USDA   |  
Updated: February 22, 2012

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and USDA’s National Agricultural Library, in partnership with the American Farm Bureau Federation, have announced Start2farm.gov, a new online portal that helps provide assistance for beginning farmers and ranchers. The portal includes links to training, financing, technical assistance and other support services specifically for beginning farmers and ranchers as well as successful case studies about new and beginning farmers and ranchers.

For Secretary Vilsack, this opportunity will give agricultural providers resources to build a stronger industry and future.

“America’s farmers and rural communities are vitally important to our nation’s economy, producing the food, feed, fiber and fuel that continue to help us grow,” Secretary Vilsack said in a new release. “USDA is working to provide opportunities for the next generation to get into agriculture in order to continue the record success of America’s farmers and ranchers who are seeing record farm incomes and record exports. Start2Farm.gov will help us protect and sustain these successes, so that we continue to build an agriculture industry diverse and successful enough to attract the smartest, hardest-working young people in the nation.”

Start2Farm.gov was funded via the NIFA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), program that funded the development of education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of America’s farmers and ranchers. The Program has been funded since fiscal year 2009. It was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill with $75 million through FY12.

In the first year of NIFA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, three-year grants supported training for 5,000 beginning farmers and ranchers. In 2011, it is anticipated that these grants will have supported training for more than 10,000 beginning farmer and ranchers.

The BFRDP legislation requires the Secretary to establish an online clearinghouse that makes available to beginning farmers or ranchers supporting education curricula and training materials and programs. This clearinghouse, Start2Farm.gov, allows potential and beginning farmers to search for programs and resources that will help them find training, financing, technical assistance, and support networks. Additional features include a ‘Thinking about farming?’ tutorial and an event calendar. Start2farm.gov also showcases stories of how other BFRDP grantees have started, and stayed in, farming and ranching.

Beginning farmers, by USDA definition, are those operated by individuals with fewer than 10 years of experience operating farms. About 20 percent of the 2.1 million U.S. farms are classified as beginning farms, based on the USDA definition. Most beginning farmers are not young (that is, under 35 years old), do not have a college education, nor have access to farmland through their relatives, and more than one-quarter have zero value of farm production.

Most beginning farmers and ranchers experience shared challenges in getting started. The two most common and important challenges faced by beginning farmers are having

(1)   the market opportunity to buy or rent suitable land

(2)   capital to acquire land of a large enough scale to be profitable.

USDA is addressing these needs, as well as providing access to the farm safety net, through efforts in addition to the BFRDP grants:

• To raise a new generation of leaders for American agriculture, USDA provides affordable credit, including loans under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Program, and Youth Loans via Extension and 4-H offices. In just the past two years, more than 40% of all FSA’s farm loans went to beginning farmers and ranchers. (Since 2008, the number of loans to BFRs has climbed from 9,000 to 15,000.)
• The Conservation Reserve Transition Incentives Program encourages retiring or retired farmers to sell or lease expiring CRP lands to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. It facilitates the transition of expiring CRP land to beginning or socially disadvantaged producers to help them begin farming or to expand their operations in a sustainable manner by providing incentives to retiring or retired owners and operators. Currently, there are 1,280 approved TIP contracts in 26 states totaling about 200,000 acres. The states with the largest TIP participation are: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota. As of January 18, 2012, TIP payments totaling about $16.9 million have been obligated to retiring or retired land owners or operators.
• Risk Management Agency supports crop insurance education and outreach in 47 states to beginning, small, and historically underserved farmers and ranchers. From October 2010 through September 2011, a total of 77,000 farmers and ranchers attended educational sessions or were reached by direct mailing with educational information. In the past few years, the number of beginning, small, and historically underserved farmers and ranchers reached by this program has grown 6-10 percent each year (or 8 percent on average).

Start2farm.gov provides information about these and other USDA programs of particular assistance to beginning farmers.

Because their adviser believes in them, four Wauwatosa West students extended their extracurricular media interests last week by joining the press corps that covered President Barack Obama’s visit to Milwaukee’s Masterlock site.

“The students and I were talking about the visit, and then I thought, ‘Maybe I can get them in,’ ” said Chris Lazarski, a social studies teacher who advises for the school’s website, West Side Stories. “I always tell them that they are professional journalists and they can write about anything they want to.”

Lazarski’s inquiries to the White House and local media paid off. Just a day before the visit, he was able to inform the four seniors that they were going to be part of the presidential visit at both the airport and at Masterlock.

Happy to be there

“I think my reaction was complete shock,” said Kylie Hogrefe, who along with Luke Salamone worked the airport duty for the president’s arrival and departure. “We had to be out there pretty early, around 8:15 a.m., and went through all the security, including the dogs sniffing our bags. We were there until 2 p.m.”

Salamone said he also was caught off guard by the opportunity.

“I didn’t know until the night before,” Salamone said. “I don’t get surprised often, but this definitely surprised me. It was a pretty cool experience because everyone we met was a professional, and they were really nice.

Helpful advice

The students got help from reporters and photographers based in Milwaukee and abroad.

Hogrefe and Salamone said they found a friend in television reporter Patrick Paolantonio from WISN, who helped them understand the event, the setup and the best shots to get as they worked their video and still cameras.

“I didn’t realize how helpful some people can be in that situation. We learned a lot,” Salamone said.

Learning a lot at the Masterlock site were reporter and still photographer Ellyn Kirtley and Zakiya Robinson. They said a helpful photographer from the BBC gave them a quick tutorial on what shots to get.

“He said you are going to want to get the president when he does certain things, and we just followed the instructions,” Kirtley said. “It was very helpful.”

“That was really cool, one of the best parts of the day,” Kirtley said. “We watched the news later that day and night and we found we got some of the same shots, so we felt good about that.”

Memorable souvenirs

Kirtley and Robinson said they were impressed with their purple, octagon-shaped press passes, fitting souvenirs of the day.

They carry memories of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I definitely want to be a reporter and do this kind of work,” Robinson said. “When I am 25 or a little older, I will look back at this and think of it as the start of my journalism career.”

Applying what they know

Back at school the students posted photos and stories about the event. Lazarski said he is proud of them.

“They are working in a multimedia environment with the website and the newspaper,” he said. “For me, it was gratifying because they work with media strictly on a volunteer basis. I’m just their coach. I’m here to put them in situations where they can practice what we talk about.”

To see more about the presidential visit and other stories, go to West Side Stories, WauwatosaWest.com.

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Web-based training company UWCCorp announces new tutorial service aimed at helping small business owners master the benefits of Google+, based on recent case studies of Ford, Samsung, and other national brands.

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) February 21, 2012

When Google debuted its social networking platform, Google+, it was greeted with great fanfare and media attention. In the year following Google+’s launch, the social network has failed to match the membership pace of Facebook, and some industry experts wrote it off as a failure. In recent months, however, Google+ has developed an increasingly large and diverse membership base. According to industry blog Search Engine Watch, companies as diverse as HM, Ford, and Marvel Comics have used Google+ to considerable marketing success. On the heels of this study, UWCCorp.com has announced new training services aimed at teaching small business owners how to leverage Google+ for their own marketing gain.

Those who have read UWCCorp reviews know that the company has long offered tutorial services to small and home-based business owners seeking to maximize the impact of their Facebook and Twitter accounts. According to a company spokesperson, a new focus on Google+ is a natural progression for the company. “We’ve seen how this social network has yielded incredible results for big-name companies,” says the representative. “Google+ is unique in offering strong customer interaction and client retention capabilities, and there’s no reason why small business owners shouldn’t take advantage of that.”

The spokesman continues to note that, as UWCCorp reviews case studies like those cited by Search Engine Watch, it continues to refine its Google+ training offerings. UWCCorp especially emphasizes the case of Conan O’Brien’s “Team Coco” brand, which has set a powerful standard for engaging users with photos and video content; and the case of Samsung, which Search Engine Watch spotlights for achieving an effectively casual and conversational tone.

“By seeing what these others companies are doing with Google+, we realize just how effective the social network can be, even for much smaller businesses,” concludes the UWCCorp spokesperson. “As a vehicle for sharing compelling content, and ultimately appealing to customers and potential customers alike, Google+ is unique among social networks.”

Small business owners can enlist the tutorial services of UWCCorp to learn advanced marketing strategies that draw on Facebook, Twitter, and blogging software, as well as Google+. UWCCorp was founded by digital marketing professionals, and its services are geared largely toward new business owners or home-based entrepreneurs.

ABOUT:

UWCCorp.com is an online training system that offers lessons to help Internet entrepreneurs build and promote their websites. The training courses offered by UWCCorp cover a variety of topics, from website customization to social marketing. Additionally, this educational program offers classes in SEO marketing, HTML, blogging, eBay marketing, Google. AdWords, pay-per-click marketing, and more. For further information about the educational offerings of UWCCorp, visit http://uwccorp.com.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebUWCCorpReviews/02/prweb9212815.htm

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Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) February 21, 2012

When Google debuted its social networking platform, Google+, it was greeted with great fanfare and media attention. In the year following Google+’s launch, the social network has failed to match the membership pace of Facebook, and some industry experts wrote it off as a failure. In recent months, however, Google+ has developed an increasingly large and diverse membership base. According to industry blog Search Engine Watch, companies as diverse as HM, Ford, and Marvel Comics have used Google+ to considerable marketing success. On the heels of this study, UWCCorp.com has announced new training services aimed at teaching small business owners how to leverage Google+ for their own marketing gain.

Those who have read UWCCorp reviews know that the company has long offered tutorial services to small and home-based business owners seeking to maximize the impact of their Facebook and Twitter accounts. According to a company spokesperson, a new focus on Google+ is a natural progression for the company. “We’ve seen how this social network has yielded incredible results for big-name companies,” says the representative. “Google+ is unique in offering strong customer interaction and client retention capabilities, and there’s no reason why small business owners shouldn’t take advantage of that.”

The spokesman continues to note that, as UWCCorp reviews case studies like those cited by Search Engine Watch, it continues to refine its Google+ training offerings. UWCCorp especially emphasizes the case of Conan O’Brien’s “Team Coco” brand, which has set a powerful standard for engaging users with photos and video content; and the case of Samsung, which Search Engine Watch spotlights for achieving an effectively casual and conversational tone.

“By seeing what these others companies are doing with Google+, we realize just how effective the social network can be, even for much smaller businesses,” concludes the UWCCorp spokesperson. “As a vehicle for sharing compelling content, and ultimately appealing to customers and potential customers alike, Google+ is unique among social networks.”

Small business owners can enlist the tutorial services of UWCCorp to learn advanced marketing strategies that draw on Facebook, Twitter, and blogging software, as well as Google+. UWCCorp was founded by digital marketing professionals, and its services are geared largely toward new business owners or home-based entrepreneurs.

ABOUT:

UWCCorp.com is an online training system that offers lessons to help Internet entrepreneurs build and promote their websites. The training courses offered by UWCCorp cover a variety of topics, from website customization to social marketing. Additionally, this educational program offers classes in SEO marketing, HTML, blogging, eBay marketing, Google. AdWords, pay-per-click marketing, and more. For further information about the educational offerings of UWCCorp, visit http://uwccorp.com.

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The Creation Kit for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been available for a fortnight now and already some amazing mods have already started rolling out. If you’re keen to get in on the action but unsure where to start, we’ve uploaded the entire Creation Kit Tutorial Series for your viewing pleasure.

The Tutorial Series will take you through the basics of how to use the kit, right up to more complex areas like lighting and optimisation. They are a must watch if you are keen to start modding in Skyrim. There are 10 episodes in total, available now for download through the games.on.net file library.

The download links are as follows:

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 1: Introduction to the Kit

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 2: Basic Layout

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 3: Basic Layout II

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 4: Clutter

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 5: Navmesh

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 6: Basic Encounters

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 7: Traps

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 8: Optimization

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 9: Lighting

Creation Kit Tutorial Series – Episode 10: World Hookup

Also today, Bethesda reports that Beta Update 1.4.26 is now available through Steam with the following fixes:

LAUNCHER

Fixed issue with downloading mods when you are subscribed to more than 50 mods
Fixed crash when loading a subscribed mod that has been removed from Workshop by the author
Mod load order functionality

BUG FIXES (PC only)

Fixed occasional crashes when loading a save that relies on plugins/master files that no longer exist
Fixed issue where controls would become unresponsive while charging an enchanted weapon
Fixed issue where controls would occasionally become unresponsive while switching from third to first person while using the Arcane Enchanter
Fixed issue where controls would become unresponsive if activating a crafting station with autorun active
Fixed issue where keyboard would fail if Rename Item was selected before choosing the number of charges, while using Arcane Enchanter
Fixed several issues with remapping buttons while using an Xbox 360 controller
Fixed issue where pressing Escape button after fast traveling but before the loading would cause certain menus to stop working properly

Beware that the patch is still in beta and, as such, Bethesda warn that you should only apply the update if affected by the above issues and have backed up your saved games. To download the Beta Update you will need to change your Beta Participation settings on Steam under the Account tab.