Pa. Second In Nation In Farmland Protection VERNON ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Farming Staff HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Pennsylvania moved up to second place in the nation for the most acres of agricultural land pre served through the purchase of development easements. Last week, the Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board approved 26 easement purchases which makes the state second rally to Maryland in total acres of farmland protected from residential, industrial and com mercial development, according to the state Department of Agricul ture (PDA). The farmland preservation program was created because many organizations and govern ment agency policies place agri cultural uses for land as low-value, as compared to residential, indust rial and commercial development. These policies, which reflect inter-generational desires for capi tolizing on short-term land use, do not take into account the long term, or multi-generational bene fits of land use. Through the farmland preserva tion program, the general popula tion permanently purchases deve lopment rights by using taxes and private donations. Under the prog ram, current land owners are paid the difference between current assessed value per acre of agricul tural land and the assessed value for the highest-value land use. The program is overseen at the state level by a board of directors. It is initiated by landowners who must apply to a county level board and funding must also be shared at the county level. The county gov ernment holds title to the develop ment easements. Last week the state board approved easements for 26 farms in 15 counties. The total amount of prime agricultural land now per mantly saved in Pennsylvania is 32,246 acres. “The farms reviewed at today’s meeting included a 1,000-acre farm in York County, and the first farm approved for easement purchase in Snyder County,” said state Agriculture Secretary Boyd Wolff, in a news release. As secret ary, Wolff is also chairman of the state ag preservation board. “(Last week’s) board action makes Pennsylvania second in the nation among efforts to save van ishing farmland. Only Maryland has protected more acres than we have.” Although not yet recognized by most government officials as a val id reason for seeking farmland pro tection easements, recent studies done by the Penn State University and other colleges have shown that agricultural land use is beneficial to communities for a variety of financial reasons, but mainly because lax revenues from agricul tural land are higher than local expenditures to agricultural land. According to Timothy Kelsey, assistant professor of agricultural economics in the Penn State Uni versity Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, the result is that farmland is a long term, tax-base benefit. It means that easement purchases can be expected to more than pay for themselves to the benefit of local communities. On the other hand, while resi dential development generates more short term finances for indi viduals and government, residen tial land use has proven to be a con stant dram of local funds. The result is that land used for residential development hurts the local tax-service balance. Similar to farmland, industrial and commercial zoning has been shown to provide a lax benefit to local communities, although it's not clear whether the price of long term environmental cleanup asso ciated with historic American industrial development actually is offset by the tax benefits to a community. Farmers Union Seeks HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Pennsylvania Fanners Union members from around the com monwealth converged on the state Capitol last week to take the gen eral farm organization’s priorities for legislative action to members of the agriculture committees and other key legislators. “We gave legislators our entire policy statement for 1993, but spent most of our time during vis its on a shorter statement of our seven top priority issue areas with a few specific ideas for legislative action in each area,” said PFU President Robert C. Junk Jr. The seven subject areas were commodity prices and farm income, fair trade, health care reform, tax reform, environmental concerns, game law reform, and youth involvement “We recognize that several of these priorities involve national, or even international, policies and programs,” Junk said, “but there are still state-level impacts and things that can be done at the state level to help.” As an example, Junk said that a recent decision by an interna tional dispute resolution panel found that several U.S. states bor dering Canada were in violation of the U.S.-Canadian Free Trade Agreement because of their excise taxes on Canadian beer. “The current language of the North American Free Trade Agreement does nothing to safe Lebanon Gets Water Quality Funds NORTH CORNWALL (Leba non Co.) Funds totaling $46,800 have been made available under the 1993 Agricultural Con servation program (ACP) to implement conservation manage ment practices in the Tulpehocken Creek Watershed, according to Jenifer K. Minnich, county execu Bull Test Sale Set EATON, N.Y. The 1992-1993 New York State Bull Test is now complete and the “cream of the crop” will be sold at 7:30 p.m. on April 23 at the Lives tock Pavilion on the Cornell Cam pus in Ithaca. Thirty-eight bulls representing 10 breeds will be up for sale. The sale will start with eight Polled Herefords, which will include the top indexing bull from Sapp Valley View Farm in West Virginia. This yearling bull index ed 113.7 and had an average daily gain of 5.03. Next to sell will be a Gelbvieh bull followed by two Charolais and four Shorthorns. The sale will continue with the Red Angus, Salers, and Hereford bulls. New to the sale this year is the RX-3 breed which has four bulls to sell. The sale will conclude with the four Simmental bulls and 10 Angus bulls. This year’s sale offers a wide In a Penn Slate Extension publi cation authored by Kelsey, he stated that, “Some residents may not appreciate the smells, sounds, or other inconveniences of living near farms, but these (study) results suggest that all residents benefit from farm and open land. “The property lax revenue from these lands helps keep residents’ taxes low. Farm and open land in the case study townships, for guard the rights of states from some unelected, unaccountable international body.” Junk said. “All it does is extend the current problem into Mexico,” he added. According to Junk, health care reform is another area in which state government should play a role, in spite of activities taking place at the national level. “Of all of the states that have already passed health care reform bills, it seems that only Minneso ta’s law specifically addresses the special problems of rural citizens in getting better access to health care,” Junk said. “Our members asked legislators to include language similar to Minnesota’s in any health care legislation that might pass in Pen nsylvania," he said. On the tax reform issue, Junk explained that Pennsylvania Far mers Union members believe that there simply has to be a fairer way to pay for schools than through property taxes, and that nearly every legislator had agreed. “Our proposal is to allow locali ties to have up to half of their funding from property taxes, but to raise the rest through income taxes,” Junk said. The primary environmental issue raised by the group was the nutrient management bill, H.B. 100, which passed the House ear lier this year and is expected to pass the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee later this live director of the Lebanon Coun ty Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. ‘The Water Quality Incentive Project (WQIP) provides both technical and financial assistance for producers to change manage ment systems to help solve resour- selection of some of the top year ling bulls in the Northeast. The bull test provides a program that allows beef producers to partici pate in a common test to evaluate the performance of bulls under similar, unbiased environmental conditions and an opportunity for purebred breeders and commercial producers to purchase these performance-tested bulls. The bull test is sponsored by the New York Beef Cattlemen’s Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the Cornell Department of Animal Science. Those interested can preview the bulls at the Cornell Teaching and Research Center, Route 38, Harford, N. Y.. (607) 844-8383. To receive a catalog, contact Jeanne White, sale chairperson, at (607) 838-3670. Bulls may also be previewed at the Livestock Pavilion prior to the sale. example, provided $312,181 to their school districts. This is above and beyond the property taxes far mers paid on their buildings and homes. “When farmland is converted to residential purposes, these benefits are lost. “If the number of children in the new houses requires the school district to hire (additional) teachers or build (additional) schools, or the local government to increase scr- Legislative Remedies spring. “We arc comfortable with most of the provisions of the bill,” Junk said. “The tough issue for us now,” he added, “is to get enough funding for conservation districts and others to administer the prog ram, and also for farmers to receive cost-share assistance in putting their plans to work.” Junk explained that, depending on the farm, compliance with a nutrient management plan could be relatively simple, but could also mean building expensive manure storage facilities. In the area of game law reform, the farm group leader emphasized the need for hard numbers on crop damage caused by wildlife. “Nearly every farmer has had to deal with the problem, but statew- ide financial loss totals aren’t available, and that’s made it hard- er to advocate for a statewide solu tion,” Junk said. AJCC Provides Youth Awards REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio In conjunction with its ongoing youth programs. The American Jersey Cattle Club sponsors awards for junior shows as well as for state, regional, and national judging contests. Ribbons for three places in each ce problems associated with agri cultural non-point source pollu tion adversely affecting water quality,” Minnich said. The WQIP funds will be used to improve and protect water quality in the Tulpe hocken Creek Watershed, she said. To participate, farming opera tions must be contributing or have the potential to contribute through their current management system, agricultural non-point source pollutants such as agricul tural chemicals, animal wastes, or sediments to surface or groundwa ter. “Incentive payments will only be available for management prac tices,” Minnich said. The Tulpehocken Creek Watershed Project covers a two county area of about 43,300 acres. “Agricultural producers in Lebanon and Berks Counties should be alert to this project,” said ASCS official Minnich. “It is a good way to help solve a larger, community-wide problem and the incentive payments gives produc ers a good opportunity to participate.” Eligibility for participation in all programs administered by ASCS is on a nondiscriminatory basis as established under law without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status or disability. vice expenditures, the impact of farmland loss can be especially dramatic. “The land will be converted from a net contributor to the mun icipality and school district into a net drain." For more information about farmland preservation, contact the slate Department of Agriculture, local county government, or local extension office. “It doesn’t have to be compli cated,” he added. “Something as simple as moving doe season to cover the weekend after buck sea son would help, since most hun ters wouldn’t have to take any extra time off from work,” he said. Junk explained that the organi zation’s youth involvement priori ty was aimed primarily at its own activities. “Still, our hope for greater youth involvement in the Pennsyl vania Farmers Union is a symp tom of the need for greater youth involvement throughout agricul ture. Young people have been understandably turning away from farming as a career, and it is show ing up in our schools’ vocational agriculture programs where they still exist,” Junk said. The Pennsylvania Farmers Union is a general farm organiza tion representing nearly 3,000 farm families throughout Pennsylvania. individual female class and a rosette for the grand champion female are available for county and district, state and regional junior Jersey shows. There is also an award presented in state and regional Jersey showmanship classes. Awards available for the National Intercollegiate Dairy 'Cattle Judging Contest include a rotating trophy for the high team members and their coach. The high individual in Jersey judging is presented a model Jersey cow. Awards for the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest are the same except there is no rotat ing trophy. Awards for collegiate, 4-H and FFA regional contests at Eastern States, National Cattle Congress, Pennsylvania All American, North American, Pacific Interna tional, and Mid-South Fair include a laser-carved plaque for the coach of the high team in Jerseys and pen and pencil sets for team members. The high individual in Jerseys receives a model Jersey cow. The coach of the high team in Jerseys at two-year and technical inter-collegiate contests receives a laser-carved plaque. Team mem bers receive pen and pencil sets. The high individual in Jerseys is presented a color Ideal Jersey cow plaque. At state judging contests, the high individual in Jerseys receives a color Ideal Jersey cow plaque. AJCC awards are available only by annual request Other awards for significant achievements are also available upon request Con tact Gayle Starkey at The Ameri can Jersey Cattle Club, 6486 East Main Street, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068-2362. 614/861-3636, at least four weeks prior to the event.
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