ter Farming, Saturday, July 9, 1994 .ancasl P' lull '0 Penn State Poultry Pointers SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN COMMISSION PROPOSED REGULATION CHANGES TO IMPACT POULTRY FARMERS The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) was formed in 1971 to regulate water use in the Susquehanna River Basin. Four commissioners oversee the opera tions of the SRBC. One commis sioner each is appointed by the states of Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania and a fourth com missioner is appointed by the fed eral government The goal of the SRBC is to man age the water supply to insure all users have access to the water they need and to insure a minimum level of flow in the rivers and streams in the basin. The SRBC is especially concerned about con sumptive uses of water where water is consumed in an activity and no longer available to be returned to the water supply in the Take It Where You Need It! 36” Port-A-Fan® Quality Throughout Built For Service Built To Last The Moveable Solutionl yMmTL. tuscarora electric manufacturing COMPANY, INC. Tunkhannock, PA (717) 836-2101 ALUMINUM GRAIN BODIES & ALUMINUM REPAIRS by & & These ultra-light bodies are designed for strength through engineering, not strength with bulk. For example, a 16' grain body with tailgate and 4ft" «ih weighs onl length or any side height up to 60" Also Double swinging hay hauling tailgate Barn door type tailgate Slide out cattle chutes HEWEY WELDING Box 2312, RD4 Lebanon, PA 17042 (717)867-5222 basin. Agricultural consumptive uses include irrigation and con sumption by livestock. Although consumptive use reg ulations were in effect since for mation of the SRBC in 1971, agri cultural uses were largely ignored prior to 1991. Partly in response to the drought of 1991, the SRBC began to seek ways to bring agri cultural operations into com pliance with the consumptive use regulations. In 1992, an agricultural advis ory committee was formed by the SRBC. This committee developed some recommendations which were presented to the commission ers in 1993. The commissioners rejected both the agricultural com mittees’ recommendations and a separate proposal developed by the SRBC staff members. Since that lime the SRBC staff have deve loped regulation changes which are designed to increase agricultur al compliance. Under these new regulations, any consumptive user of 10,000 gallons per day will be required to register with the SRBC. Any user We'll build you any ivallable: • Diamond flooring • Puli out panel tailgates • Any size grain chute of 20,000 gallons per day would potentially be subject to water use fees, application fees, and annual monitoring fees. A poultry opera tion with 290,000 layers or 590,000 broilers would use approximately 20,000 gallons per day. If an operation consumes between 20,000 and 100,000 gal lonsper day, the operator could be exempt from application and monitoring fees if the operator applies for a general use permit. This would require payment of a water use fee of seven cents per 1,000 gallons consumed. For a Beekeepers Swarm To UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) When you bite into a ripe, juicy apple, you probably don’t give much thought to bees. But maybe you should. Without bees, fruits and vegetables would be less plentiful and more expensive. You can learn more about bees and how they affect our lives by visiting the Willow Valley Family Resort in Lancaster, July 13-15. That’s the site of the 1994 Eastern Apiculture Society (EAS) confer ence. The annual event is expected to draw as many as 500 commer cial and hobby beekeepers from as far away as Canada and the Caro linas. “Honey bees pollinate about $2O billion worth of crops in the United States each year,” said Maryann Frazier, HAS president and extension entomologist in Penn State’s College of Agricul o <£. ss IT DOES a body good. • Agricultural • Commercial • R Pai ank Featuring Commercial Chain Link Fence (5’ High - SCS approved) • Retaining Walls • Bunker Silos • Manure Storage, Etc. dairy which uses 20,000 gallons per day, this would total $5ll per year. This water use fee is one half the rate paid by other water users. If an operator consuming 20,000 gal lons per day chooses to apply for a permit, the operation would be subject to an initial application fee of $750, and an annual monitoring fee of $lOO, and would either choose to pay the water use fee of seven cents per thousand gallons or develop an alternative water supply to be used during low flow periods which occur during dry weather. For Conference tural Sciences. “About one-third of the food you eat is produced with the aid of honey bees,” she said. “Pennsyl vania apples, for instance, are about 95 percent dependent on honey bees for pollination. “In addition, about 250 million pounds of honey worth $2OO mil lion are produced in the United States annually.” Although the EAS conference is intended primarily for beekeep ers, who must pay a registration fee to attend, free activities are planned for the public. “On Thursday and Friday, we willhave a honey show that’s open to the public,” Frazier said. “Visi tors can sample different types of honey and see some of the many uses of beeswax.” The public also can see a pre sentation called “Dancing’ with the Bees.” by Cliff Wright-Sun flower, a beekeeper known for his iroum A number of public hearings have been held to receive public comment on the proposed regula tion changes. A final hearing will be held on July 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the Tidewater Inn, 101 E. Dover St., Easton. Maryland. Written comments will be received until August 1. If you would like to submit writ ten comments, send them to Richard A. Cairo, General Counsel/Secretary, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 1721 N. Front St., Harrisburg, Pa 17102-2391. Lancaster innovative school educational programs. The audience will learn how a honey bee colony functions by participating as members of a working hive in this entertaining and educational program, July 14 at 11 a.m. Sessions designed for register ed conference participants will ad dress issues and opportunities that affect bees and beekeepers. One presentation will cover apither apy, or the use of bee venom to treat physical ailments. “There’s a lot of interest in api therapy for the treatment of dis eases such as multiple sclerosis and arthritis,” said Frazier. Workshops and seminars also will cover Africanized bees, para sitic mites, honey quality assur ance and other topics. For more information, contact Maryann Frazier at (814) 865-4621 or Joe Duffy at (717) 885-1681. tial
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