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]