___ !■ ■■ ' VOL 30 No. 25 Rabies virus maintains choke-hold here NUMBER OF RABIES CASES BY COUNTY, 1984 Planting off to a great start , but a little more rain would help BY JAMES H. EVERHART LANCASTER Unseasonably warm, almost balmy tem peratures have helped the Nor theast’s farmers off to a fast start in planting, ag officials say. However, a lack of moisture has caused some concern and a little discomfort, though the problem has not reached the serious stage by any means, they add. In Pennsylvania, temperatures in most areas were nine to 15 degrees above normal last week, according to the state Crop Reporting Service. At the same time, rainfall was averaging just about one-inch less than normal for the month, the agency said. Herd management is an important consideration at the Rice Crest Farm in Chambersburg. For more on this in teresting operation, turn to page A3O. Four Sections The warmer temperatures caused greater evaporation of moisture from the soil, thus compounding the moisture problem, experts said. Thus far, however, officials report few if any problems have been caused by the dry spell For the most part, indicated Wally Evans, director of the state Crop Reporting Service, the lack of rainfaljt simply means plants aren’t growing as fast as they would with the present tem peratures and an ample amount of water. “Because of the timing, I don’t think we have too many crops that are in a crucial or maturing stage,” Evans said. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 27,1985< Plants at greatest risk are the shallow-rooted small grains, said John 0. Yocum, senior research associate in agronomy and superintendent at Penn State's Southeast Field Research Lab in Landisville, Lancaster County. Growers of small fruit products may also be experiencing dif ficulty, as early-season fruit like strawberries reach maturity. Both corn and alfalfa crops should be relatively unaffected by the dry spell, he said. However, farmers have told him they’ve noticed varying rates of crop maturity between different fields, or even between parts of the same (Turn to Page A 35) INSIDE this issue SCS Golden Anniversary While the federal Soil Con servation Service celebrates 50 years of soil stewardship, proposed budget cuts are threatening to erode the organization itself Read all about it on pages A -20,21 BY JACK HUBLEY HARRISBURG - Penn sylvanians should prepare for another siege of rabies this summer as wildlife activity in creases with the warmer weather. So said a panel of experts during a discussion of the deadly virus at the Penn Harris Motor Inn in Harrisburg this week. Tuesday’s panel discussion was part of a day-long “Pennsylvania State Grange Week” celebration that included a dozen workshops and an evening banquet. And one of the workshops that generated plenty of interest among Grange members dealt with the continuing threat of rabies. Panelists present to field questions were Dr John Enck, a large Ag buys cut $8 billion in budget compromise BY JAMES H. EVERHART WASHINGTON - The budget compromise worked out between Senate Republicans and the White House would include $8 billion worth of cuts for agricultural commodity programs over the next three years, Senate sources say. The plan would reduce federal deficits by nearly $3OO billion through 1988. The federal deficit, which this year is expected to total $213 billion, would shrink to $175 billion in fiscal 1986, $145 billion in 1987, and $99 billion in 1988, ac cording to the Senate Republican conference. And while current commodity programs would result in a $3B billion outlay over the three years, the new budget proposal would allow for only $3O billion in ex penditures through FYI9BB. The clamor for policy reform follows a four-year period in which spending on commodity programs jumped 300 percent to $53 billioh, including a $l7 billion outlay in FY 1983. Michael King, a 26-year-old paraplegic from Cochranville, gets ready to undertake the "challenge of a lifetime” - a 5.400-mile wheelchair trip from Fairbanks, Alaska to- Washington, D.C. For more on Mike and his courageous journey, see page 82. $7.50 per year animal veterinarian from Carlisle, state director of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement Donald Moul and Grange agricultural com mittee chairman Jim Aurand. An acute disease of the central nervous system, rabies is almost always fatal to both animals and humans once symptoms appear, stated Dr. Enck. From only 14 reported cases in 1980, rabies has swollen to epidemic proportions, with 384 cases confirmed last year. In Pennsylvania the disease is currently centered in the south central area, with Franklin County logging 107 cases last year. And the disease is off to a running start again this year, with Adams and (Turn to Page A4O) The Senate compromise takes some of the bite out of the Reagan Administration’s proposal, which would have carved almost $l6 billion out of the ag budget over the next three years. And though no specific measures to accomplish the budget reduction have been discussed, the Senate Ag Committee already has three types of policy changes in mind that would accomplish most of the reduction, according to the committee’s press secretary, Ron Phillips. I’nese include • Reducing the payment limit from $50,000 to $25,000 (affecting only about two percent of all farmers and almost no one in Pennsylvania, said Phillips I • Eliminating paid land diver sion programs. • Tying income and support levels to market prices All three, said Phillips, are "good policy ” In advancing the compromise (1 urn to Page A4O)
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