Nutrient Management Board
(Continued from Pag* At)
related farm plans into one opera
tional plan.
In die past, and still to a degree
today, governmental agencies con
cerned with agriculture do not
have a system of standard
cooperation.
As a result, different agencies
can and have required conflicting
things of farming operators.
The One-Plan Concept is an
effort to literally bring all the agen
cies onto the same sheet of papa 1 .
The most recent signator was
the USDA Agricultural Stabiliza
tion and Conservation Service,
joining in the multi-governmental
effort on April 12. Other organiza
tions had signed the interagency
memorandum of understanding
last year.
Conservation Plan
Review
Joel Myers, state agronomist
with the SCS, told the group that
conservation plans, free to cooper
ators, and fulfilled according to a
list of priorities, are “umbrella”
plans which seek to incorporate
agricultural waste, nutrient man
agement, pesticide use, and con
trolling sheet rill and gully erosion.
Thanks and
JACOB &
BARN FEATURES:
• Show-Ease Stall Auto
Release _ „ _
• Paul B. Zimmerman Powder-
Coated Loop Stalls, Fencing,
And Gates
• Norbco 13 oz. Curtain &
Hardware
• Covered Bridge Precast
Concrete Waterers
Thanks and Congratulations to
Myerwood Farms
WOODY EACHUS & FAMILY
Nutrient management plans as
they cunendy exist, are deemed
worthwhile in that they address a
specific concern. However, those
plans hold no legal authority and
their use is not connected, nor does
it restrict, the work of the State
Conservation Commission in its
work to implement the agricultural
requirements of the Nutrient Man
agement Act.
Myers’ presentation was allow
ed because members wanted to
learn specifics of how these exist
ing plans are made and carried out,
in order to consider the role of an
eventual authorized and approved
nutrient management plan.
Some-implications, of Myers’
presentation was that soil and ero
sion control planning is more or
less a necessity in determining
nutrient planning on a farming
operation, whereas discussions to
date about those who may be
required to approve or develop
official nutrient management plans
have not, as of yet, included man
dating expertise in soil and erosion
control.
One-Plan Concept
Barry Frantz, program coordi
nator of the One-Plan Concept, is
actually an employee of SCS who
On Their New 80 Cow Freestall Barn
On Their 75 Cow Free Stall Barn
is on loan to the Pennsylvania
Association of Conservation Dis
tricts (PACD). The PACD is the
hub group behind the One-Plan
effort
He was referring to the fact that
resolving conflicts doesn't neces
sarily mean that priority is given to
optimum results. In other terms,
it's comparable to making altera
tions to a piece of equipment to
make it useful, even though the
original equipment wasn’t
designed specifically for the new
purpose.
On the other hand, creating an
integrated plan has to revolve
around the farmer, his resources
and his goals, according to Frantz.
Or, in other terms, it means build
ing a piece of machinery specifi-
Congratulations to
TOM INNERST
FEATURES:
• Norbco 13 oz. Curtain &
Hardware
• Paul B. Zimmerman Powder
Coated Loop Stall & Gates
& Fencing
• Lapp Waterers
• VALU Dump Waterers
717-738-2142
l-<800)-874-7531
triple H Construction
430 Springvilie Road, Ephrata, PA 17522
Frantz said that he has been
involved with 22 of the conserva
tion districts in the state (there are
67 counties and only slightly fewer
conservation districts) in the initial
year.
He said that the goal of the effort
is to bring together all concerned
with the operation of a farm, to cre
ate a mutually agreeable, inte
grated plan of operation.
'There is a difference between
resolving conflicts and integrating
plans,” Frantz said.
cally for a job, using available
technology.
Frantz said there is a lot of con
fusion about the one-plan concept.
He said he has received comments
from people that they don’t need
another plan, they already have
five or six.
However, Frantz said that the
reality of integrating plans on a
farm is that time is of essence. He
said that it can take up to a year to
get a specific problem resolved,
because of the need to have all the
people involved review and dis
cuss the problem from their per
spective and area of expertise.
“We are not trying to create a
situation with one planner for one
plan,” he said. ‘There are too many
details and work for people to go
too far from their area expertise.”
he said.
According to Frantz, the One-
Plan Concept uses the farmer as
the cote decision-maker and the
rest act in consultation.
“The farmer decides what goes
in. He looks at all the angles,” he
said.
The quickness of making deci
sions depends on the quickness in
which a problem is identified,
understood and possible solutions
can be presented.
Frantz said that because of the
Lancaster Fuming, Saturday, May 7, IW4-A35
ongoing firm activities and the
seasonality of the work, farm plan
ning can probably be considered to
be a seasonal activity.
For example, with soil moisture
only becoming appropriate for
field work during the past two
weeks, he said that he can not sche
dule meetings now between con
sultants and farmers.
He said that this situation gener
ally occurs during planting season
and again during harvest season,
depending on the type of Cuming
operation.
Again, the implication is that
there may be some timing prob
lems with implementation of nutri
ent management plans, if there are
significant numbers of plans sub
mitted for approval. Though it is
doubtful that a great many plans
will be submitted at once.
Those presentations seemed to
make clear that there may be a
need for some guarantee of intera
gency cooperation in determining
acceptable soil and erosion control
practices, because it is so closely
tied to the control of flow of nutri
ents on a farm.
However, it was also pointed
out that those for whom mandatory
nutrient planning was conceived
are not the normal operators, but
high-density operations, charac
terized generally by higher levels
of organization.
Although not specifically said, the gist of
the discussion was that those types of organi
zations, for whom the law was created, can
tnd should be willing to conduct a proper
lutrient management plan, including soil and
erosion control, even if they can’t get the
work done for free by the SCS.
Certification Underway
Educational Efforts
Need Support
Further discussions about educational
efforts by Penn State University Extension,
which was given that responsibility under the
Nutrient Management Act, resulted in the
board approving a recommendation that fund
ing be provided for the development of an
instructional video for use in educating con
servation districts and extension agents in
nutrient management.
According to Dr. Douglas Beegle, the vid
eo would help provide a common base under
standing to a wide audience without having to
tie up the schedule and travel expenses of
experts who would otherwise have to tour the
state giving meetings. Further, weather and
attendance would not be as much of a problem
with people learning about the program
through a well-produced instructional video.
As far developing specific educational
programs in support of the criteria for attain
ing recognition as a nutrient management
technician, Beegle said that the university can
not develop and educational program until it
is known what is to be taught.
It can not be known what is to be taught
until those developing criteria and regulations
have completed their jobs.
In the meantime, John Longenecker, direc
tor of the PDA Bureau of Plant Industry, who
has been working to develop a program for
certifying nutrient management specialists,
said that work is underway on developing
final criteria and that he will have a proposal
before the board within the next two months.
While it was questioned how Longenecker
could develop and get approval for a certifica
tion program prior to the actual finalization of
regulations, he said that using the current pes
ticide certification program as a template, as
was indicated during the formation of the law,
and using the information garnered from the
commission and advisory board, he will be
able to have a program that can test demon
strated competency by July 1995.
Longenecker provided an update on the
applications for interim certification, which is
really pre-certification and makes those
accepted eligible for training for final certifi
cation. The goal is to create a number of tech
nicians who can begin to develop approved
plans next year.