Lancaster Red Rose Degree*
The Lancaster County FFA
recently awarded the Red Rose
Degree to those qualified members
in Lancaster County.
Kristin Chupp, a junior at Gar
den Spot High School and a mem
ber of the Grassland FFA, was
selected Star Farmer of Lancaster
County while Jeff Gehman of the
same organization was named Star
Agribusinessman of Lancaster
County. Each will receive a check
for $75 at the County Awards Ban
quet to be used to defray expenses
on their trip to the National Con
vention in Kansas City next fall.
The Red Rose degree is based
upon an FFA member’s supervised
occupational experience program,
leadership activities, and school
and communmity activities in
addition to FFA. Applicants meet
ing the minimum standards estab
lished by the County Chapter then
have their applications screened,
and only the top 8 percent are eligi
ble to receive the award.
Kristin, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Larry R. Weaver, Spruce
Street, New Holland, had a diversi
fied livestock supervised occupa
tional program. She has raised
steers, market lambs and a horse as
part of her farming program. She
N
has also won numerous awards in
showing both steers and lambs at
the county, state and national
levels.
Other activities include presi
dent of her chapter’s ninth grade
FFA and second student advisor
and second sentinel the past two
years.
Scholastically she is an honor
roll student at Garden Spot and has
been active in leadership positions
in the New Holland 4-H beef club
and the Red Rose 4-H Beef Club.
Runner-up in the Star Farmer
selections were Fred Weaver,RDl
Ephrata, from the Cloister Chapter
and Jenny Hamish, Christiana, of
the Solanco Chapter. Other Star
Candidates and their chapters
were: Harold Barley, Penn Manor,
Andrew Groff, Lampeter-
Strasburg, and John Hess, Man
heim Central.
Jeffrey Gehman, son of Mr. and
Mrs. David A. Gehman, East Earl,
who was selected County Star
Agribusinessman, has been
employed at Stauffer Homestead
Farm, East Earl, since 1986. In
addition, he has been involved in
market Lamb projects for the past
two years..
Jeff has been ninth grade trea-
v t ,
surer and second chaplain and sec
ond reporter during his FFA career
at Garden Spot High School. He is
also active in his church and youth
group and has been an honor roll
student at Garden Spot.
Runner-up in the Star Agribu
sinessman selection was Scott
Hanna, Penn Manor. Other candi
dates for Star Agribusinessman
were: Lynn Grills, Ephrata and
Tim Zimmerman, Manheim
Central.
The Grassland FFA had twelve
Red Rose Degree recipients in tot
al. They are: Michelle Arment,
Kristin Chupp, Jeff Gehman, Phil
Homing, Mike Lindemuth, Brock
Martin, Jeff Martin, Mike O’Neill,
Doug Nolt, Claire Redcay, Andy
White, and Jeff Witwer.
Judges for the star farmer inter
view were Henry Givler, retired
vocational consultant, Pennsylva
nia Department of Education,
James A. Shirk, 1987 star farmer
recipient, and Ed Donough, Ford
New Holland.
Judges for the Star Agribu
sinessman were: John Wagner,
White Oak Mills, William Shirk,
Ford New Holland, Inc., and John
Summy, 1987 Star Agribusiness
man from the Manheim Chapter.
v \
A Country Home Loan
BALTIMORE, MD. In an
effort to diversify their loan portfo
lio, the Farm Credit Banks have
developed a “country home loan”
program which they hope will
attract qualified borrowers
throughout Maryland, Pennsylva
nia, Virginia, West Virginia, and
Delaware.
What makes this program so
attractive to both realtors and
borrowers?
• Quick turn around from appli
cation to commitment.
• Streamlined “customer friend
ly” forms.
• No application fee.
• No origination fee.
• No private mortgage
insurance.
• They are experts in rural prop
erty. The same person who takes
the application (loan officer), does
the appraisal - no appraisal fees.
• No tax escrow.
• No credit check fees.
• Loan decisions are made at the
local office.
• Competitive interest rates;
'K* v .
Lancaster Farming Saturday, March 26, 1988-D9
Farm Credit Develops
both fixed and adjustable rate
mortgages available.
• Local office services borrower
for the life of the loan - no secon
dary markets.
These distinctive characteristics
also apply to loans for remodeling,
repairing, and improving existing
property and for construction
loans. The real appeal on construc
tion loans is the same interest rate
stays on the loan from beginning to
end and only one loan closing is
required.
Baltimore is the second district
in the Farm Credit System and cur
rently lends to 53,000 borrowers in
Puerto Rico and the five states it
services.
NFU Opposes
Decoupling
Proposals
ALBUQUERQUE. NM
Proposals which would “decou
ple” farm program price supports
from production programs met
opposition at the 86th annual con
vention of the National Farmers
Union.
In policy adoption Tuesday
afternoon, delegates to the farm
convention opposed decoupling
programs which would substitute
direct payments for price supports.
The farm organization considers
“decoupling” as a means of putting
“farmers on welfare,” according to
a Farmers Union spokesman.
“Farmers want federal program
payments to help recover their cost
of producing the food. These pay
ments are actually subsidies to
consumers that pass through the
hands of farmers,” he explained.
The farm convention called
upon Congress to develop a “simp
lified and more direct farm pro
gram that returns to the goal of
assuring producers a reasonable
livelihood by providing price and
income protection on a family
farm level of production.”
The NFU delegates said mini
mum price support levels should
be established at least at 110 per
cent of the cost of production. The
convention further suggested that
mandatory market management
programs, using marketing quotas
and certificates, be established
through producer referendums.
Stressing the need for targeting
of farm programs to family-sized
farm operators, the Farmers Union
convention called for tiered mark
eting quolas, set asides, and price
supports, together with overall and
per program limitations. The lim
itations would include a cap on the
total amount of CCC loans that any
farmer could receive in any one
year.
In addition the farm group said
off-farm entities, such as corpora
tions limited partnerships, and
non-resident aliens should not be
eligible for any farm program
benefits.
The Farmers Union convention
argued that the market-oriented
label given to current farm policies
is inaccurate. “These programs
have been supply-oriented in oper
ation, and are not concerned with
fairness or stability of prices and
income for farmers.”
The farm convention questioned
whether the CCC sales violated
Congressional intent, pointing to a
provision of law which prohibits
CCC from selling grain stocks for
less than 115 percent of the nation-