Serving The Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania Areas
Bergland claims concern over farm size
KANSAS CITY, Mo., -
Concerned over the trend
toward fewer but larger
farms, Secretary of
Agriculture Bob Bergland
has called for a national
dialogue to discuss the
future' of American
agriculture and the family
farm.
In remarks prepared for
delivery before the National
Farmers Union’s annual
Deed restriction plan goes to Harrisburg
LANCASTER - Trying to
get a unique farmland
preservation plan into effect
in Lancaster County, a well
known fanner and con
servationist is taking his
deed restriction idea to
Harrisburg on Tuesday.
Amos Funk, a vegetable
fanner from Millersville,
says enbabling legislation is
needed before further action
can be on the deed
restriction idea.
Lebanon Extension cited for quality
By DIETER KRIEG
SCHAEFFERSTOWN
.The Lebanon. County
Cooperative Extension
Service last week looked
back to an innovative year of
progress while' focusing
attention to the needs of the
future. The occasion was
their 62nd annual meeting
and banquet. It was marked
by a variety of presen
tations, including areportby -
Marion Deppen from Ex
Eastern looks forward to brighter days
By DIETER KRIEG
BIRD-IN-HAND -
Members of Eastern Milk
Producers Cooperative were
given optimistic reports by
officers and delegates when
they met here at the Bird-in-
Hand Restaurant on Monday
evening.
Jim Spear, a former
president of the
Syracuse,N.Y. - based dairy
co-op, emphasized earty in
his remarks that Eastern is
York legislator addresses farm problems
Bill Goodting
VoL.24No.fft.
convention here, Bergland
said he does not want to see
and America “where a hand
ful of giant operators own,
manage and control the
entire food production
system.”
“Yet that is where we are
headed,” he siad, “if we
don’t act now.”
He said control of
production is becoming
more and more concentrated
Funk, who has a long
history of involvement in
land use planning, is one of
several men to have
developed the concept. The
deed restriction is a
voluntary plan whereby a
farmer can state that he
prefers to keep his land in
farming. The county will be
the enforcing body.
Even though much, of the
framework has already been
tension Service headquar
ters at Penn State Univer
sity.
Among the more in
novative achievements of
1978 were a fire school and
the introduction of
minicomputers to farm
management.
While several staff
members of the Lebanon
County Extension Service
gave reviews'of last year’s
activities, Deppen was
Franklin Wagner
By JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
SHREWSBURY
Legislation, proposed and
current, - was the key topic
under study as the York
County Farmers Association
held their Spring meeting
last Friday evening at the
Shrewsbury Fire Hall.
Over 200 members and
guests turned out to hear
guest speaker Congressman
2L
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 24,1979
on fewer and fewer farms,
noting that today 200,000 of
the nation’s 2.7 million farms
control nearly two-thirds of
all farm output.
Bergland said the ad
ministration’s present food
and farm policies and
programs which serve a
production system that is the
envy of the world are
“remarkedly well geared to
the realities of this era.”
set up, nothing official can
take place until an okay is
received from Harrisburg.
Funk says he’d like to see the
plan go into effect, noting
that the present county
commissioners support the
deed restriction plan. After
the elections, that may not
be the case, with incoming
public officiala, he fears. '
Marion Deppen
and always has been a
cooperative that is dedicated
to taking care of the fanner.
He noted that when in
dependent handlers went out
of business, Eastern stepped
in to take care of non
members, as well as
members. “Some other
cooperatives haven’t even
taken care of their own
members,” the former
executive claimed. He now
William doodling, who spent
a good-sized portion of his
talk on the energy situation.
He warned that the
“American way of life” is
becoming difficult to
maintain and that the next
five years might be
especially devastating to
energy-intensive farmers.
“The energy crisis is here
and it is real,” emphasized
the congressman. “Even if
He said the U.S. farm
production system has not
only fed America and the
rest of the world at
reasonable costs, but has
been a stabilizing influence
in global politics and the
world economy, and
generally has yielded a fair
return to farmers.
But Bergland questioned if
(Turn to Page 28)
Anios Funk
perhaps the one who gave
the beirt-fitting summary. He
said: “You should talk about
the Cooperative Extension
Service to everyone. The
watchword here in Lebanon
County is quality.”
“The Extension Service is
the most effective and
largest informal education
program in the entire
world,” the Penn State
employee stated. - - - -
The story of Extension
works closely with mem
bership.
Franklin Wagner, District
8 director, also had com
plimentary messages,
although four major con
cerns were expressed early
in his comments.
His concerns include the
new Farm Bill which will be
written in October. He is
urging fanners to get in
touch with congressmen to
gas would go to ten dollars a
gallon, there won’t suddenly
be an abundance of it. We
will be dependent on and at
the mercy of-our foreign
suppliers just as long as we
don’t produce our own or
find alternate energy
sources.”
doodling, who serves on
international committees
and subcommittees, admits
that he is embarrassed
Robert Bergland
Funk and other members
of the Lancaster County
Farmland Preservation
Task Force are concerned
about stemming the tide of
developments taking place
in the Garden Spot. Noting
that he is not against growth,
but favors guided growth,
Funk would like to see some
278,000 Lancaster County
acres placed in agricultural
preserve districts..
isn’t all sunshine, however,
Deppen revealed. “The
appropriation of public
monies per student is less at
Penn State than at any other
institution receiving such
funds,” said Deppen. Sixty
seven positions within the
Extension Service have been
coUapsed due to lack of
funding. Another 15 positions
remain open • possibly to be
(Turn to Page 28)
let them know “what you
want in the bin.”
“It behooves us to have
input into the Farm BUI,”
said Wagner, noting that
Eastern is already engaged
in submitting its
suggestions. For example,
the 6000-member dairy
cooperative has gone on
record for favoring that
(Turn to Page 34)
sometimes when he attends
world meetings and has to
face statistics that show the
United States uses up to 900
per cent more energy by
‘ratio comparison than the
“country sitting next to me.”
“And, it’s not just that 40
to 45 per cent of foreign oil
supplies that we depend on,
either,” he added, stressing
(Turn to Page 25)
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