Hello again,
I cannot recall a February with this much snow and indeed in many places record snowfall has been recorded, and the month is not over.
I neglected to connect the electric fence after feeding the cows last Saturday morning and upon checking them in the afternoon found my biggest cow had simply stepped over the woven wire fence.
My problem was the 3-foot snow drift on both sides of the gate. Maybe mud won’t be so bad after all. Now as rain is expected my attention is shifting to all the snow piled up on the barn roofs.
Snow
My neighbor’s pole barn roof collapsed last week and that was just from the snow.
Even with these worries, we cannot deny the beauty of this snow cover and on some of the coldest clearest nights the brilliance of the moonlight on the landscape has been fantastic.
Carruthers
This leads us to our Black History Month topic this week. George Carruthers gained international recognition for his work which focuses on ultraviolet observations of the earth’s upper atmosphere and of astronomical phenomena.
Carruthers first major contribution to science was to lead the team that invented the far ultraviolet camera spectrograph. He developed the first moon-based space observatory, an ultraviolet camera that was carried to the moon by Apollo 16 astronauts in 1972.
The camera was positioned on the moon’s surface and allowed researchers to examine the Earth’s atmosphere for concentrations of pollutants.
Carruthers received a patent for his invention the “Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation especially in Short Wave Lengths” on Nov. 11, 1969.
He has been the principal investigator for numerous NASA and DOD sponsored space instruments including a 1986 rocket instrument that obtained ultraviolet image of Comet Halley.
His most recent, on the Air Force ARGOS mission, captured an image of a Leonid shower meteor entering the earth’s atmosphere, the first time a meteor has been imaged in the far ultraviolet from a space-borne camera.
Carruthers was born in Cincinnati in 1939 and grew up on the south side of Chicago.
He received his bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1961. He went on to complete his master’s degree in nuclear engineering in 1962 and a doctorate in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1964 from the same university.
He has championed the cause of science education through his support of education at Ballou High School and other D.C. area schools.
We look up and see beauty while others look up and try to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Loans
We have already discussed in past weeks the new AGI forms and requirements. This week we will discuss producer eligibility for 2009 through 2012 Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments.
These Marketing Assistance Loans and Loan Deficiency Payments are available to eligible producers according to 8-LP, paragraph 100.
An eligible producer is a person or entity that has complied with eligible annual program requirements according to 8-LP, paragraph 128, including:
Reporting acreage for applicable crops, according to 2-CP
Completing AD-1026, according to 6-CP
Completing CCC-926, according to 4-PL
CCC926, CCC-927 or CCC-928 (as applicable) are not needed at the time of MAL disbursement
CCC-926, CCC-927, or CCC-928 (as applicable) are required if the Marketing Assistance Loan is repaid under marketing loan gain provisions or upon request for Loan Deficiency Payment benefits.
Producers are now required to complete CCC-927 or CCC-928 (as applicable), and mail the completed form directly to the IRS within 60 calendar days of the signature date when requesting Marketing Assistance Loans or Loan Deficiency Payments under the above conditions.
As always, contact your local FSA office for program details.
That’s all for now, FSA Andy
