Periodicals Division WSO9 Pottos Library Ponna. State University! Pa» ICBO<Lj Vol. 20 No. 18 Robert Walker (closest to camera) discussed farm problems with Lancaster County farmers on Wednesday in Congressman Edwin Eshel man's Capitol office. Walker is John Groff Named Top Conservationist By Dick Wanner Conservation is a key element in John B. Groffs fanning philosophy. For his cooperation with the Lan caster County Conservation District, Groff was named the county’s Outstanding Conservation Cooperator for 1975. He received his award on Thursday evening during the district’s annual meeting at the Good ‘n Plenty Restaurant, Smoketown. But soil isn’t the only thing Groff conserves on his Mt. Joy R 1 farm. He conserves John B. Groff, Mount Joy Rl, checks the operation of the special pump which powers his manure irrigation system. Groff was named the Outstanding Conservation Cooperator of the Year on Thursday Eshelman’s legislative aide. The farmers talking to Walker are (left to right) Ivan Yost Christiana Rl, James Hess, Quarryville R 2, and Donald Hershey, Manheim R 2. labor and capital, too, and has a manure handling system that preserves the maximum fertilizer value of this byproduct from his 72- cow dairy head. Groff has farmed his 82 acres of rolling fields for the past 15 years. Of the total acreage, some 60 is tillable and the rest is mostly in meadows. About 10 acres are kept in alfalfa and the other 50 acres see double duty evey year. Groff plants com on those 50 acres, chops it for Serving The Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania Areas Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 15, 1975 silage in the fall, and seeds rye in those same fields in October. Soil loss from Groff’s fields is held to a minimum by a double-barreled approach to conservation. Cropland terraces and sod waterways are the practices con servationists recommend for continuous corn programs like Groff’s. And Groff has had 11,500 feet of terraces and 2300 feet of waterways since 1969. Another practice that is gaining favor as a way to minimize soil loss from continuous corn is no-till planting. Groff has been planting no-tm corn since 1971. “I didn’t really have no till in mind when we laid out the terraces,” Groff told Lancaster Farming when we visited him on Monday. [Continued on Page 26; Youth Group Studies Veterinary Careers by: Melissa Piper Most farm youth often have the opportunity to work with animals and practice first hand animal health care. They are also often called upon to help care for sick animals when the need arises. However, youngsters who live either in the city or in the suburbs rarely have the opportunity to work close to animals observing their condition. That is, unless they are members of the Veterinary Explorer Post 509 of Lancaster County. The Explorer Post is one of the many career oriented programs under the af • 1* I* it- _ n Eshelman Sees Hope For Estate Tax Relief By Dick Wanner “There’s sentiment in Congress to provide estate tax relief for farmers,” Congressman Edwin Eshelman told a group of Lancaster County farmers on Wednesday in his Capitol office. “Fm not sure we can get a bill passed this year, but I know we can get a sympathetic hearing. I’m willing to do all I can to support such a bill.” The members of the group were in Washington as part of the Pennsylvania Far mers Association annual Congressional meeting, held Wednesday and Thursday of this week. When they arrived at his office, ttie local farmers discovered that Eshelman was tied up with roll call votes',qnd a committee meeting, so they spent most of the tune discussing their viewpoints with Robert Walker, the Congressman’s legislative aide. Eshelman did break free a few minutes before five and talked about the estate tax and a few other matters. On the trip to Washington were Mr. and Mrs. Donald Hershey, Manheim R 2, Ivan In This Issue FARM CALENDAR , 10 Markets 2-6 Sale Register 71 Farmers Almanac 8 Classified Ads 29 Editorials 10 Homestead Notes 42 Home on the Range 48 Organic Living 52 ’ Junior Cooking Edition 49 Sale Reports 79 Thoughts in Passing 59 Grassland FF A 54 Lane. Conservation Banquet 27 America and offers programs of career study for boys and girls 14-21 years of age. Post 509 is just two years old and was organized by several county veterinarians who wanted to share their knowledge of the field with high school students who may be interested in pur suing careers in animal industries or veterinary medicine. The group which consists of nearly 60 youngsters meets every third week for different programs dealing with veterinary medicine. The advisor for the group is Yost, Christiana Rl, James Hess, Quarryville R 2, Mr. and Mrs. James Groff, Kirk wood Rl, Verna Frey, Marietta Rl and Marian Brenneman, Mt. Joy Rl. Harold Bollinger, a Lebanon County dairy farmer who’s in Eshelman’s Congressional district, was also with the group. Ivan Yost, Lancaster County’s legislative com mittee chairman, acted as spokesman for the group. He pointed out to Walker that many farms can’t be handed down from generation to generation because of inheritance taxes. Presently, Yost said, the first $60,000 of an estate passes to the heirs tax free. With farms today being valued at many times $60,000, inheritance taxes are often so steep that the heirs must sell the land in 4-Hers Begin Year With Expo Display By: Melissa Piper The Watt and Shand wing of the Park City Shopping Mall took on a new ap pearance this week with 4-H Clubs from all over Lan caster County displaying booth exhibits in that area for 4-H Expo Week. Expo week was designed not only to Initiate the beginning of the 1975 4-H Lisa Ernes (left) 1526 Cedar Rd., Lancaster and Lashon Bussell, Manheim Rl, pose with a replica of “Mr. Ed” the famous talking horse. The girls are both members of the Boots and Saddles 4-H Horse Club which took first place in the exhibit display at the 4-H F«nn $3.00 Per Year order to pay the taxes. One of -PFA’s goals, Yost said, is to increase the exemption from $60,000 to $200,000 for all estates, in cluding farms. The other is to have farmland valued as farmland for the purposes of estate settlement. Very often, the value of farmland is inflated by its potential for industrial or residential development, whether or not the landowner has any in tention of developing the property. Land use planning was another PFA policy Yost mentioned. He said PFA favors a land use study, but is opposed to any legislation which would impose federal land use standards on states and municipalities. Walker said that Eshehnan voted against a federal land use (Continued on Pace 40] season but to try and reach other young people in the county who may not be familiar with the 4-H program and the projects it offers. Twenty-three dubs vied for prizes by constructing display booths based on some form of 4-H project work or the 4-H program IGonfinued on Pace 9]
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers