VOL 38 No. 3
Backdoor Effort Fails To Get Nutrient Management Law Passed
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Labcaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Efforts by a few members
of the state House of Representa
tives and a handful of lobbyists to
push nutrient management legisla
tion into law failed when the prop
osal died Wednesday night in the
Senate Rules Committee as the
1991-92 General Assembly
adjourned.
Edward and Miriam Hess, couple on left, and Amos and Ruth Conley, at right,
receive Century Farm Awards from Secretary of Agriculture Boyd Wolff, center.
Maryland Dairy Task Force
Studies Possible Strategies
JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
ANNAPOLIS, MD —Concern
over the number of dairy fanners
and processors that continue to exit
the dairy business, a Maryland
Dairy Task Force has been study
ing possible strategies to maintain
a viable state dairy industry.
The Dairy Task Force is a
26-member group established by
Maryland Secretary of Agricul
turcl Robert Walker and the Agri
Tillage Meeting Looks
At Long-Term Results
CARLISLE. College Park, Md.
~ Conservation tillage parti
cularly the no-till method has
established itself as a prime reason
for reduced surface runoff from
farmland in the Middle Atlantic
states.
The crop residue it leaves
behind provides a barrier that
helps keep agrichemicals out of
streams, ponds, rivers and the
Chesapeake Bay.
Crop residue also results in a
proliferation of earthworms and
*heir burrows. This burrow net
work causes soil to become por
ous and greatly increase its water
holding capacity a plus in
thought years.
Four Sections
Any future consideration of
nutrient management legislation
by the state will require a new
proposal within the new General
Assembly which takes office in
January.
Pundits do expect a measure to
be proposed as one of the first
orders of business by the new
Legislature. Any acceptable new
measure is also expected to be very
similar to the failed measure.
culture Cooperative Extension
Service.
The establishment of a Mary
land Milk Commission has been
proposed by the Task Force as a
legislative step toward maintain-,
ing a viable dairy industry within
the state.
“For several years, Maryland
processors have complained about
encroachment into local markets
by out-of-state processors who
have market protection in their
But, does increased soil porosi
ty produce an adverse environ
mental effect channeling atra
zine and other agri-chemicals into
the groundwater?
A veteran U.S. Department of
Agriculture soils researcher from
Ohio and a trio of successful far
mers from West Virginia, Mary
land, and Pennsylvania will tackle
this question and many others
at the Mid-Atlantic Conserva
tion Tillage Conference on Dec.
17. This year’s 19th annual event
will be held at the Embers Inn and
Convention Center near Carlisle,
Pa.
Sponsoring organizations
(Turn to Pag* A3O)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 28, 1992
In fact, the failed measure was
highly praised by the few who
were priviledged to view it.
The exact wording of the prop
osed law was little seen by anyone
outside of a close group of lob
byists, legislators, and academians
because, with no previous
announcement, on Nov. 18 it was
added as a rider amendment to a
Senate bill for environmental edu
cation (Senate Bill 1444).
own states under the provisions ot
the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing
Board and the Virginia Milk Com
mission,” explained Myron
Wilhide, Detour, a member of the
Task Force.
“This problem has gotten worse
over the last year, when proces
sors outside of the state have taken
grocery store contracts from local
prCx:essors, because they have the
ability to undercut local proces
sors by avoiding over-order pre
miums and still remain protected
in the local market.
“In addition to protecting local
processors, the inability ot state
milk commissions to price product
across state lines is one of the rea
sons the Pennsylvania Milk Mark
eting Board and MACMMA had
to drop our over order premiums
on July 1 of this year.”
Wilhide explained that prop
osed legislation to establish a
Maryland Milk Commission
would:
- Help maintain high quality
locally produced and processed
dairy products for Maryland
consumers;
- License processors and distri
butors of milk in Maryland;
- Establish minimum Class II
raw milk prices as established by a
commission board, with a majori
ty of consumer representatives;
(Turn to Pago A2B)
The amendment to SB 1444 was
made while the bill was in the
House Appropriations Committee,
chaired by Philadelphia Rep.
Dwight Evans, who did not return
phone calls.
Rep. Jeff Coy, D-Shippensburg,
was the main sponsor for the
amendment, according to Steven
Crawford, executive director of
the House Agricultural and Rural
Affairs Committee.
Ag-Industry Honors Irwin,
Century Farm Families
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Family farms and dedicated
leaders of the agricultural industry
have made Lancaster County the
garden spot of the country.
The Agriculture Industry Ban
quet held on Tuesday evening hon
ored two century farm families and
Jay Irwin, retired county extension
director, for contributing to suc
cessful agriculture. To keep the
county’s success moving into the
21st century. Dr. Larmartine
Hood, dean of Penn State College
of Agriculture, challenged the
industry to aggressively establish
export markets with developing
countries such as Africa and the
Commonwealth of Independent
States (formerly the Soviet
Union).
Typical export countries such as
Japan and western Europe are not
New Poultry Federation
Officers Elected
HARRISBURG, (Dauphin Co.)—The new officers of the
Pennsylvania Pountry Federation were announced this
week. They are. from left, Jay Greider, Elizabethtown; Lynn
Henninger, Berrysburg; Bill Schlotterbeck, Hallam; and
Paul Hann, Lancaster. The four men were elected for the
1992-93 session.
Henninger was relected for a second term as chairman of
the board. He is president of M.G. Henninger & Son, Inc., a
retail Purina dealership and turkey, broiler, cattle producer.
Hann was elected vice-chairman and is the commercial
poultry district manager for Purina Feeds.
Greider was elected treasurer and is a sales and service
representative for Wenger Feeds. And Schlotterbeck was
elected secretary and is the live production manager for
Tyson Foods.
609 Per Copy
Coy was unreachable for com
ment by presstime, but Crawford
said that Coy and others in the
House attempted a last minute
move to re-introduce nutrient man
agement legislation so it could be
accomplished in the current legi
slative session.
The partisan effort to gel a nutri
ent management law into place
was so close to succeeding, that up
(Turn to Pag* A 32)
where the export growth will be
because population growth is stag
nant, he said.
Pennsylvania has a tremendous
advantage over other parts of the
country, he said. They arc close to
ports and transportion, but more
importantly, the county has a tradi
tion of commitment to the agricul
ture sector. The area has a large
and high quality water supply,
because individuals have made a
commitment to minimize usage of
pesticides and fertilizers.
“Don’t sit on our laurels and ride
into the 21st century,” Hood said,
.“We should add value to ag com
modities through processing and
packaging of foods and goods.”
He challenged the industry to be
sensitive to those who don’t under
stand agriculture. Embark on edu
ction. Move away from the notion
that “we were here first.”
(Turn to Pag* A3l)
$19.00 Per Year