The Farm Post eNews

Friday eNews from the Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus
 

JANUARY 1, 2016

THIS THURSDAY

Don't Forget to Add This to Your Calendar

 
Drones need to be registered with FAA
The FAA announced Monday that all small unmanned aircraft (UAS) weighing more than 0.55 pounds and less than 55 pounds must be registered.

Existing UAS owners must register no later than Feb. 19, 2016. Anyone purchasing a drone after Dec. 21, 2015, must register before their first outdoor flight. Operators will receive a unique identification number, valid for three years, that must be marked on the drone.

Operators who fail to register could get hit with some pretty stiff penalties, including civil penalties of up to $27,500 and criminal penalties up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to three years.

Registration is free for the first 30 days beginning Dec. 21 and $5 after that. Visit www.faa.gov/uas/registration for more information.

Source: Ben Potter, AgWeb.com
Plowing a CWA violation
The Army Corps of Engineers has told fourth-generation farmer and California Farm Bureau member John Duarte that he violated the Clean Water Act simply by plowing his land in rural California. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that farmers have no need to worry about their latest water rule because normal farming is exempt from regulation, but what's happening to the Duarte family shows how the EPA and the Corps have gutted the exemption,  Duarte explained in a video produced by AFBF.
 
"The Corps and EPA aren't trying to micromanage farmers," Duarte said in a recent Newsline. "They're trying to stop farmers from farming their fields. They're trying to turn our farm land into habitat preservation. They're simply trying to chase us off of our land."
Contribute knowledge, resources
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture's Food and Agriculture Resource Guide (previously named the AgLit Database) can help anyone find current, reliable resources and activities to use in classrooms where students are learning about agriculture. Farm Bureau members are invited to contribute resources and activities to be included in the database.
 HAPPY NEW YEAR
The Pike and Scott County Farm Bureau buildings are closed today.
TODAY IN HISTORY
 
JANUARY 1, 45 B.C.
Julian Calendar

In 45 B.C., New Year's Day is celebrated on January 1 for the first time in history as the Julian calendar takes effect.

Soon after becoming Roman dictator, Julius Caesar decided that the traditional Roman calendar was in dire need of reform. Introduced around the seventh century B.C., the Roman calendar attempted to follow the lunar cycle but frequently fell out of phase with the seasons and had to be corrected.

In designing his new calendar, Caesar enlisted the aid of Sosigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer, who advised him to do away with the lunar cycle entirely and follow the solar year, as did the Egyptians. The year was calculated to be 365 and 1/4 days, and Caesar added 67 days to 45 B.C., making 46 B.C. begin on January 1, rather than in March. He also decreed that every four years a day be added to February, thus theoretically keeping his calendar from falling out of step. Shortly before his assassination in 44 B.C., he changed the name of the month Quintilis to Julius (July) after himself. Later, the month of Sextilis was renamed Augustus (August) after his successor.

The Julian Calendar remained in effect until changed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII due to inaccuracies in the calendar.

More at History.com

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