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The USDA reminds farmers and ranchers that the next general enrollment period for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) began this week and ends on Feb. 26, 2016.
December 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of CRP, a federally funded program that assists agricultural producers with the cost of restoring, enhancing and protecting certain grasses, shrubs and trees to improve water quality, prevent soil erosion and reduce loss of wildlife habitat.
As of September 2015, 24.2 million acres were enrolled in CRP. CRP also is protecting more than 170,000 stream miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, enough to go around the world 7 times.
For an interactive tour of CRP success stories from across the U.S., visit www.fsa.usda.gov/CRPis30 , or follow on Twitter at #CRPis30.
Participants in CRP establish long-term, resource-conserving plant species, such as approved grasses or trees (known as “covers”) to control soil erosion, improve water quality and develop wildlife habitat on marginally productive agricultural lands. In return, FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance.
At times when commodity prices are low, enrolling sensitive lands in CRP can be especially attractive to farmers and ranchers, as it softens the economic hardship for landowners at the same time that it provides ecological benefits. Contract duration is between 10 and 15 years.
The long-term goal of the program is to reestablish native plant species on marginal agricultural lands for the primary purpose of preventing soil erosion and improving water quality and related benefits of reducing loss of wildlife habitat.
Contracts on 1.64 million acres of CRP are set to expire on Sept. 30, 2016. Producers with expiring contracts or producers with environmentally sensitive land are encouraged to evaluate their options under CRP.
Since it was established on Dec. 23, 1985, CRP has:
– Prevented more than 9 billion tons of soil from eroding, enough soil to fill 600 million dump trucks;
– Reduced nitrogen and phosphorous runoff relative to annually tilled cropland by 95 and 85 percent respectively;
– Sequestered an annual average of 49 million tons of greenhouse gases, equal to taking 9 million cars off the road.
– Created nearly 2.7 million acres of restored wetlands.
For more information FSA conservation programs, visit a local FSA office or www.fsa.usda.gov/conservation . To find your local FSA office, visit http://offices.usda.gov .
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be over, but there is still time to find that special gift for everyone on your list.
Twenty-six Lake County wine producers will offer wines, gift ideas, and food pairings for you to enjoy as you sip, savor and shop at the third annual Give the Gift of Wine Holiday Open House this weekend, Dec. 5 and 6.
Participating locations will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In addition to wine sales and gift ideas, the best deal of the year for two-day passport tickets for the 2016 Wine Adventure will be available.
The Holiday Open House is free. To see a full list of this year’s participating locations, visit www.lakecountywineries.org/holiday .
“The Give the Gift of Wine weekend is lots of fun. It is a great opportunity to shop local this year. Get in the holiday mood and finish off your day with the light parades in Kelseyville on Friday night and Upper Lake on Saturday night,” said Lake County Winery Association Director Terry Dereniuk.
Lake County’s wineries have been planning this special weekend for months. Whether you want to treat yourself to an afternoon of wine tasting, still have names on your gift list, or are in the market for wine deals for your holiday celebrations, this is the weekend!
Enjoy barrel tastings at Olof Cellars. Meet winemaker Amy Thorn for a special holiday bottle signing at Thornhill. Sip the wines and feast on tasty treats at Boutique. Find gift ideas galore at Wildhurst. Take advantage of discounts on wine at Fults Family Vineyards and Langtry Estate. The list goes on with something special offered at each location.
Cache Creek is hosting its second annual holiday charity faire on Saturday, Dec. 5. Local charities Tango Mike, Lake Family Resource Center, and People Services are decorating Christmas trees and will be vying for your votes.
“In 2014, Operation Tango Mike took first place in the tree decorating contest and won $700 as first place winner. I can’t wait to see which one will be voted as the favorite this year. We will also have a silent auction table. The auction proceeds will be divided between the three charities,” said Ariana Lopez, event and marketing coordinator for Cache Creek.
The 2016 Wine Adventure will be held May 20 to 22, 2016. Two-day passport tickets for the 2016 Wine Adventure will be offered at a special two-for-one price with the purchase of 6 bottles of wine during the holiday open house weekend.
The two-day passport tickets priced $55 in advance and $65 at the door will not be offered at a lower price for the 2016 event. For a list of locations offering this special deal, visit www.lakecountywineries.org/adventure .
LCWA works to promote the wines of Lake County’s high elevation region. Membership is open to wineries, winegrape growers, and individuals or businesses interested in promoting the Lake County wine industry. For more information about upcoming events, sponsorship, or membership opportunities, call 707 357-5237 or visit www.lakecountywineries.org .
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NORTH COAST, Calif. – Savings Bank has received numerous reports from people with 707 area code phone numbers who are receiving fraudulent automated phone calls and emails indicating their bank card has been blocked.
It appears these calls are not targeting any specific financial institution.
It is important, if you receive one of these calls or emails, do not provide any personal or card information.
If you have received an automated phone call or email and have provided personal or card information, please contact Savings Bank or your financial institution right away.
Savings Bank wants customers to know that the bank does not make automated phone calls and will not call customers to activate their debit cards or to ask for account or card information.
The bank will call customers if there is unusual activity and it is suspected to be fraud. In this case, the calls are made in person, not automated.
At Savings Bank, account security is a top priority and they remain committed as ever to protect your personal and financial information and privacy.
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With Black Friday and Cyber Monday fast approaching, California Attorney General Kamala Harris this week issued consumer tips for safe shopping this holiday season.
The holidays are a festive time of the year that unfortunately leave consumers vulnerable to monetary scams and online hackers.
This season’s online holiday sales are predicted to reach a record $83 billion, with consumers spending a combined $6 billion online on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Attorney General Harris offers the following tips for consumers to protect themselves during the holiday season.
Tips for safe shopping
– Review your bank and credit card statements frequently for unusual transactions. Call your bank or credit card company to immediately report any suspicious activity.
– In the event of a security breach involving your debit or credit card, monitor your account and contact your bank promptly if you see any suspicious transactions. If you have been breached, you are also entitled to place a free initial fraud alert with one of the three national credit reporting companies (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax); the reporting company must then notify the other credit reporting companies of the potential fraud.
– If the security breach involves your debit card, the best way to protect yourself is to immediately cancel the card and get a replacement card with a different number.
– If you receive a call from your credit card company that requests you to verify your account information for security reasons, ask to call the credit card company back and then call the telephone number listed on your credit card.
– Shipping e-mail scams are becoming increasingly common. Be wary of e-mails that appear to be from shipping companies that contain an attached file; this is a good indication that you have received a fraudulent e-mail that contains a virus. Also, during the holiday season, theft of packages becomes more common. If you do not have a secure area for delivery companies to leave a package, consider requiring a signature for packages or having packages held for pickup at a nearby shipping center.
– Parents and grandparents should be wary of scam artists who pretend to be a child or friend of a child who has encountered a medical or legal emergency and needs money immediately. Scammers are able to get personal information from social media to make the calls sound legitimate. A good way to avoid this situation is to have a secret word the child would use in an emergency situation.
– Scammers can use handheld scanners and counterfeit credit cards to use gift cards that they do not actually have. Only buy gift cards that are kept behind the store’s customer service counter or activated upon checkout. Before buying the card ask for it to be scanned to show that it is fully valued.
Online safety basics for the holidays
– Shop only on secure websites. One indicator of a secure Web site is the presence of a yellow padlock icon in the browser bar. Another indicator is “https” (as compared to “http” with no “s” at the end) in the Web address.
– Avoid making online purchases in public Wi-Fi hotspots, such as a coffee shop, which can put your credit card numbers and other information at risk.
– Never send sensitive personal or financial information, such as a Social Security or bank account number, through e-mail. Legitimate companies will not ask you to do so because this is not a secure way to transfer sensitive information.
– The Internet has many legitimate websites that offer vacation homes. However, scammers also put listings on vacation Web sites. If the price is too good to be true, it usually is.
– Scammers can use phone apps and games to steal your personal information. Do not download apps unless they are from a known source and have third-party reviews that verify their legitimacy.
– If you are receiving text messages on your cell phone saying you have won a prize or gift card, do not click on the link in the message – it is most likely a scam and may install a virus on your phone.
– Consider implementing a two-step protection process for your email account, which pairs “something you know,” like a password or PIN, with “something you have,” like your cellphone or a physical token. This adds an extra layer of security to prevent access to your personal information. For example, after inputting your password, you will then receive a text on your cellphone, giving you a one-time-use code to log into your email account.
Information on how to set up this two-step protection strategy for each of the following email providers can be found here:
– Outlook: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/two-step-verification-faq ;
– Gmail: http://www.google.com/landing/2step/ ;
– Yahoo: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/account/two-step-verification-extra-account-security-sln5013.html .
Additional consumer resources
The California Attorney General’s consumer tips on identity theft and other privacy issues can be found at https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/info-sheets .
Consumers can file a complaint with the Department of Justice by using the following form: http://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company .
If you have additional questions or comments, call 800-952-5225.
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