A3B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 18, 2000 HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Responding to persistent and historically low milk prices. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman recently told Ameri ca’s dairy farmers that signifi cant new assistance is on the way. Glickman said the agriculture appropriations bill that Presi dent Clinton is expected to sign provides an estimated $667 mil lion to help dairy farmers cope with the low milk prices. Prices have declined for three consecu tive years and are now at their lowest level since 1991. Approximately 80,000 dairy operations across the country will receive an average of $8,300 each. The maximum payment per operation will be capped at $25,000. Overall, USDA expects to distribute more than twice as much dairy market loss assist ance this year as it has in the last two years combined. “Many of America’s small and medium-size dairy farms need this help to survive,” said Glickman. Estimates indicate that Penn sylvania dairy farmers will receive about $48.5 million. New Major Dairy Initiative Announced By USDA York farmers will receive an es timated $6O million. Minnesota is expected to receive about $56 million. USDA will distribute an estimated $5l million in Califor nia and $137 million in Wiscon sin. State Director William Baum gartner added his agreement that the state’s small-to medium-sized dairy operations will benefit from the payment and is very pleased that the quantity eligible for payment was increased from 26,000 cwt. to 39,000 cwt. According to Baumgartner, this will work well for Pennsylvania’s typically smaller operations. In addition, Glickman an nounced a major expansion of USDA’s Dairy Options Pilot Program. This innovative cost share program helps dairy farm ers put a “floor” under the price they receive for milk using the futures and options markets. USDA subsidizes both premi ums and brokerage fees for par ticipating dairy farmers. USDA will spend about $24 million over the next two years expand ing this program, but the inno vative approach used will allow dairy farmers to leverage signifi cantly more protection against price drops. The program, cur rently operating in 61 counties, will expand to 300 counties in 39 states. The participating counties in Pennsylvania include Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Butler, Centre, Chester, Crawford, Cumberland, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Alfred State Receives Grant ALFRED, N.Y. The De partment of Agriculture and Horticulture at Alfred State Col lege has been awarded a grant of $48,000 through the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC). Principal investigators will be Joan Wissert, assistant profes sor and chair, Agriculture and Horticulture, Alfred State Col lege; Kenneth Mudge, Cornell University; and William Head, A LESSON WELL LEARNED... LANCASTER FARMING'S CLASSIFIED ADS GET RESULTS! Mercer, Perry, Somerset, Sus quehanna, Tioga, Union, West moreland, and York. The market loss assistance payments will be made to dairy farmers who received payments in the last two years as well as new producers. In an effort to speed payments and eliminate the need for a sign-up, payments to previous participants will be automatically calculated based SUNY Morrisville. Alabama A&M University will also participate. Other Alfred State College Ag and Hort Department participants are James Comes, lecturer, and Rachel LaMorte, assistant pro fessor. The objective of this project is to extend offerings in the horti cultural sciences to undergradu ate students through a series of distance learning modules. LEBANON VALLEY ENTERPRISES, INC. Manufacturing * Powder Coating * Precast RO. Box 187, Myerstown, PA 17067 • (717) 866-2030 on 1997 or 1998 production levels, whichever are higher. To better target small-to medium-sized producers, pay ment calculations for all participants will be limited to the first 39,000 cwt. of produc tion. All dairy farmers will receive the same payment rate. Further details are expected to be announced next month. Pay ments are expected to go out within the next few months. Methods include asynchronous Web/CD-based modules, stu dent interaction through discus sion and group projects, hands on instruction in horticultural skills, and synchronous video conferencing. Students at coop erating institutions will gain access to a broader range of ex pertise than currently available at any single institution. The program will based on industry needs. evolve
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