(Washington, D.C., April 3, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will speak at the American Peanut Association Annual Gala in Albany, Georgia TOMORROW, Thursday, April 4th. On Friday, April 5th, Secretary Perdue will deliver the keynote address at the Fort Valley State Ham and Egg Legislative Breakfast and tour the National Detector Dog Training Facility in Newnan, Georgia.
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WHAT: Secretary Perdue will deliver remarks at the American Peanut Association Annual Gala.
WHEN: TOMORROW, Thursday, April 4th beginning at 6:30pm ET.
WHERE: Doublegate Country Club, 3800 Old Dawson Rd, Albany, GA 31721
*NOTE: Media interested in attending this event must RSVP to press@oc.usda.gov by TODAY, Wednesday, April 3rd at 5:00 p.m. ET.
WHAT: Secretary Perdue will deliver the keynote address at the Fort Valley Ham and Egg Legislative Breakfast at 7:30am ET. Following the remarks, Secretary Perdue will hold a media availability.
WHEN: FRIDAY, April 5th beginning at 7:30am ET.
WHERE: Fort Valley State University, 1005 State University Dr, Fort Valley, GA 31030
WHAT: Secretary Perdue will tour the National Detector Dog Training Facility, home of the CBP/APHIS Beagle Brigade. Following the tour, Secretary Perdue will hold a media availability.
WHEN: FRIDAY, April 5th beginning at 11:30am ET.
WHERE: 360 International Park, Newnan, GA 30265
*NOTE: Media interested in attending Friday's events must RSVP to press@oc.usda.gov by TOMORROW, Thursday, April 4th at 3:00 p.m. ET.
BACKGROUND: USDA trains dogs at its National Detector Dog Training Center in Newnan, Georgia. The center is designed and equipped to train detector dog teams (canines and handlers) to safeguard American agriculture. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine program and the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) use detector dog teams, known as the Beagle Brigade, to search for prohibited agricultural products at major U.S. ports of entry (airports and land border crossings), mail and cargo facilities. The teams detect prohibited agricultural products that can carry foreign pests and diseases that threaten U.S. agriculture and forests. When Hardy, USDA trained detector dog, sniffed out a roasted pig head in traveler baggage at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airport in October, it underscored the efforts USDA and its partners are undertaking to keep African Swine Fever (ASF), a swine disease that could devastate the U.S. pork producers, from entering the country.
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CURSED EARTH
Unleash New Single & Video
Vicious New Mixtape
THE DEATHBED SESSIONS
Out May 31 via UNFD
Now Available for Pre-Order
Feat. Guest Appearances From Venom Prison,
Kublai Khan, The Amity Affliction & More
Perth, AUS - April 3, 2019 - From the nightmare depths Cursed Earth return, faceless and fuelled by hate. Their forthcoming mixtape The Deathbed Sessions features guest appearances from Larissa Stupar (Venom Prison), Matt Honeycutt (Kublai Khan), Joel Birch (The Amity Affliction), Booka Nile & Sean Harmanis (Make Them Suffer), Nick Adams (Justice For The Damned), Mark Poida (Aversions Crown) and Jack McDonald (Cast Down), and today the band release the opening track and video "Fear."
After their separation from Jazmine Luders, the band enlisted eight of the most vicious vocalists in heavy music to add their blood and sweat to the project, with the resulting mixtape a unique slice of hell that serves as a reminder of the potency of their rage and noise. Spitting fire on a flurry of intense subjects including psychological warfare during the Vietnam War, the Pinjarra Massacre and the Rottnest concentration camp, lobotomy, self-destruction, narcissism and the Catholic Church, the resulting mixtape is nothing short of a brutal, violent trip.
Formed in Perth in 2013, Cursed Earth established themselves as one of metal's bleakest and most powerful voices through 2017 album Cycles Of Grief and 2016 EP collection Enslaved by The Insignificant. With The Deathbed Sessions now at hand, the future is only darker.
The Deathbed Sessions was produced, mixed and mastered by Chameleon Sound. It's set for release on Friday, May 31 via UNFD, and can be pre-ordered now at unfd.lnk.to/TheDeathbedSessions.
For more information, please visit:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cursedearthwa
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cursedperth
Instagram: www.instagram.com/cursedperth
The Deathbed Sessions Tracklisting:
1. Fear
2. Rock Bottom
3. Deathbed
4. Torch
5. Tyranny Forever
6. Operation
7. Burn
Download a high res press photo here.
Download the album artwork here.
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Email: fpac.bc.press@usda.gov
(WASHINGTON, D.C., April 3, 2019) – Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched two new features on farmers.gov to help customers manage their farm loans and navigate the application process for H2A visas.
“Customer service is our top priority at USDA and these new features will help our customers as they manage their farm loans and navigate the H-2A temporary agricultural visa program,” said Secretary Perdue. “In my travels across the country, I have consistently heard people express a desire for greater use of technology in the way we deliver programs at USDA. As we adopt new technology, we are introducing simple yet innovative approaches to support our farmers, ranchers, producers, and foresters as they support the nation every day. It’s my goal to make USDA the most effective, most efficient, most customer-focused department in the entire federal government, and farmers.gov is a big step in that direction.”
In 2018, Secretary Perdue unveiled farmers.gov, a dynamic, mobile-friendly public website combined with an authenticated portal where customers will be able to apply for programs, process transactions and manage accounts.
Focused on education and smaller owner-operators, this farmers.gov H-2A Phase I release includes an H-2A Visa Program page and interactive checklist tool, with application requirements, fees, forms, and a timeline built around a farmer’s hiring needs.
You may view the video at this following link: youtu.be/E-TXREaZhnI
The H-2A Visa Program – also known as the temporary agricultural workers program – helps American farmers fill employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries. The U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of State, and state workforce agencies each manage parts of the H-2A Visa Program independently, with separate websites and complex business applications.
Over the next several months, USDA will collaborate further with the U.S. Department of Labor on farmers.gov H-2A Phase II – a streamlined H-2A Visa Program application form, regulations, and digital application process that moves producers seamlessly from farmers.gov website to farmers.gov portal to U.S. Department of Labor’s IT systems.
The self-service website now enables agricultural producers to login to view loan information, history and payments.
Customers can access the “My Financial Information” feature by desktop computer, tablet or phone. They can now view:
To access their information, producers will need a USDA eAuth account to login into farmers.gov. After obtaining an eAuth account, producers should visit farmers.gov and sign into the site’s authenticated portal via the “Sign In / Sign Up” link at the top right of the website.
Currently, only producers doing business as individuals can view information. Entities, such as an LLC or Trust, or producers doing business on behalf of another customer cannot access the portal at this time, but access is being planned.
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge are the recommended browsers to access the feature.
USDA is building farmers.gov for farmers, by farmers. Future self-service features available through the farmers.gov portal will help producers find the right loan programs for their business and submit loan documents to their service center.
With feedback from customers and field employees who serve those customers, farmers.gov delivers farmer-focused features through an agile, iterative process to deliver the greatest immediate value to America’s agricultural producers – helping farmers and ranchers do right, and feed everyone.
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