A2B-Lamaster Farming, Saturday, May 13, 2000 JAYNE SEBRIGHT Lancaster Farming Staff HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Drought assistance, emergency drought guidelines, Clean and Green regulations, and this year’s Annual Cornuco pia were all discussed at the Pennsylvania State Council of Farm Organizations’ meeting held Wednesday at the Pennsyl vania Capitol in Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Secretary of Ag riculture Samuel Hayes, Jr., highlighted recent projects the Department has been emphasiz ing. According to Hayes, 70.6 mil lion dollars have been dedicated to assisting farmers with the 1999 drought. Five million went for the hay assistance program, while 5.6 million went for the crop insurance assistance pro gram. The remaining 60 million will be allocated as direct pay ments to farmers suffering from the drought. “Both the governor and legis lators want the 60 million to go out as soon as possible,” said Hayes. “The advanced pay ments have already been made, and the intermediate payments are going out this week. The final payments will go out just as Ag Scholarships Available COLLEGE PARK, Md. The Maryland Master Farmers have three $5OO agricultural scholarships available for the 2000 fall semester. Students entering the Univer sity of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, or Insti tute of Applied Agriculture, Col lege Park, may apply for the scholarships. Deadline is July 1, 2000. Send resumes to Rodman Myers, 15727 Smith Road, Thurmont, MD 21788 or to James M. Stup, 10112 Glade Road, Walkersville, MD 21793. All-Plant LIQUID PLANT FOOD 9-18-9 PLUS OTHERS! • Contains 100% white ortho phosphoric acid. Made in USA. • Non-corrosive. Won’t settle. •Top quality. Excellent service. • Newest equipment • Financially sound...and growing! Big Demand Requires More Distributors! □ I sell to farmers. How do I become your distributor? □ I’m a farmer. What’s the price? Where do I get it ? CALL or SEND FOR FACTS: Phone:Bl4-364-1349 ALL-PLANT LIQUID PLANT FOOD, INC. 821 State Rd. 511 N., RFD 3, Ashland, Ohio 44805 PA Council Of Farm Organizations Addresses Ag-Related Legislative Issues soon as we get all ot the tmal re ports from counties that are behind in providing us with their information.” According to Hayes, the only qualifying criteria of the drought assistance program is that farmers must have had more than a 35 percent crop loss due to the drought. Hayes also addressed emer gency regulations that the Penn sylvania Emergency Management Agency is estab lishing in regards to water usage during drought emergencies. “We want to keep an eye on these regulations because they could affect parts of the agricul ture industry. For example, food-processing companies use significant amounts of water. Traditionally, agriculture has always had an exemption from these regulations,” said Hayes. “But, as the regulations become more extensive, that could change.” According to Hayes, the de partment is working with legis lators, the Emergency Management Agency, and food processing companies to make sure that regulations aren’t so restrictive that they prohibit ag riculture processing. SumOaci*!" Environmental solutions - Consulting i engineering 1. Compliance and permitting for air, water & soil. 2 Dust and odor control - bag houses & cyclones. 3. Liquid separation, drying, filtration and treatment. 4 Fuel handling for solid, liquid, gaseous & waste fuel. 5. Retrofit burners and controls for waste fuels. 6. Mobile incineration service. Meets DEP & ERA regs. 7. Custom fabricated products for unusual applications, TOOLS « HARDWARE • FARM SUPPLIES • Animal Health • Bruning Paint • Bulk Fasteners • Bark Mulch & Mushroom Soil • Railroad Ties HOLTWOOD supply m Wed Thurs 1010 Sosquehamiock Drive 630 am • spm (at the Intersection of 372) Tues&Fn Sa « 3 6 0 3 a o m am BP 4 m pM 717-284-0883 Closed Sunday “Production agriculture will be fine under these regulations,” said Hayes. “But we have to re alize that we can’t have one without the other.” Another issue that Hayes ad dressed was food safety regula tions at county fairs and in the dairy beef and dairy product in dustries. “We’re applying the same principles from our egg quality assurance program to milk and dairy beef to make sure we don’t have a problem like the Jack-In-The-Box incident, where people were harmed from foodborae illnesses.” Hayes also addressed the con solidation of the Clean and Green regulations affecting farmers. The department hopes to publish the proposed regula tions and rules soon. “Currently we are reviewing informal public comment on the regulations,” said Hayes. “There have been incidents across Pennsylvania where the farm population has been ques tioning whether the counties have been interpreting the regu lations as the legislators in tended. We want to make sure that the county assessor in York County is interpreting the regu lations the same as the county • Fence Posts & Fence Supplies • Kerosene, Naptha, LP Gas • Plumbing, Heating & Electrical assessor in Warren County is.” Jay Howes, director of policy development for the House of Representatives Ag Committee staff, also discussed legislature affecting agriculture. Howes discussed the modifi cation of the drought crop loss' legislature, which freed up funds to distribute all of the 60 million available. The modifications also opened up the crop insur ance program to any producer, not just those who participated in the 1999 crop loss assistance program. Howes also highlighted two other legislative issues the Ag committee is working on. The first is an ag technology bill that would provide low-interest loans for installation of irrigation sys tems. The second involves two bills that address land use issues. “They’re making language modifications to these bills, and we need to keep an eye on them,” said Howes. “It’s im portant that the agriculture land exemption language stays the same.” In his comments, House en couraged the Council to support Ken Rutt, who is up for re election to the state conservation board. The Council voted to send a letter of approval on Rutt’s behalf. Pete Hardin, editor of the national milk marketing report, The Milkweed , will explain what’s really going on in dairy: • The U.S. has a MILK SHORTAGE, NOT A SURPLUS. (Imports are killing milk prices.) • Why young dairy animals are scarce and prices will only skyrocket. • “Reformed” federal milk pricing is yielding crumbs to farmers. • What you can do to improve prices and returns. The Milkweed is a controversial, independent marketing report for farmers—published for 21 years and sustained by 6500 subscribers For free sample copies of this informative publication, interested persons may write to: The Milkweed, Box 10, Brooklyn, WI 53521. (The Lancaster Co. Farm & Home Center is located at 1383 Arcadia Road-just off PA Highway 72, and just south of the intersection of PA 72 and U.S. Route 30. Head south on PA 72 from that intersection and turn left on to Arcadia Road between the Conestoga Marine and Honda car dealership. B£ THERE: 8:00 p.m. Monday, May 22!) (co-hosted by banco Dairy Cooperative) Council members also brought up other issues dealing with Pennsylvania agriculture during the meeting. Some of those issues included new pesti cide regulations, the Environ- mental Protection Agency’s proposed water runoff rules, funding for vocational agricul ture programs, and potential changes to the state inheritance tax regulations. The group highlighted the success of the recent Annual Cornucopia. 192 people at tended the event held in the ro tunda of the Capitol building. 117 legislators, along with their staffs, came to the event to net work with 75 farm organization representatives and guests. During the meeting, the Council filled the vacancy on the executive board. Gary Maurer from the Pennsylvania Young Farmers’ Association was nominated to fill the posi tion. Vice President Curtis Kratz from Moyer Packing Company led the meeting and encouraged the group to form a new com mittee to coordinate more activi ties benefiting the agriculture industry. “Everything this group has done in the past has been really good, but we need to do more,’’ said Kratz. “We have the oppor tunity and expertise to do some thing more to better agriculture in Pennsylvania.”
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