*34—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 31,1981
Pilot program to enlist retired farmers to help beginners
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
LANCASTER Young and
beginning farmers in nine Penn
sylvania counties may soon have
the knowledge, wisdom and ex
perience of a corps of retired
farmers to help them get started in
agriculture.
The involvement of retired
farmers to help beginning farmers
is a key element in a pilot program
announced this week by Secretary
of Agriculture John Block for 81
counties throughout the country,
including the nine in Pennsylvania.
The Commonwealth counties, in
which the program will be laun
ched as soon as possible, include
NFO president
to attend Internal’l
Food Conference
CORNING, lowa - National
Farmers Organization President
DeVon Woodland will accompany
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture John
Block to Rome, Italy for the
twenty-first conference of the
United National Food and
Agriculture Organization that
begins Nov. 6.
Woodland of Blackfoot, Idaho, is
one of a group of farm leaders
invited to accompany Block, who
will be a speaker at the convention.
In his invitation. Block indicated
he would be able to spend time with
the NFO president during the trip
discussing “related concerns.”
Block’s topic at the opening
session of the convention will be on
contributions made by USDA
policies and programs to the
solution of world food problems
and to work on the FAO.
Woodland said he was pleased to
accept the invitation on behalf of
National Farmers, and said it is
indicative of the status NFO has
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The pilot program is similar to
the SCORE program of the Small
Business Administration in which
retired executives volunteer their
time to help beginners get started
and established in small
businesses.
The first step in the program will
be the formation of county com
mittees to coordinate the program.
The committee will feature a
three-way membership, including:
-Representatives of various
federal agricultural agencies
achieved and of its non-partisan
nature.
“As we have responded to in
vitations to participate by previous
administrations, it should further
clarify our position that the
National Farmers Organization
is non-partisan,” Woodland said.
Attendance at the conference
should lend insight into the needs
of underdeveloped countries of the
world and strategies to deal with
the issue, he added.
When we consider statistics that
indicate 25 percent of the world
population go to bed hungry every
night and 80 percent of these are
children, it becomes hard to un
derstand. The need for food and
ability to fill those needs appear to
be on a collision course.
The NFO president said he would
give a complete report on the
conference to delegates attending
the national convention of National
Farmers to be held Nov. 30 to Dec.
3 in Indianapolis.
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already existing in the counties.
-Representatives of the private
ag financial community.
-And representatives of retired
farmers who want to help the
younger members of the farm
community.
While no firm timetable has been
set for the just-announced
program, it is hoped the com
mittees will be formed and
operating in time to begin to assist
younger farmers for the coming
crop year.
The central coordinating federal
agency for the county pilot
programs will be the Farmers
Home Administration. Other
agencies to be involved will include
the ASCS, Extension, Soil Con
servation Service, Forest Service,
etc.
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While the pilot program does not
feature any new lending or
economic phases, participating
retired farmers will be paid out-of
pocket expenses. For example,
they would be paid mileage from
their home to the farm of the
younger fanner they are helping
with day-to-day management
decisions, on cropping, fertilizer
needs, livestock expansion or the
like.
Members of private ag lending
institutions will be involved
because an aim of the program will
be the graduation of these younger
farmers from FmHA loans to
private lending within a period of
five to 10 years.
A representative of the FmHA
Office in Washington explained
that one of the few areas in which
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It was explained that the in
volvement of retired farmers to
share their knowledge and ex
pertise was incorporated following
the success of a program con
ducted in North Dakota last year.
In announciong the pilot
program. Secretary Block said:
“An important ingredient in the
project is active participation by
local private organizations, in
stitutions and individuals.
“These people know what it
takes to run a successful
operation."
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