Dl6-Lancaster Farming Saturday, December 16,1989 BY CHARLES ABDALLA, PSU Asst. Professor Of Agricultural Economics STATE COLLETE (Centre Co.) Public perception of agri culture is changing. Farming has traditionally been regarded as an activity consistent with steward ship of land and in harmony with nature. Recent surveys indicate that many people now view farm ing as a source of certain environ mental problems. Public concern over possible health and environ mental effects of farming prac tices has increased as findings of water contaminants from agriclu ture have been reported. These concerns have fueled legislative and rule-making activities to address agricultural water quality in many states over the past sever al years. Given the major conser vation and environmental provi sions of the 1985 Food Security Act, it is likely that many propos als to address water quality prob lems will be debated in preparing the 1990 farm bill. Public perceptions and public policies In many cases, the environmen tal and health effects of water con taminants are now known with certainty. Our ability to find small amounts of substances, such as pesticides, in drinking water has exceeded our understanding of their long-term effects on human health. However, the public appears unwilling to wait for sci entists to resolve these issues. Instead, people are demanding that their exposure to substances with possible health risk, however uncertain, be minimized. Opinion polls in both urban and rural states provide evidence of Pesticide License Recertification Program HONESDALE (Wayne Co.) Meetings to provide recertification credits for the Restricted- Use Pesticide License update have been scheduled by the Penn State Cooperative Extension. Prop osed credits for the Wayne County meetings are three (3) core and one (1) category one credits. The same material will be repeated at each meeting. In Wayne County the meetings will be held on December 14 at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in the Wayne County Extension meeting room, base ment of the courthouse, Honesdale, Pa. Call the Wayne County Extension office (253-5970, Extn. 239) if you plan to attend. Update training meetings to be held in adjoin ing counties are scheduled for December 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Building, Tunkhannock, Pa. On December 15 at 10:30 and 1:30 P.M. in the County Office Building meeting room, Montrose, Pa. Proposed credits for the Wyoming and Susque hanna County meetings are two (2) core and two (2) category one credits. Recertification Requirements The update training requirements for a Private Applicator are at invervals of three (3) years. Twelve credits (6 core and 6 category) are to be accumulated during the three year period. Failure to acquire the necessary credits will require the applicator, at a minimum, to be re-xamincd at a proctored examination site. When the twelve credits have been accumu lated by the date due, and the application form has been submitted along with the $lO.OO fee, the applicators certification will be renewed. The update training record (credit accumulated) will be reset to zero (00) for the next (3) year interval. For Private Applicators the due date will be on March 31. The credit due date and the expiration date printed on the certification permit, will always be the same. Please register with the county extension office where and when you plan to attend. Wayne Coun ty 253-5870, Extn. ‘‘239; Wyoming County 836-3196; Susquehanna County 278-1158. strong public sentiment for protec tion of environmental quality and drinking water safety. In addition, people are concerned about farm ing practices as a threat to water safety. For example, a 1985 national survey conducted by the Center for Communications Dynamics found that almost 60 percent of those questioned agreed that “farmers use too many pesticides.” Farmers are also concerned about how their farming practices affect water quality. For instance, substantial concern about ground water problems was found in a 1988 study of farmers in five agri cultural counties, including Lan caster County, Pennsylvania. In the study, conducted by the Agri cultural Law and Policy Institute, three-quarters of the participating Lancaster County farmers agree with the statement that “In my county, there is a need to reduce the infilration of fertilizers, man ure, and agricultural chemicals into groundwater.” Concerns about agriculture and water quality have translated into pressures on elected officials for new public policies to protect water resources. Considerable legislative and rule-making activi- ties at the state and federal levels are being directed at agricultural sources of water problems. State government activity, in particular, has accelerated in the last five years. For example, 21 states now have their own erosion and sedi ment control laws, and 26 states have laws restricting land uses to reduce the threat of ground water contamination. Increasingly, re strictions and penalties are being employed in state approaches for dealing with water quality degra dation resulting from agriculture. Under Section 319 of the 1987 amendments to the federal Clean Water Act, states were required to assess nonpoint source water qual ity to problems and prepare plans to address current or expected future problems. Also, most states are currently developing strategies for reducing pesticide contamina tion of groundwater. Those concerned about water quality problems have turned their attention to the upcoming farm bill as a vehicle for affecting farm ing practices causing these prob lems. Certain features of farm programs have been identified as either influencing farmers’ deci sions in a way that adversely impact water quality or acting as Your Full-Service John Deere Dealers ADAMSTOWN EQUIPMENT INC. Mohnlon, PA (mar Adamttown) 215-484-4391 BARRETT EQUIPMENT Smicksburg, PA 814-257-8881 John Deere 45- to 95-hp Tractors Low Price. High Resale. Best Value. . * • Start with LOW PRICE. These John Deere tractors offer you as many features—and in some cases more —as any competitive tractor, and for basically the same*price. But just what do you get for that low price? Steep torque rise—up to 24 percent—generates greater lugging ability. Yet with all that power you can still expect excellent fuel efficiency. Choose the smooth shifting, dependable transmission that meets your How Water Quality barriers to adoption of practices which would reduce water quality pollution. In addition, the success of environmental and conserva tion provisions in the 1985 Food Security Act has encouraged dis cussion and debate to include water quality provisions in the 1990 farm bill. Water quality impacts of farm policy Several important farm pro gram components have been linked to farming practices that may result in water quality degra dation. The major commodity pro grams. which provide deficiency payments to farmers in return for a reduction in planted acreage from an established base acreage, are of concern to conservation interests. Deficiency payments provide guaranteed prices and therefore encourage production of program crops. While the area and yield upon which such payments are based are fixed in any one year, more land is shifted into produc tion of crops in the program over time. 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Since commodities receiving support are usually more dependent on agricultural chemicals and tend to be more soil erosive than other agricultural land uses, the com modity programs may in certain locations act as subsidies for pro duction activites that can poten tially degrade water quality. Base acreage system Since deficiency payments are tied to the total number of base acres, an incentive is created to maintain as large a base as possi ble. This incentive to maintain base acreage prevents major shifts from program crop specialization to production systems having few er water quality impacts. The base acreage system also results in less diverse land use practices, and can act as a barrier to change for farm ers who may wish to try crop rota tions and other alternative farming practices requiring fewer off-farm chemical inputs. Annual acreage reductions for surplus commodities For some surplus commodities, annual acreage reductions are used to limit supply. Within a given year, water quality impacts from farming should be reduced since less land is in production. ENFIELD EQUIPMENT INC. WhlMerd, MD 301-452-5252 ,eve rg REEn a.b.c. GROFF| , nc TRACTOR CO., INC. Now Holland, PA Labanon, PA 717-354-4191 717-272-4641 FOSTER EQUIPMENT SALES Elmar, NJ 609-769-1535 w 11 H.R. GUTSHALL & SONS, INC. Carliil*, PA 717-249-2313 ROBERT G. HAMPTON, INC Shiloh, NJ 609-451-9520
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