VOL. 34 No. 6
Farmers Must Write Their Own Environmental Agenda
BY PAT PURCELL
YORK The public’s growing environmental concern has become the number one
priority for fanners. It’s impact is felt locally as well as nationally. The impact of this
growing concern was the common thread running through the day-long Mid-Atlantic
Conservation Tillage Conference held in York this week.
The Conservation Tillage Conference, formerly the No-Till Conference, traditionally
has presented to farmers, educators and agri-business people the latest in farming tech
niques. But attendance appears to grow each year because beyond learning what’s new in
farming, they are learning how to make it work on their farm.
Who’s On First?
‘Today’s agriculture might be described as a Chinese baseball game.” said Len
Richardson, Editor of Agrichemical Age. “In this mythical sport, both the ball and the
Seedsmen’s Association Suggests Grower’s Fee
BY LISA RISSER
LANCASTER The Pennsylva
nia seed certification program was
the big topic of discussion at the
annual Pennsylvania Seedsmen’s
Association (PSA) meeting on
Friday.
Hugh Markham, chairman of
the organization’s seed promotion
committee and manager of the
Emmaus Seedway store, appealed
to members for their ideas on bee%.
tag up the state’s program and
recommended assessing growers
to help fund the program.
“I suggest we study the provi
sions of the Agricultural Commod
ities Act of 1968, which provides
that we can set up a marketing
organization, to basically assess
the people who are in seed produc
tion to help run the certification
program,” said Markham.
Because total acreage of certi
fied seed grown in Pennsylvania
has dropped to half of what was
grown in 1982, PDA has siphoned
funds off from the seed certifica
tion program to other areas such as
pesticide programs. Now, should
the demand for Pennsylvania seeds
rise, slate’s certification ageijftv
wouldn’t be able to handle
volume.
Concerned Pennsylvania
growers have visited with Secret
ary of Agriculture, Boyd Wolff,
earlier this year to express their
Letter To Editor Breaks News
Of Lottery Drawing At Farm Show
BY EVERETT NEWSWANGER, Managing Editor
EPHRATA From the writer of a signed letter to the editor but
with the request not to identify the source, Lancaster Forming learned
this week that the Pennsylvania lottery drawing for Monday, January
9, will take place from the large arena at the Farm Show. The event, to
be staged during the Night program at 7 p.m. for prime
time television, will include the Lottery’s Daily Number and Big 4
thawing. Audience members also will witness three post drawings
held immediately after the live telecast.
An official in Harrisburg later confirmed the report
The letter writer took strong exception to the scheduled event saying
that “the lottery has no place in the family T oriented Farm Show. I
believe it would be safe to say that the average farm family would be
opposed to the lottery; most would consider it gambling and against
the principles that most hard-working farmers believe in. It’s been a
“trill over the years to go to the Farm Show and see wholesome farm
families making up the backbone of this exhibition. Did anyone con
sult them and ask them if they would approve of the lottery being a part
Of their show?” the letter writer asked.
Four Sections
Mid-Atlantic Conservation Tillage Conference
worries. “While they (PDA offi
cials) were sympathetic, it seems
that PDA can’t do anything direct
ly,” remarked Markham.
As PSA’s seed promotion com
mittee sees it, there are three
options to beefing up the state’s
program; creation of a new entity
to handle certification; assignment
by PDA of another agency or agen
cies to handle certification; or
jMfciOftjtynple financial resources
tonrajee the program viable.
to Markham, earlier
this fall when demand for wheat
and barley seeds was high, Virgi-
Dairy Industry At
Crossroads, Zuber Says
BATAVIA, N.Y. “The dairy
industry in the Northeast is at a
crossroads,” Regional Coopera
tive Marketing Agency (RCMA)
President Bill Zuber told dairy far
mers and delegates at the RCMA
Annual meeting last week in
Liverpool, N.Y. “It’s time to
choose the path that will lead to a
strong, .tvi' ble dairy industry,”
Zuber said. According to Zuber,
RCMA u one of the best alterna
tives fofdairy farmers right now
because it can return monthly cash
premiums to the farmer from the
(Turn to Pago A 10)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 17,1988
nia’s seed certification agencies
couldn’t process the seeds fast
enough to allow farmers to get
them to market
“This is an industry-wide prob
lem,” Markham said. “Farmers
may have the wherewithal to grow
seed, but they can’t get it certified
to get it to the market.”
In other business, Dennis Shoop
of Agway, former vice president
for the association, was elected as
president. Outgoing president,
Frank Welch of Beachley Hardy
Seed, was presented with the Past
President’s award.
marketplace.
Zuber said he is especially
proud of the organization’s first
year because “we paid out $34
Million since last September
while keeping our operating
expenses way down - only 114 0
per hundred pounds of member
milk. That means the average
RCMA member who shipped milk
through September 1988 received
$1,545 at a cost to the consumers
of only 414 0 per gallon.”
RCMA Executive Director Ed
Anna reviewed the highlights of
RCMA’s first year, telling direc
tors and delegates that RCMA has
made tremendous progress, espe
cially in the quantity and quality
of membership and in the rapport
with milk handlers.
Legislators, governors, and
(Turn to Page A 29)
First Manure-Management Ordinance
Approved In Lancaster County
BY BECKY COLONS
Special to Lancaster Farming
LITITZ (Lancaster) History
was made this week when the War
wick Township supervisors
approved the county’s first
manure-management ordinance.
The ordinance, first proposed in
June, was revised twice before
being accepted.
“Lancaster County has the
bases are in motion. As soon as the ball is hit, the defending players can pick up the base
bags and move them anywhere in fair territory. The offensive players never know in
advance where they must run to be safe.”
Richardson opened the conference with “Resources At Risk-How Water Quality
Issues Are Shaping Your Future”. Changes in government programs, global political
changes and their effects on the world market place and the current emphasis on resource
management makes it nearly impossible for farmers to cover all the bases, much less
come in safe at home.
Farmers can expect the 1990 farm bill to be “the battleground for groundwater regula
tion and control,’’according to Richardson. He challenged farmers to become the direc
tors of change instead of the victims.
Richard Stoner was named Pennsylvania Conservation
Farmer of the Year for 1988 for completing 100 percent of
his conservation plan. He also received the Goodyear Con
servation Award of Merit. Pictured with Stoner are his wife,
Lana, and three year old son, Andy. Andy holds Orson, a
favorite stuffed toy.
Stoner Named Pennsylvania
Conservation Farmer Of The Year
BY
BONNIE BRECHBILL
Franklin Co. Correspondent
GREENCASTLE A low
lying area that was once a swamp
is now a pond that attracts wild
geese, ducks and an occasional
blue heron. It is home to bluegills
and large-mouth bass.
Low areas between hills, for
merly overgrown with briars, are
now wide, green strips that pro-
chance to be on the leading edge if
we take the leadership role on
this,” said board chairman, Irel
Buckwalter, before the vote was
taken. “This is a workable solu
tion,” he added.
The approved ordinance was
authored by the Pennsylvania Far
mers’ Association, and the Chesa
peake Bay Authority based on a
sample ordinance proposed by the
Lancaster County Conservation
504 Per Copy
(Turn to Page A 36)
duce high-quality hay.
The farmer responsible for the
dramatic changes that have
occurred on this 1 IS acres of slate
land near Greencastle is Richard
Stoner. Stoner was recently
named the Pennsylvania Conser
vation Farmer of the Year by the
Pennsylvania Association of Con
servation District Directors Inc.
for completing 100 percent of his
(Turn to Page A 23)
District.
Several farmers at the meeting
argued that the ordinance is fiscal
ly prohibitive to farmers expand
ing their operations. Costs for
implementing the ordinance
include the permit fee plus the fee
for compiling a nutrient
management plan.
But Buckwaltcr said, “This
ordinance was written with the
$lO.OO Per Year
(Turn to Page A2S)