16SOZ Tl ~ 830 P 3 > ! | - n _i' J _ - 096034 013100 I I PERIODICALS DIVISION 048 PATTE LIBRARY V 01.45 No. 16 Annual PASA Conference Attracts 1,000 GAIL STROCK Mifflin Co. Correspondent STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.)The Pennsylvania Associa tion for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) held its ninth annual Farming for the Future Confer ence February 4 and 5 at the Penn Stater Hotel and Confer ence Center in State College. Roman Stoltzfoos, right, received the Sustainable Ag Leadership award at the RASA Conference. Making the presentation is Tim Bowser, RASA executive secretary. jayne Sebright Lancaster Farming Staff HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Last Tuesday Governor Tom Ridge proposed a $19.7 bil lion general fund budget, which included the biggest tax cut ever, along with increased invest ments in education and technol ogy. In the agricultural arena, the budget includes support for farmland preservation, animal health-related issues, and agri cultural research. An increase of $179,000 is devoted to promote agricultural products both at home and around the world. “Governor Ridge has recom mended another great budget for Pennsylvania agriculture,” said Secretary Samuel Hayes, Jr. In his budget, Ridge included a commitment of $2O million a year to the Farmland Preserva tion Program. The $2O million is part of $135 million devoted to implement the second year of Pennsylvania’s “Growing Greener” environmental effort to help communities better con trol land use. The $2O million will be uti lized by Pennsylvania Depart ment of Agriculture (PDA) to preserve about 82 farms or 10,000 acres of farmland. In addition to the $2O million is about $25 million that will Four Sections The purpose of the conference is to educate, enlighten, and exam ine the revolutionary changes occurring in the food system worldwide while providing al ternatives to creating a sustain able food system. The event drew nearly 1,000 participants and featured inter nationally renown speakers such State Budget Includes Increases For Animal Disease Prevention And Ag Promotion come from cigarette-tax revenue and other sources to enable the state to preserve 12,000 addi tional acres. That’s 22,000 acres in total. The other $lO5 million in the “Growing Greener” fund will be divided three ways. $50.5 mil lion will go to the Department of This year’s Sire Power scholarship winners included (seated from left): Jen nifer Dotterer, Melissa Werley, Stacey Dietrich, Olivia Courtney, Emily Bryant; (standing from left): Kirk Sattazahn, Sire Power director of marketing, member ship area; Mark Hazelton, Kevin Harvatine, Darren Martin, Amanda Shahan, and Marsha Bosch. Winners not pictured include Amy lager, Heather Oberholtzer, and Janice Youse. See story on page A 32. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 19, 2000 as Dr. Vandana Shiva, director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecol ogy, New Delhi, India, and Dr. John Todd, president and founder of Ocean Arks Interna tional, Burlington, Vermont. We pulled out all the stops to get our keynote speakers, ex plains Tim Bowser, program coordinator for the PASA Con ference. And we tried to cover all kinds of topics for our work shops the farm crisis, prices, world trade, GMOs, and more. Shiva is a world renown advo cate for farmers, the environ ment, women, and freedom. She figured prominently in the World Trade Organization talks in Seattle, giving ten lectures, workshops, and testimonies about World Trade Organiza tion implications. In India she organizes sustainable farmer training cooperatives, oversees the creation of a seed banking network, and fights corporate acquisition of agricultural water rights. Shivas Research Founda tion conducts independent re search on ecological and social issues. She founded Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seeds. Dr. Shivas awards (Turn to Page A2O) Environmental Protection for watershed protection and resto ration projects. $32.5 million will go to the Department of Conservation and Natural Re sources to make repairs and pro vide grants to communities. 32 million will go to the Pa. Infras tructure Investment Authority The Snyders work together to closely monitor their dairy herd in Union Cqg||ty. Keeping a busy schedule with Joseph Sr. worku|piftiM|* farm, the Snyders main tain a somatic cell count of around 63,000 on their 63- cow dairy. Their excellent management practices have earned them numerous awards, including the National Dairy Quality Award. For more on Annette, Joseph Sr., Chris, and Joseph Jr., turn to page 814. Photo by Jayne Sebright (PENNVEST) for water and sewer projects. “During last summer’s agri cultural committee hearings, we heard a clear message of the desire for Farmland Preserva tion to continue and even be ex panded,” said Representative Raymond Bunt, Jr., chairman of $31.00 Per Year the agricultural and rural affairs committee for the House of Rep resentatives. “Through the Growing Greener initiative, this budget provides for that.” Hayes also noted that in addi tion to the “Growing Greener” budget, an additional $190,000 Six Master . Farmers Named HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)-Early next month, the Mid- Atlantic Master Farmer Award will be bestowed on six farmers from three states at the 66th annual Master Farmer awards luncheon. The awards will be given March 6, at the Harrisburg Marriott. Past Master Farmers and ag leaders from across Pennsylva nia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia will honor this year’s recipients. They are: Susan M. Blew of Pittstown, N.J.; Duane and June Hertzler of Loysville; Robert H. Jackson of Brownsville; Lewis R. Riley of Parsonsburg, Md.; and James Witter of Ship pensburg. The six Master Farm (Turn to Page A2B) 600 Per Copy (Turn to Page A 34)