Callicoon, N.Y. Farmers attending the annual convention of the New York Farm Bureau strengthened their stance on sever al concerns important to agricul ture and rural New York, includ ing ways to deal with property tax es that have jumped 48 percent since 1987. Attended by 450 farmers from all across the state, the state con vention was held at the Villa Roma Resort Hotel in Callicoon. Newly-elected NYFB President John Lincoln, an Ontario County dairy fanner, said that delegates at the Farm Bureau convention approved a host of policies aimed at making state government more business friendly. “Farm Bureau wants to see our stale government economized and that means making it smaller, more efficient, and more responsible.” For New York farmers, the property tax is the number one burden. The delegates approved new policy that calls for “a state wide cap on all equalized real property tax rates.” They said, “Any future revenue needs above current rates must be Pa, Dairymen 9 s Association Meet HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s association will hold its annual banquet on Monday evening, Jan uary 9, 1995 at the Harrisburg Sheraton-East. The Sheraton is located just off the Union Deposit exit of 1-83. The Board of Direc tors would like to invite you to attend this traditional Farm Show week dinner. The milk punch reception will begin at 6:00 p.m. with dinner to follow at 6:30 p.m. The evening will feature a main FOR LOW-COST WEED CONTROL IN CORN VELVETLEAF, FOXTAIL AND OTHER ANNUAL GRASSES USE A PROWL* TANK MIX i PROWL Bureau Addresses Property Tax Dilemma Farm generated from income or sales tax.” Keeping with their stance from past yean, they called for cost containment of state man dated programs, like Medicaid, in order to provide tax relief for the overburdened taxpayer. They also, reaffirmed their support for the concept of an agricultural circuit breaker program as a means of reducing the heavy school tax bur den weighing on New York farms. Last year. Farm Bureau and the other business groups in the state successfully waked for the elimi nation of the 13 percent surcharge on workers’ comp providers, as one way of reducing hefty pre miums. Recognizing .that the cur rent workers’ compensation sys tem serves neither employers a employees in an efficient manner, this year’s delegates said, "the entire system must be re-evaluated to provide timely benefits to injured employees at a cost which is affordable to the employer.” Among other reaffirmations in this area, they called fa prohibit ing third party lawsuits (Dole vs. Dow), and prohibiting raids, on the State Insurance Fund. speaker along with several very special awards. The traditional Charles E. Cowan award, the Ex tension service award and this year a newly created award; The Distin guished Dairy Women award. The Association will v also be recogniz ing the state winning Dairy Bowl Team from Montour County. Tickets may be reserved by con tacting the office of the Pennsylva nia Dairymen’s ' Association. Phone: (717) 938-4876 or write to: 396 Old York Road, New Cumber land, Pa. 17070. Ticket price is $l5. EFFECTIVE CONTROL PROWL® herbicide with atrazine or bladex stops velvetleaf and foxtail from choking your young com plants. This tank mix gives you top performance and real economy in com weed control. EASY APPLICATION Apply the PROWL tank mix preemergence, or early postemergence after the com is up, but no bigger than the four-leaf stage. Weeds should be no more than an inch tall. Do NOT incorporate PROWL in com. See us today. We have the products and the service to help your farming operation. Alwayi read and follow label direction! carefiilly. ™ Trademark, American Cya namid Company O 1994. Regarding the protection of pri vate property rights. Farm Bureau delegates approved expanding its numerous policies on this critical issue by supporting a position that supports “the development of a formal impact statement on pri vate property rights for any new legislation, regulatory action, or local ordiancc.” They also recom mended “an increase in penalties Jr. Jersey Offers Awards, MERCER (Mercer Co.) The Pennsylvania Junior Jersey Cattle Association is accepting applica tions for several awards and scholarships. The deadline fa submitting all applications fa this round of awards is Jan. 20. All entries should be sent to Debbie Moose, Youth Coordinator, 902 Mercer- Greener Future STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) More than 100 speakers will discuss a multitude of topics on Farming for a Greener Future at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, to be held Feb. 3-4 at the Nittany Lion Inn. Tom Frantzen, an innovative crop and hog producer and past president of the Practical Farmers of lowa, will be the keynote speaker. Also featured will be Doug Parker, New Zealand dairy grazing consultant; Will Brinton, compost expert of Woods End Ag Institute in Maine; Chip and Susan Planck, organic vegetable pro ducers from Virginia; Gail Feenstra, nutrition educator from University of California; and Dan Skow, veterinarian and soil health expert from Minnesota. Workshops will focus on green agriculture, and all that it entails: farming with green cover crops, grass-based fanning, intensive graz ing, and soil health as well as farming for the AgriCenterm PralmiMallui • Imlm • ln*k»ii annul RnpMtlWlity ' •■% ' v’--- 7 for entering onto private property without consent and doing dam age to crops and fences with a vehicle a by other means.” Once again. Farm Bureau recommends the enactment of a law “which protects the property rights of an individual against all acdons of either the legislature a an agency of government which comprom ises the use of the property with- Pulaski Road. Mercer, Pa., 16137, or (412) 662-3924. Tire awards include recognition for outstanding production records, scrapbooks, and other achievements. Winners are to be announced at the upcoming Pen nsylvania Jersey Association annual meeting, set to be held in April, in WeUsboro. PASA To % out proper compensation to the owner.” The organization also reaf firmed their support for voluntary, incentive-based programs to address agricultural nonpoint source pollution. The State Envir onmental Protection Fund is an important source of funding for water quality programs. Scholarships As in other years, there will be two divisions in the achievement and scrapbook contests. Junior division ages are 9 to 13. as of Jan. 1,1994; senior division ages are 14 to 19, as of Jan. 1. 1994. There are also two scholarships awarded at the state level for Junior members. Applications for these and more information is available by contacting Moose. Hold Conference green profitability, marketing, and sustain ability. Sessions will range from the basic, for people who are just learning about sustainable techniques, to more advanced sessions for peo ple with experience. A series of workshops focused on dairy pro duction will be a new emphasis this year. In addition to drawing on the knowledge of many Pennsylvania dairy producers and specialists, attendees will hear from Joe Meudt of the Wis consin Rural Development Center who will dis cuss his own seasonal dairy operation as well as the Dairy Grazing Project he coordinates for the center. The project includes documenting the economics of grazing and seasonal dairying, as well as on-farm and university-based feeding research. Doug Parker, a native New Zealand dairy man, and well-known grazing consultant, now at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, will be on hand to talk about New Zealand dairy grazing systems and their applicability to Pennsylvania. Parker will also discuss the economics of grass-based dairy farming. The Plancks will lead a workshop on the innovative use of equipment, rotations, and management strategies deployed on their 50- acre organic vegetable operation. Brinton will participate in three workshops, discussing his research with farm-scale compost, mineraliza tion, and disease control. A session on the con nections between animal and soil health will be led by Skow, of International Ag Labs. Sustainable agriculture is being looked at to provide an innovative foundation for learning and education in another new focus area this year. The evolving role of gardefts, farms, and universities as tools for learning about sustain ability and linkages to a variety of community institutions will be featured in sessions on edu cation projects in Pennsylvania and California. These workshops offer the opportunity for farm ers and non-farmers to learn from each other. Other concurrent tracks in the program include soil health, grazing, field crops, market ing, vegetables, fruit, and education. In addition to production techniques, sessions will look at how to start farmers markets,, community sup ported agriculture, backyard comporting; the impacts of BGH, food banks and inner-city farm stands, and urban encroachment on farmlands. This year the ever popular farmcr-to-fartner exchange sessions will provide indepth farm based education on grazing livestock and veg etable varieties for farmers markets. Another exciting addition to this year’s pro ceedings will be participation by a group of cooperative extension agents from Pennsylvania and other Northeastern states, who will be attending the conference to leam more about sustainable agriculture from its practitioners. As part of this training, a group of Pennsylvania extension personnel will also be participating in a day-long workshop with PASA member farm ers to learn more about sustainable farming prior to the conference. If you would like to request a registration brochure, call PAS A at (814) 349 9856.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers