
ry agencies, the Forest Service
helps over 7,000 communities to
plan, manage, and grow urban
forests through the Urban and
Community Forestry Program
and the National Urban and
Community Forestry Advisory
Council's Ten Year Action Plan.
For more information on
USDA's support for urban ag
riculture and forestry, please
visitwww.usda.gov/documents/
urban-agriculture-toolkit.pdf.
The 2016 grant recipients and
amounts are:
State University of New
York, College of Environmen
tal Science and Forestry,
A Decision Support System
to Develop, Analyze, and Op
timize Urban and Community
Forests: $285,340 to create a
decision support system for
i-Tree Landscape to allow for
est managers and planners to
achieve desired benefits and
service from urban and com
munity forests. Developed by
the Forest Service, i-Tree is a
ground-breaking interactive
web tool helping communities
identify and make the most of
their urban trees.
Earth Learning, Inc., Com
munity Food Forestry Initia
tive: $175,627
to address tree canopy loss due
to re-development by providing
planners, decision-makers, and
designers with a comprehensive
set of resources to integrate
food-producing trees and plants
into the urban landscape.
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, Dept, of
Recreation, Sport and Tour
ism, Urban Forestry's Return
On Investment Tying Residen
tial Nature To Health Care Ex
penditures: $278,383 to docu
ment the effects of urban and
community forests on health
care savings by examining the
impacts of urban forests on
major U.S. population groups,
particularly the underserved,
giving the findings direct rel
evance to communities across
the nation.
Georgia State University,
The Impact of Natural En
vironments on Symptom Ex
pression in Children with Au
tism: $160,650 to research the
impact of nature on symptom
severity in children with autism.
A "Lessons Learned" document
will provide best practices for
working with children with
autism.
For more information about
the National Urban and Com
munity Forestry Challenge grant
recipients, please visit www.
fs.fed.us/ucf/nucfac.html.
By: Slim Randles
The evening was one of those
that come back to you time
after time, year after long year.
It comes back and whispers
of how good life can be when
you’re well fed, enjoying life,
and a good friend shares the
front porch with you on a sum
mer’s evening.
It was that way with Doc
and Steve the other night. Doc
thought he might have to do a
scientific paper on the soporific
effects of ice tea, fried chicken,
and corn on the cob. As long as
it didn’t take any effort.
So when this huge meal had
been bull-snaked down, the two
grinning friends came out to the
porch to watch the sun go down
behind the trees along Lewis
Creek. The air had that orange
and russet glow, and the breeze,
that little one that caresses the
neck, came slowly down from
the hills and made their shirt
collars wiggle ever so slightly.
It was like taking a dry bath
in paradise.
Doc sidled up to one of the
porch posts and gently tested it
to see if it could hold the extra
weight he was carrying with that
meal. It stood fine, so he leaned
against it seriously and looked
out on the evening’s warmth.
Steve, who was enjoying
having a fine meal that someone
else cooked for a change, leaned
against the post on the other side
of the steps.
And then they just stood
quietly, watching the day make
beautiful skies as it ended.
The shadow on the ground
foretold the presence of the cir
cling bird. Doc and Steve paid
no attention at first. Then a few
minutes later, it was joined by
two more circling birds over
Doc’s house.
“Buzzards,” Steve mumbled.
“Yep,” said Doc.
They circled some more.
“I think one of us should
move a little ...” said Doc.
“Move?”
“Well ... to let them know
... you know.”
Steve sighed, then glanced
over at Doc. “Flip you for it.”
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