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VOl. 40 NO. 12
Lancaster County Tax Reassessment Is Reason To Assess Goals
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) Lancaster County land
owners, primarily farmers, must
make some hard decisions about
what they intend to do with their
New Directors Named At
Bradford Holstein Meeting.
Janl Burke
Marketing Short Course, Value-Added
Products At Vegetable Conference
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.)
More than 1,600 Pennsylvana veg
etable and fruit growers are
expected to convene here at the
Hcrshey Lodge and Convention
Center for the annual Pennsylvania
Vegetable Conference and Trade
Show, scheduled Jan. 31-Feb. 2.
The conference is held concur
rently with the 136th annual meet
Sire Power Reports Good Year, Awards Scholarships
Scholarship recipients are from left, back row, Gary Hennip, Northeast sales direc
tor, Suzane Cadwallader, Howard Reyburn, Joshua Harvatlne, Marc Toothman, Dean
Kohler, and Ted Ridgely, Maryland sales representative. Front row, Amy Packard,
Carrie Bryant, Jennifer Trout, Cara Tussey, and Shannon Harrison.
60* Per Copy
land because of a county-wide tax
reassessment that could signific
antly raise real estate values and
taxes.
Even those who have sold their
development rights as part of an
effort to preserve agricultural land
CAROLYN N. MOYER
Bradford Co. Correspondent
Wysox (Bradford Co.) Elec
tion of directors and plans for
future activities were on the agen
da at the Bradford County Holstein
Club’s annual meeting.
Held at Bonanza Restaurant
here, more than 70 people attended
the noon meeting.
On lop of the list of activities
was the election of three new
directors. A 1 Calkins of Troy, Tom
Wright of Canton, and Jeff Jenkins
of Columbia Cross Roads were
selected to fill the posts vacated by
retiring directors Keith Thomson
of Towanda, Bill Hennip, of Rome
and Dave Walrath, of Milan.
The three new directors join
President Dean Jackson of Colum
(Turn to Pag* A2O)
ing of the State Horticultural Asso
ciation of Pennsylvania. Also, the
state horticultural societies of
Maryland and New Jersey also
meet in conjunction with the fruit
growers from Pennsylvania at the
three-day event
During the conference, a wide
variety of grower topics, panels,
and meetings provide an array of
information to vegetable and fruit
growers in the region. Lancaster
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 28, 1995
aren’t safe from having taxes rise
significantly, according to experts.
On Tuesday night, a meeting
was held at the Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, sponsored jointly by
the Lancaster County Tax Assess
ment office and the county Farm
Bureau to explain the reassessment
process, what it means, and aspects
of the state’s Act 319, also called
the “Clean and Green Act.”
It was one of four meetings
■scheduled to be held at various
locations around the county. Two
meetings remain: Jan. 30 in Hoff
man Building of the Solanco Fair
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
HERSHEY (Dauphin
Co.) Donald Lanius of York
was honored as the fairperson of
the year, and Jennifer Marie Ran
dall of Somerset was named the
1995 Pennsylvania fair queen, by
the Pennsylvania State Associa
tion of County Fairs during its 83rd
annual convention held late last
week at the Hershey Lodge and
Convention Center in Hershey.
(Turn to Pag* A 22)
Farming provides a complete
schedule in this issue. More than
20 pesticide applicator training
credits are available to growers
attending the sessions. .
This year, according to Bill
Troxell, executive secretary of the
Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers
Association, Northumberland,
special sessions on Wednesday
morning will highlight valuc
(Turn to Pago A 23)
Fair Association Selects Queen,
Fairperson Of Year
grounds in Quarryville; and on
Feb. 3 at the Blue Ball Fire
Company.
The county-wide, real estate
value reassessment for tax pur
poses was performed at the order
of the state supreme court because
county leaders failed to call for a
county-wide reassessment since
1962.
Efforts to correct the situation
began in the city of Lancaster in
1980 with efforts by the Leaque of
Women Voters, the Lancaster
Chamber of Commerce and the
city of Lancaster school districts.
Donald Lanius holds his plaque presented to him as he is
named fairperson of the year by the Pennsylvania State
Association of County Fairs, while PSACF legislative con
sultant Fred McKlllop offers congratulations.
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
HERSHEY (Dauphin
Co.) The largest crowd to ever
attend the annual Sire Power, Inc.,
meeting in the Hotel Hershey heard
reports of success for 1994. While
the profits were not as large as
1993’s record-breaking, net
returns were acceptable in light of
the new approach to sales across
the country.
Starting last year, the organiza
tion went from using independent
contractors to a system of employ
ing their own people to provide ser
vices to a large portion of the states
and locations where dairy farming
takes place. More than $1 million
was spent on equipment and per
sonnel to expand the operation.
Currently they have employed
sales people in all U.S. markets.
President Gary Rickard reported
improved sales as these sales peo
ple become established. In addi-
Four Sections
After several years of discussion, it
eventually became an issue for the
courts.
Even though reassessing prop
erties on a reasonably cyclical
basis would be prudent, just, and
fulfill the intent of the law, it is an
anathema for career politicians
it has been observed by some poli
ticians that very few get re-elected
following a county-wide
reassessment
While that has been blamed by
some for the inequities in taxing
rates that resulted in a court
(Turn to Pag* A 27)
don, the young sire program has
expanded to include 130 bulls per
year. A new 100 stall young sire
bam has been completed and cur
rently is in use as the beginning
step of their increased product
development program.
During the past year, new
bylaws were written for the
cooperative to outline the purpose
and operational structure of the
organization. These new bylaws
establish three director regions,
each with approximately the same
number of members. A delegate
system replaces state boards, and
these delegates will elect three
directors from each region to serve
on the Sire Power board.
A patronage dividend was not
declared due to the modest net
income of $308,461.
DuWayne Kutz, general mana
ger, described 1993-1994 as a year
$21.00 Per Year
(Turn to Pago All)