VOL. 28 No. 22
NE dairy
stresses
finances
HARTFORD, CT The general
mood of dairy fanners attending
the annual meeting of the Nor
theastern Dairy Conference was
rather dreary, according to Fred
C. Webster, conference secretary.
Webster said, the farmers and
various dairy representatives
perceive the challenge their in
dustry faces, but are not op
tomistic because they can’t see the
light at the end of the tunnel yet.
No resolution is ins&ht.
Over 175 persons from the dairy
industry, mostly farmers, were in
attendance for the two day con
ference held here Tuesday and
Wednesday at the at the Parkview
Hilton. Ibeconference focused on
marketing and operating alter
natives, and the possible effects of
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Township hits
‘snowstorms’
LANCASTER - Again,
Manheim Township in Lancaster
County, is asking the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture and
Penn Dot to get together and
prevent those “summer
snowstorms” along major high
ways.
As it did last year, the township
commissioners “strongly urge and
vigorously request” the Secretary
of Agriculture and his Noxious
Weed Control Commission to get
nd of the Canada Thistle in the
nghts-of-way of Rts. 30, 222 and
283.
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Roundup of current ag legislation from Harrisburg
Ag development
remains in
study group
HARRISBURG - The Ag
Development Authority Bill is still
being held in special study com
mittee to farther define ' the
financial aspects of the bonds
required to fund the bill.
This study committee of the
House Ag and Rural Affairs
Committee is scheduled to meet
again on Thursday to review die
financial aspects of the bill.
Present at the Thursday session
are expected to be bonding experts
who have worked on arrangements
for similar authorities in a number
of other states.
it is expected that the bill may
come, out of committee about mid-
April.
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Five Sections
Area farmland has been graced with recent above-average precipitation, which has
helped replenish subsoil moisture. But too often, heavy rainfalls can turn a blessing into
a burden as valuable top soil is carried off fields. Photo shows a small waterfall gushing
off a Bucks County field. Now, as PIK idles a good bit of land, it provides an ideal time to
install someconservation measures.
Use PIK to good advantage
Canada thistle along state road in Lancaster County.
HARRISBURG' A proposed
cruelty to animals bill has reared
its head again in the State Senate.
Senate Bill 367, which was in
troduced by Sen. Edward Early, D
AUegheny County, on Feb. 23 has
been referred to the Judiciary
Committee.
The bill, which resembles
proposed legislation which died in
committee last year, provides for
penalties for cruelty to animals.
The bill would make it a sum
mary offense - misdemeanor of
the third degree - to engage in
various activities concerning fowl
and other livestock.
Activities covered under the
proposed bfll include:
—Selling, bartering or giving
away baby chickens, ducklings or
Lancaster Foreleg, Saturday, April 2,1983
Take your PIK-erosion or conservation
Proposed cruelty to animals bill
rears its*head in the Senate again
other fowl, under one month of age,
or rabbits under two months of
age, as pets, toys, premiums, or
novelties or to color, dye, stain or
otherwise change their color or to
SENATE BILL
No. 367 Se £|°“ of
AN ACT
Amending Title 18 (Crimes and
Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, further
providing for penalities forcruelty
to animals.
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
BY SYLVIA COOPER
LANCASTER Wondering
what to do with those idle acres
created by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Payment-in-Kind
(PIK) program?
Since the idle acres will most
likely come from the farmers’
poorest land, there is concern
about the impact the program will
have on conservation.
Elwood Hatley, Penn State
agronomist, said that farmers
should take a positive approach to
the program by making im
provements in the land while it is
out of production.
He advised planting a legume
like red or sweet clover to improve
the nitrogen levels in the soil and at
the same time prevent erosion. A
legume like clover would add as
much as 100-200 pounds of nitrogen
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bring them into the state. The bill
would exempt the activities of
persons engaged in the business of
selling for purposes of commercial
breeding and raising IN PROPER
FACILITIES. (Capital letters are
Lancaster Fanning’s emphasis.)
-The wanton and cruel ill
treatment, overloading, beating or
otherwise abusing of any animal
and the depriving of necessary
sustenance, drink, shelter or
veterinary care.
-The Gghting or baiting of any
bull, bear, dog, code or other
creature or being associated with
any place in which such things take
place.
-Hie selling or using of a
disabled horse.
-The transportation of any
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$7.50 per year
What is
price of
ag safety?
UNIVERSITY PARK - What is
the going price tag on ag safety
these days?
Pennsylvania and other states
may have to answer that question
this year if federal budgetary
intentions go through as planned
And, it’s altogether possible that
in some states ag safety programs,
which in Pennsylvania has
featured such things as farm
rescue training for firemen and
ambulance - personnel, may be
appreciably affected.
The concern centers around the
Federal Government’s intentions
to drop the specific budget item
which has been earmarked for ag
safety since the mid-Vo’s. The
budget item has totaled just over
$1 million nationally, which
amounts to about $20,000 for each
state.
Even with this flat, but certain
budget item for ag safety, the
programs have been eroded over
the years by inflation and higher
costs.
But now, the Federal Govern
ment wants to lump ag safety into
the overall formula funding for
each state. This is ag funding
which is based on a formula that
includes such things as number of
farms, total rural population, etc.
The only trouble is that the
government wants to keep formula
funding at last year’s levels. And,
as Dean Samuel Smith of Penn
State’s Ag School explains, that
really amounts to a seven percent
cut in funds due to inflation and
other rising costs.
So, with ag safety included in
formula funding, it would mean
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Senate passes
Clean/Green
2-acre splitoff
HARRISBURG - The State
Senate last week unanimously
passed the amendment to the
Clean and Green Act 319 which
provides for a one-time split-off of
two acres of land for farm retail
markets.
The bill has now gone to the
House and will bediscussed by the
House Committee on Agriculture
and Rural Affairs at a meeting on
Tuesday.
The amendment to Act 319
provides for excluding up to two
acres of land from the provision of
Act '319 for the purpose of com
mercial sales of agriculturally
related products, without
triggering a tax rollbaqkon the
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