My USDA official duty station is East Lansing, Michigan. I am here at the state Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office. The challenge is shifting my work towards domestic challenges from the efforts of international development. Not easy. My supervisor here has assigned me the task of evaluating CNMPs for certification.

If there are any heroes in the abandoned/neglected/abused horse quagmire, it is the BLM Wild Horse Program. The “unintended consequences” of Wild Horse Annie’s dreams have taken the pendulum of reasonable “wild horse” management … to the extreme. No one who personally contributes their money or time toward the care of these animals doubts that, but many have been caught in a trap of their own making. One of the most obvious contributors to the demise and destruction of the status and value of The Horse, wild or tame (remember they are both domestic animals), are the animal rights groups.

The act of storing solid and liquid manure does alter the composition of manure from its raw state and could be consider a form of treatment on the manure. However, as dairy farms have altered the way they handle manure from simply storing it, soil scientists are looking into how those newer methods are affecting nitrogen and phosphorus in the end product. Speaking at the North American Manure Expo in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, last month, Chris Baxter, associate professor of soil & crop science, University of Wisconsin – Platteville, explained the three types of manure treatment systems that were considered include liquid/solid separation, anaerobic digestion and composting.

Dairy families honored by University of Minnesota U of M recognized 76 Farm Families of 2012, including several dairy industry families: Carlton County: Newman Dairy Carver County: Heuer Dairy Inc. Kandiyohi County: Carlson Dairy, LLP Mower County: Gene Anderson Dairy Farm Rice County: Joe and Pat DeGrood Bros. Todd County: Lunemann Family's Twin Eagle Dairy Wadena County: Mertens Family Dairy Farm Wright County: Valley View Dairy (Dan & Erica Elsenpeter and Luke & Elizabeth Elsenpeter) —From University of Minnesota news release Scholarships awarded to support future organic leaders Horizon Organic awarded $2,500 scholarships to four students with promising futures in organic agriculture – all children or grandchildren of Horizon’s 600-plus family farmers.

Lynda Foster Fort Scott, Kansas Member National Dairy Promotion and Research Board

Last week, a crowd gathered at Capitol Hill during a Farm Bill Now rally to put pressure on House leaders to pass a five-year bill. But so far, the Farm Bill is still in limbo as the House prepares to end its session this Friday. The House will be on hiatus until after election week. A version of the Farm Bill that was approved by the Senate this summer has not yet been scheduled for a House vote, making passage unlikely before current law expires Sept. 30.