A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 3,2001
NFU’s 99th Anniversary Convention In Rochester
WASHINGTON, D.C. Rob
ert F. Kennedy, Jr., president of
the Water Keeper Alliance and
son of the late U.S. senator and
attorney general, will join hun
dreds of the nation’s family
farmers and ranchers in Roches
ter. N.Y., March 2-5, for Nation
al Farmers Union’s (NFU) 99th
anniversary convention at the
Four Points Hotel.
U.S. Reps. Louise Slaughter,
D-N.Y., and Maurice Hinchey,
D-N.Y., are featured speakers for
this year’s event.
Kennedy will give the conven
tion’s keynote address on Friday
evening, March 2, as a part of the
Milkers’ Training School Offered
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
One of the important tasks to be
performed on a dairy farm is
milking cows. A Milkers’ Train
ing School will be held on Tues.,
March 13 at the Hershey Broth
ers farm north of Manheim.
The purpose of the school is to
offer basic training to milkers
and to demonstrate training
techniques to those who manage
the milking crew. Some of the
topics to be addressed include:
understanding the udder and the
milk letdown process, proper
udder preparation and milking
procedures, producing high qual
ity milk, preventing udder infec
tions, animal handling and mov
ing techniques, detecting and
handling animals that need spe
cial attention, recording and re
porting pertinent data, under
standing the milking system.
opening session. His speech is
scheduled for 8 p.m. Reps. Hin
chey and Slaughter will each ad
dress the convention at a Sat.,
March 3, banquet that begins at
6:30 p.m.
“A new Congress signals a
fresh start for the development of
family farm and ranch policy,”
said Leland Swenson, president
of NFU. “While some of the
names and the balance of power
are new, we face many of the
same challenges that rural Amer
ica saw as we began the last
year.”
“In March, we will gather to
build on the momentum we cre-
setting up the equipment for
milking and proper cleanup after
milking, responding to emergen
cy problems with animals and
equipment, etc. Anyone interest
ed in milking is invited to attend.
Penn State encourages persons
with disabilities to participate in
its programs and activities. If
you anticipate needing any type
of accommodation or have ques
tions about the physical access
provided, please contact Glenn
Shirk at (717) 394-6851 in ad
vance of your participation or
visit.
Attendance is by reservation
only. This is a Capital Regional
Extension program. Reservations
can be made by calling the York
County Extension office (717)
840-7408 and will be accepted on
a first-come basis.
Rf™
i-n
ated over the past year to ad
dress issues such as concentra
tion, low prices and the reform of
federal farm programs. We will
also share with each other the in
formation and expertise we have
gained through our efforts to
serve farm and ranch families
throughout the year.”
Sat., March 3 will also feature
two important discussions. The
Easement
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Farmers selling agricul
tural conservation easements
want to get the best price they
can for their development rights.
But capital gains tax often
takes a big portion of the sale
price right off the closing table.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Ag
riculture Sam Hayes announced
that the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture (PDA) has a
way for sellers to increase what
they get to keep, and not just
what they get, when selling ease
ments.
Under a new option developed
by PDA, farmers can sell ease
ments using installment pur
chase agreements (IPAs) that
defer all or part of the purchase
price for up to 30 years. In the
interim, sellers receive interest
twice a year on the outstanding
balance. As with a municipal
bond, interest payments are
exempt from federal and Penn
sylvania state income taxes.
By deferring payment of the
purchase price for up to 30 years,
IPAs are designed to allow sellers
to defer capital gains tax for a
buf
Jt vt 2*
morning discussion will address
needed policy changes to the
1996 farm law. The afternoon
will feature a farm leader round
table where participants will dis
cuss not only important policy,
market and structural realities
faced by farmers, but, also, im
portant social and community
concerns of rural citizens.
Sellers Can Keep More
similar period. For many sellers,
that means they’ll never pay cap
ital gains tax in their lifetimes.
Heirs can sell IP As in the munic
ipal bond market as a way of
paying estate taxes or capital
gains taxes.
Capital gains tax is due when
a seller receives payment for ap
preciated land or other assets.
Capital gain is the difference be
tween the sale price and the
value of the property when it was
first bought or inherited. The
IRS taxes capital gains at a max
imum rate of 20 percent and
Pennsylvania at a maximum 2.8
percent rate.
Howard County, Maryland,
has used 30-year IPAs to buy
easements on 9,200 acres from 81
sellers since 1989. Similar pro
grams are under way in Harford
and Anne Arundel counties,
Maryland; Virginia Beach, Vir
ginia; and Burlington County,
New Jersey.
PDA is recommending IPAs to
county farmland preservation
boards, because the structure
minimizes cash needed to close
on purchases. The rural charac-
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Sun., March 4 will feature sev
eral afternoon forums that will
address the role of faith commu
nities in the current rural, eco
nomic and social crisis, industrial
concentration in agriculture and
the food system, and trade chal
lenges with China.
Delegates will consider and
adopt the 2001 NFU policy pro
gram on Mon., March 5.
ter of many parts of Pennsylva
nia will be lost forever unless de
velopment rights are purchased
soon. IPAs permit as many as
five times more purchases in the
short term than if cash were paid
for each acquisition.
At the time farmers apply to
their counties to sell development
rights, they’ll be asked to choose
among an all-cash or installment
purchase, or some combination
of the two. After the terms of the
sale are agreed upon, the pur
chase is submitted to PDA for
approval. Closing can occur
within six months of state ap
proval.
Additional information re
garding installment purchase can
be obtained from each county
farmland preservation board or
by contacting Raymond C. Pick
ering, Director of PDA’s Bureau
of Farmland Preservation, at
(717) 783-3167. To discuss tax
treatment of easement sales, con
tact Michael W. Evanish, man
ger of the Pennsylvania Farm
Bureau’s MSC Business Services,
at (717) 731-3546 or mweva
nish@pfb.com.
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