Pa. State Grange
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teer monitoring; lawsuit abuse
reform act; and funding for
Johnc’s disease control and eradi
cation and creation of a vaccina
tion program.
“As a grass-roots organization,
the policies determined here will
influence our legislative efforts on
Capitol Hill as we work on legsila
lion that will affect agriculture and
rural Pennsylvania,” said Brenda
Shambaugh, State Grange legisla
tive director.
“These issues are of greatest
concern to our membership and the
Pennsyvlania State Grange will
see that these policies are
addressed at the state federal
level."
In his address to the State
Grange, Agriculture Secretary
Hayes said, “From agricultural
research to cooperative extension
and extending the over-order pte
mium, the Grange has
historically and I’m proud to
say this played a proactive role
in securing funding, and has been a
voice for agriculture and rural
issues.
“We must continue to tell the
good story of agriculture and its
many accomplishments."
Hayes touched upon a number
of issues of concern to Grange
members in his talk.
“In the area of food safety.
(state) Department of Agriculture
officials will have our people
working in the field, productively,
proactively and in a cooperative
way, to ensure that Pennsylvania
products remain the most healthy
and wholesome.”
Hayes said that, as an example
of the actual care and concern that
is a daily event around the state,
out of the 180 million meals served
to school students in 1997 there
were no reported cases of contami
nated food.
He also discussed farmland pre
servation efforts in Pennsylvania,
noting that the state, its communi
ties and landowners have been
working together to save farmland
for future generations at a greater
rate than any other state in the
nation, and recently celebrated the
preservation of 1,000 farms under
the program.
The state agriculture secretary
said additional research and fund
ing are needed to eradicate pseudo
rabies, and to suppress avian
influenza.
The current state agriculture
budget is the best he’s been alive to
have seen, he said.
He commended the Grange on
its activity and leadership, and said
that its role in agricultural and rural
affairs has had a tremendous
impact and will continue to into the
next century.
Among the new policies, on the
issue of CAFOs, the Pennsylvania
State Grange does not separate
small farms from larger ones, and
believes all fanning activities
should be within the scope of the
laws and regulations governing
their operations.
Moreover, all required permits
relating to the size of the operation
should be process in a timely
manner.
“any changes to the present
CAFO regulations should be con
sidered by the General Assembly
and not done by policy of an agen
cy,” Shambaugh said. “The
Grange also feels public hearing
should not be necessary to meet
permit requirements, and believes
local municipalities should not
deny local permits when state reg
ulations are met”
Under the Food Quality Protec
tion Act the Grange does not
approve the grouping of chemicals
together for risk factor
measurements.
Shambaugh said the Grange
recommends that the Act contain
four principles sound science
in protecting public health; trans
parency; a reasonable transition
for agriculture; and consultation
with the agricultural community,
the general public and other
agencies.
The Grange created policy to
work with other farm organiza
tions to clarify and update permis
sible and nonpermissiblc uses of
farm vehicle registration plates.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 7, 1998-A35
The policy was created in response
to demonstrated local discrepen
cies in interpretation, knowledge
and practices in enforcing the law.
“It's important that the Grange
and other organizations be a part of
the equation as we seek to rectify
the problems associated with this
program,” Shambaugh said. “We
will work on behalf of the agricul
tural community to see that the law
works the way it was intended
to allow fanners to use their vehi
cles to conduct farm business as
they transport commodities to and
from the farm.”
The state Department of Enviro
mental Protection has for some
time enjoyed the volunteer efforts
of state citizens who have an inter
est in monitoring some basic local
water quality parameters.
The effort began years ago as
there is a contigent of citizens
interested in water quality and in
being able to contribute to efforts
to collect raw data.
The state DEP never had and
does not now have the manpower
or financial resources to be able to
monitor water quality parameters
across the state on an annual basis,
much less on the daily basis that is
scientifically required in order to
determine probable causes of
water quality characteristics.
For example, it only takes one
day out of one year fora stream to
experience high water tempera
tures in order to kill temperaturc
and oxygen-sensitive aquatic life.
While citizen volunteers gener
ally don't do daily monitoring, the
program at least allows for the col
lection of aw data by which the
department can track trends and
also be able to spot questionable
data reports.
The. Grange, an organization
proud of its heritage of environ
mental stewardship, established
policy calling for members to con
tinue their efforts to educate ether
organizations and individuals to
sustain valuable natural resources
through programs such as Citizens
Volunteer Monitoring.
On another issue, the Grange
created policy at the convention to
encourage members and their sub
ordinate Granges to check with
their local municipalities and join
the Pennsylvania Civil Justice
Coalition, an organization dedi
cated to the elimination of frivol
ous lawsuits and lawsuit abuse, in
general.
“Simply stated, lawsuit abuse costs taxpayers
millions of dollars annually,” Shambaugh said.
“The time has come to bring to an end frivolous
lawsuits that bog down the court system and
waste money."
As far as Johne's Disease, Grange delegates
approved two companion resolutions one
call for exploring various avenues for the possi
bility of creating a state-funded indemnity prog
ram for Johne's; the other calls for an even grater
push for research to continue to make strides
against the disease, with the goal of creating a
vaccine and then implementing a vaccination
program.
“The Grange has been in the forefront of all
Johnc's Disease research in Pennsylvania for the
last 15 years,” Shambaugh said. “Now that
research has progressed to the point where a vac
cine may be developed in the near future, we
designed policy that, if implemented by the state,
will bring an end to this costly disease.”
In its election of offierts, William Steele of
Freedom was re-elected master (president) for
another two-years.
A 45-year member of the Grange, Steele is a
lay minister at St. John’s Lutheran Church and is
.associated with his brother in a crop farm
operation.
Steele is also past president of the Beaver
County Extension Association, and past chair
man of the Youth Conference of the National
Safety Council, and the Arlington, Virginia,
County Fair, of which he was a co-founder.
Betsy Huber of Lincoln University, in Chester
County, was re-elected overseer (vice president)
for a two-year term. She is the first woman to fill
the post.
A 37-year member, Huber is past member of
the Goshen Grange No. 121, immediate past mas
ter of the Chester/Delaware Pomona N 0.3, and
was with her husband Henry, the 1971 Yough
Couple of the Year.
A legislative aid to state Rep. Art Hershey,
Huber has been involved in a number of county
and local organizations.
Also re-elected were Susan Tau of Hayfield
Grange No. Boo as lecturer; Floyd Buffington of
Community Grange N 0.2048 as assistant ste
ward; Mary Ann Vucklcy of Lincoln Grange
N 0.914 as lady assistant steward; Jean Holla
baugh of Waston Grange No. 1068 as chaplain;
ann Nause of Valley Grange N 0.1360 as state
treasurer, and Sandy Witmcr of Elizabethtown
Grange N 0.2076 as secretary.
Newly elected were Dean Miller of Battlefield
Grange N 0.2063 as steward; Robert Moore of
Buffalo Grange No. 1523 as gatekeeper; Linda
Strong of Plumcreck Valley Grange No. 1702 as
Ceres; Debra Campbell of Petty Valley No. 1804
as Pomona; Janet Fishovitz of Big Knob Grange
N 0.2008 as Flora; and Stan Gruber of Stony
Point Grange No. 1694 as committee member.
The Pa. State Grange represents 30,000 rural
Pennsylvanians. For more information, call
(717) 234-5001.