Alt— Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 1,1950
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Water, water, everywhere!
As the winter months
come to an end, many of us
are looking toward the
gentle spring showers that
are always promised in
April.
After a dry winter like
we’ve experienced this past
winter, it is almost hard to
imagine having too much
water. The soil is really dry,
right now, and the streams
are probably at their lowest
point in years.
But, soon, the spring rams
will come to soak into the
warming soil. These ram
showers are not always the
gently falling rains
described in poetry; but all
too often, they are vicious
downpours that scour the
land and muddy-up the
streams.
So, what can you do now to
prepare for these torrential
rams? Well, there’s
probably not a whole heck of
a lot you can do, but if
you fanned with controlling
the excess water in mind,
you should survive the
Pennsylvania monsoons
with very little damage.
Many farmers are farm
ing with diversions and
waterways, cropland
terraces with tile outlets,
and some have even gone so
far as to construct holding
ponds to store some of the
runoff water.
With as little moisture as
has fallen from the skies this
winter, by July and August,
the water that is kept in the
fields now may make a big
difference in the next har
vest.
But what do you do if
you’re fanning with storm
water management in mind,
and a housing development
moves m next door. Sud
denly where there were hay
fields and contour stnps,
there are streets and homes.
The spring rams have a hard
time soaking into roof tops
and asphalt.
Although you might feel a
bit helpless in stopping the
uncontrolled-water pouring
off adjacent land, there is
something that you can do
Brief answers
to short questions
Sheila's
Shorts
By Sheila Miller
besides looking for a giant
cork.
On October 4,1978, Milton
Shapp signed into law Act
167, the Storm Water
Management Act. This law
was passed to stop what they
termed, “accelerated
runoff”.
This runoff is the result of
development and creates a
situation where there is too
much water for the streams
and current storm sewer
facilities to handle.
What happens then is the
storm water gets out of
control and takes off on a
damaging spree, eroding
away soil which clogs the
stream channels. In its worst
stage, the uncontrolled
water becomes a raging
flood, destroying homes and
property and sometimes
claiming lives.
The October, 1978 law calls
for:
Planning and
management of storm water
runoff in every watershed,
consistent with sound water
and land use practices.
—Developing a com
prehensive program ot
storm water management to
preserve and restore the
flood carrying capacity of
Commonwealth streams, to
preserve the natural storm
water runoff courses, and to
protect the ground water and
recharge areas.
—Encouraging the local
administration and
management of storm
water.
But, the act goes one step
further. In section 13 it
states:
“Any landowner and any
person engaged in the
alteration or development of
land which may affect storm
water runoff characteristics
shall implement such
measures consistent with the
provisions of the applicable
watershed storm water plan
as are reasonably necessary
to prevent injury to health,
safety or other property
Such measures shall include
such actions as are
required:
—to assure that the
Economist optimistic about milk
LEBANON - William
Johnston, Extension
agricultural economist from
Penn State told Lebanon
County farmers there is
conflict in the milk market.
Ho mat nnonlrina In a irmun
ot nearly 100 farmers
during a meeting held last
Thursday at the Treadway
Inn, Lebanon.
The meeting was spon
sored by the Lebanon Valley
National Bank, and featured
presentations by Johnston,
on milk marketing; Steve
Hoffman, on tax planning;
and Darryl Ford, on estate
planning.
Johnston pointed out there
are conflicts in the milk
marketing industry between
farmers with high and low
butterfat production,
resulting in differential
payments. He also cited the
current head-to-head
discussions between the co
ops and mdependent milk
producers.
The Extension economist
chided the dairymen for
turning their marketing
responsibilities over to
someone else, namely the co
ops and the state and federal
milk marketing boards.
“The market requires
your constant attention to
keep it humming,” he said.
“Your mcome and future are
tied to marketing. There is
maximum rate of storm
water runoff is no greater
after development than prior
to development activities; or
—to manage the quantity,
velocity and direction of
resulting storm water runoff
m a manner which otherwise
adequately protects health
and property from possible
injury.
What this part of the law
does is gives some teeth to
enforcing the control of
storm water runoff.
If you are having a
problem with a neighbor’s
storm water being dumped
onto your farm, you can call
Eugene Counsil, director of
the Division of Storm Water
Management in the
Departmertt of En
vironmental Resources and
report the problem. His
telephone number is 717/787-
6827; or you can write to him
at Post Office Box 2357,
Harrisburg, PA. 17120.
If the problem has been
created since the act was
passed, you may have some
legal help in correcting the
nuisance runoff
no book available to leam
from completely—you have
to pick it up by osmosis and
keep abreast with the
changes.”
Johnston noted milk
markets as being one of the
highly administered market
places, along with liquor,
banks, and utilities.
Th° four “big” issues
Johston discussed included
price support, federal or
ders, co-ops, and imports
and substitutes.
“Many dairymen in the
East are unaware of how the
price support programs
affect their paychecks,” he
stated.
The price support
program was started in 1949
with 75-90 percent parity,
and in 1977 was changed to 80
percent of parity. Johnston
pointed out milk is the only
commodity still marketed
under parity.
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Federal orders governing
the milk market have
decreased from the original
80 to the present day 47, and
there is a question of
whether there should be just
one order m the North East,
according to Johnston.
He mentioned the tran
sportation differentials, and
CNI proposals as present
conflicts in this area.
“The CNI proposals have
threatened the industry
somewhat,” Johnston noted,
“ and the major
associations, such as the
Milk Industry Foundation,
the Dairy Processors
Association, and the Milk
Marketing Foundation, said
they feel there are changes
needed, but CNI was not the
approach to take.”
Under the discussion on
co-ops, Johnston said he felt
they were the major thrust
of influence m changing
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Eric Hemsohn
Cindy Gordeuk
James Charles
Damn Yoder
Paul Herr
Paul Martin
Lynn Gardner
Jerry Baboms
Robert Kayhart
Robert Greider
Tom Engle
Ira Boyer
Maurice Stump
Cindy Hetzell
Jack L Klmg
Allan Pickett
state and federal
regulations. Although he
said their present state i s
fragmented.
Johnston said there is a
way for people in the
marketing business to get
around the regulations on
importing and making milk
substitutes. He cited the
casein manufacturers for an
example.
But, despite the on-going
conflicts within the milk
marketing industry,
Johnston said he is op
tmustic about the future of
the Eastern milk producers
“You have the skill,
motivation and technology to
produce,” he said* “But you
have to keep studymg—more
people need to understand
the impact of marketing on
their future.” SM
I T
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