A24-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 23, 1993 HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Robert C. Junk, Jr., President of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union, expressed his organiza tion’s frustration with what he called, “another last-minute politi cal trick on farmers” by outgoing Agriculture Secretary Edward Madigan. Junk’s comments were in response to Madigan’s prop osed closing of 18 Pennsylvania county offices of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS). “I’m sure there could be more efficient ways of giving farmers access to the programs and ser vices available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” Junk said. “But, closing 18 offices is totally unjustified in Pennsylvania and, ift our opinion, the Secretary is abusing his authority” he added. “This not only would take farm programs geographically out of the reach of many farmers, it would remove them from the programs in other ways, too,” Junk said, explaining that farmers have had input into farm programs at the local level through farmer elected county committees since the 1930’5. Junk explained that the 1985 farm bill amended the law govern ing USDA structure, giving the Secretary limited discretionary authority to combine ASCS offices. “According to the law, the Secretary is allowed to combine counties into one office when he determines that ‘there are insuffi cient farmers to establish a slate of candidates for a local committee Fruit Growers Set Meeting POTTSVILLE (Schuylkill Co.) The Regional Schuylkill County Fruit Growers meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 10, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Pine View Acres, Chamberlain Avenue, Pottsville. Speakers for the meeting will be Dr. Ro bert Crassweller, Penn State extension pom ologist; Dr. Edwin Ra jotte, Penn State exten sion entomologist; Dr. James Travis, Penn State extension pa thologist; and Frederick W. Davis. Topics discussed will include diagnosing nu tritional disorders in the orchard, seasonal mite management, factors considered in making disease management decisions on apples, Chemsweep, update on pesticide rules and re gulations, and are you prepared for the future? All fruit growers are invited to attend this meeting sponsored by the Schuylkill County Extension. Pesticide up date credits will be is sued at this meeting. Registration is required by February 2. For additional infor mation, contact George P. Perry Jr., county agent/horticulture, Schuylkill County Ex tension Office, P.O. Box 250, Schuylkill Haven, pa 17972-0250, (717) 385-3431. Farmers Union Blasts Office Closings and hold an election,”’ Junk said, citing 16 U.S.C. section 590h(b). The farm group leader explained that, despite more than a decade of decreasing government support for agriculture and gov ernment inattention to concentra tion and vertical integration in the marketplace, there remain suffi cient numbers of farmers through out Pennsylvania to meet the test of establishing a slate of candi dates for local ASCS committees. “Someone might be able to make a case for closing a handful of offices in the State,” Junk said, “but closing 18 of them is just ridiculous.” Junk also pointed out that ASCS has just over 18,000 total employees, while another U.S. Department of Agriculture agen cy, the U.S. Forest Service, has a staff exceeding 50,000 people. “With 51% of USDA’s budget going to food and nutrition prog rams, and 40% of USDA’s staff working for the Forest Service, picking on ASCS seems extreme, to say the least,” Junk said. “In addition, he said, “thou sands of the people who work for ASCS are located in Washington, D.C. Why is ASCS the only agen cy in USDA targeted for closures and why is the Secretary only after the county offices that deal direct ly with farmers?” Junk asked. “Why does every Under Secretary in USDA need two Deputy Under secretaries? Why does the Assis tant Secretary for Food and Con sumer Services, need two Deputy Assistant Secretaries, an Execu- Lapp Comfort Tie Stall • The Lapp Comfort Tie Stall was designed for the cow's comfort and easy access to the water bowl. • Optional: Pipeline Bracket Rear Trough Divider Cow Trainer Bracket YOU WON T BEAT OUR PRICES & SERVICE • Trough divider designed so that the cows do not steal the other cow's feed. • Stall partition designed for easier milking. • Water bowl location makes it easier for the cow to *■ drink water. Lapp All Steel Galvanized Windows LAPP’S Radio Dlspstchsd Trucks live Assistant, and a Private Sec retary? Why does the General Counsel need a Deputy, four Associates and nine Assistants?” Junk demanded. Junk said that Congress has been following the issue of reor ganizing USDA very closely since the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report in late 1988 calling for an overhaul of USDA field offices. “That report com pared the costs of running the county office with the amount of benefits paid out to farmers in the county and, at the time, even Sec retary Yeutter said the comparison was misleading,” Junk said, explaining that the ASCS work load includes nearly 50 different programs, only a few of which involve direct payments to farmers. A second GAO report in late 1991 sparked renewed interest in the issue, and bills leading to USDA restructuring were pending in both the House and Senate by the end of the last Congress. “Senator Wofford was an origi nal co-sponsor of S. 2752 last Spring, and Farmers Union basi cally supported that legislation,” Junk said. He explained that the bill would have set up a Reform Commission and given it 100 days to study USDA from top to bot tom —every agency at every level and report back to Congress and the Secretary on needed improvements. “We would have preferred to see field hearings to get farmers’ input on how to make farm program administration more efficient, but at least the Commission would have been fair and bi-partisan,” Junk said. “As important as this issue is for farmers and taxpayers, the new Congress and administration should have the opportunity to debate it and decide the direction USDA should take,” Junk said. “First it was his decision to scrap citrus marketing orders, and now this. With just over a week to go in office. Secretary Madigan has taken another last-minute, politically-motivated swipe at the farmers he has been paid to serve,” Junk said. “If Secretary Madigan is really interested in the New Wool Survey Under Way DENVER, Colo. 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PA 17543 “*2* (717) 569-2702 1-800-673-2580 ill best interests of taxpayers, he might want to start with his own $143,800 annual salary. I think farmers and taxpayers deserve better than to have the Secretary of Agriculture trying to pull the rug out from under farm programs. Maybe Secretary Madigan could do us all a favor by going back to his family’s cab company in Illi nois right now and leave his last week’s salary of $2,765.38 in the federal treasury,” he concluded. The Pennsylvania Farmers Union serves family farmers pro ducing a wide variety of commod ities throughout Pennsylvania. stocks. The Department of Com merce dropped a similar data col lection activity in 1988. Estimates for the U.S. will deal with stocks of carpet and apparel wool and associated microns, and whether the wool is of foreign or domestic origirt. Data on stocks of tops, noils, and mohair also will be gathered. The wool stocks estimates will be published by NASS in the Wool and Mohair report in late March 1993 and by USDA’s Eco nomic Research Service in the Cotton and Wool release in May 1993.
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