VOL. 27 No. 9tS3 Dairy farmers reject referendum BY SHEILA MILLER HARRISBURG - I thought it would pass even though I knew it would be bv a small margin,” remarked a somewhat disap pointed” Pennsylvania Secretary |pf Agriculture Penrose Hallowell afternoon after his official announcement that dairy producers in the state had voted to reject a proposed milk marketing program. This proposal would have assessed 3/4 of one jh-i cent of tanners’ milk checks hu finan cing Hallowell’s a.uiouncement brought to a c.ose the I‘2-year effort by the Department of Agnculture to provide a promotion vehicle to increase sales and consumption of milk through research, education, and ad vertising. Dairy farmers throughout the state cast their ballots determining the fate of the referendum from May 8 through May 22. During that period, 13,021 eligible producers toted either individually or hrough a milk cooperative’s bloc vote. Bloc votes were cast in favor if the program. Hallowell reported. Governor signs key ag bills HARRISBURG - Another fulj week for agriculture legislation tame to an end, just as the state legislators were wrapping up their session for tht veai And with the stroke of Ins pen, < n\ernor Dick Thornburgh signet’ nto law the Right to Faun mu. Milk Iden tification bills The signing d House Bill 1823, the Right <o 1 aim bill introduced b> Lancaslei s Noah Wenger, and Senate Bill 1 '49 sponsored by Senators f-iaiiK U’Conneil (R -3th), Edward Helfnck iR-27th) Pul Patrick Stapleton (D-41st), took place in the Capitol Thursday morning, just two weeks after the sills’ final passage from the House. When signing the Right to Farm bill, the governor noted the im- joining governor l hornburgh in the long-awaited signing of the 'Right to Farm bill. HB 1823, are Noah Wenger, Representative from Lancaster County and prime sponsor of bill- Dennis Grumbme, hog farmer from Lebanon County, fid John Barley, dairy farmer from Lancaster County. The signed Thursday at the Capitol, is designed to protect • ur-nr : -pomst nusiance ordinances and law suits Four Sections When the final count was tallied by a teller committee composed of Glenn Ellenberger, Allentown, James Fink, Harrisburg, and Robert Stover, York, the number of farmers opposing the marketing program was 7,678, or 59 percent Those voting in favor of the program numbered 5,343 or 41 percent, Hallowell announced By volume of milk production, the "no” vote totaled 335,534,663 pounds, or 54 percent: and the "yes” vote represented 287,037,687 pounds, or 46 percent. Invalid or spoiled ballots ac counted for 787 of the votes received but not used in deter mining the referendum’s outcome After reciting the statistics of the vote tabulation, Hallowell ex pressed his appreciation to everyone who worked in disseminating the (milk referendum) information and trying to explain how this may or may not fit into the needs of the dairy farmers in improving their economic conditions.” "The extremely high number of ballots, representing 83 percent of the total eligible to vote, shows that (Turn to Page A 18) portance of this type of legislation in keeping Pennsylvania farmers in business He stated that this legislation will help to ease the pressures felt by the agricultural community in the face of urban sprawl by protecting them from nuisance actions. This law applies to farms that are operating within existing state and federal laws. It stipulates, however, that only those farms that have been operating satisfactorily for at least one year are protected These farms must not be less than ten acres in size, or they must have an anticipated yearly gross income of at least $5,000. “I’m quite pleased that the law has finally been signed,” stated Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 12,1982 Pa. Secretary of Agriculture Penrose Hallowed answered questions by television reporters on Wednesday afternoon following his announcement that farmers in the state Rep Wenger ‘I think it’s an important step in our continuing effort to preserve the family farm ” Wenger added that he has been working on the concept of the Right to Farm legislation for almost 24 years. He recalled that he in troduced the legislation during the 1979-80 session after hearing more and more reports that lawsuits were being brought against far mers by housing development residents in the country Un (Turn to Page A2B) Market loan plan to begin HARRISBURG - Establish ment of a $1 million State Department of Agriculture program to help finance low interest loans for improvement and construction of farmers’ markets for the benefit of Penn sylvania’s family farmers was announced Friday by Gov Dick Thornburgh The Pennsylvania Farm Market Loan Program is designed to make low-interest loans available to farmers who wish to finance land, equipment and construction costs to establishment permanent direct marketing facilities ‘lmprovement of marketing to support rural economic development and unprove the quality of life for family farmers has been a priority of this ad ministration," Thornburgh said The creation of the Farm Market Loan Program is the end result of coopeiative efforts bet ween the Pennsylvania Depart ment of \anculture and 'arm o a' set organizations thioucnout voted down a proposed milk marketing program. Here he talks with WGAL-TV’s Gene Shenk National dairy leaders present surplus ideas to ag subcommittee WASHINGTON, D.C - The U S House Agriculture Subcommittee on livestock, dairy and poultry hosted an all-day hearing on Wednesday to sift through a number of ideas and proposals designed to remedy the dairy surplus There was an opportunity for all bills to be discussed,' said Barry Piatt, aide to Congressman Tom Harkin (D—la I who is the state to make the best use of availablestate resources State Secretar> of Agriculture Penrose Hallow ell pointed out that the state is a national leader in the direct marketing of farm products Direct marketing insures a reliable market for farm products and keeps nearly $l5O million in local economies each year. Hallowed said Unce the program is in full operation tanners interested in entering or expanding direct marketing operations could be eligible tor 10-year loans at interest rates ot one-half of the federal discount rate Individual farmers could receive loans up to $25,000 and groups ot farmers are eligible for $50,000 loans The interest rate will be v anable and be set on Januarv 1 of each vear Program loans made during 1982 will be ottered at six nercent in terest. which is one-naif ot the ‘ederai disc ount rate set on June 1 57.50 per year chairman of the subcommittee Piatt noted the hearing included testimonies from congressional sponsors of dairy support legislation, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng, dairy cooperative leaders, consumer groups and a two-unit panel from the National Milk Producers Federation All of the various proposals will (Turn to Page A3B) The slate will finance up to 50 percent of the total loans in con junction with approved funding institutions, such as local banics Loan requests will be considered bv a fiv e-member loan committee appointed b\ the secretarv or agriculture after approval has been obtained bv fanners Torn their lending institutions It is expected that the mein tiers of the loan committee will be named shortlv and the loan ap plications processing can begin Pennsylvania is the leading state in the nation in the number of roadside fanners market facilities and is also tops in the direct marketing of milk The new loan program is made possible bv rural rehabilitation assets from the U b Farmers Home tdminisiralion orogram ot earlier vears The orogram will continue as a revolving tund similar to the piogram or the I > enns_>li ll'd 1 di-si-i, I'tve'n) me" » v u ,u t
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers