PFAF, Nationwide Sponsor Ninth Annual Golf Classic MILLIE BUNTING Market Staff CAMP HILL (Dauphin Co.) —“Sowing the seeds of our fu ture” is not just the slogan but the driving force of the Pennsyl vania Friends of Agriculture Foundation (PFAF). The largest fundraising event of the group is an annual golf tournament. The Ninth Annual Golf Class ic, sponsored by the Pennsylva nia Friends of Agriculture and Nationwide Insurance, will be June 25 at the West Course of the Country Club of Hershey. Co-chairmen for this year’s tournament are Richard L. Pre ttier and Joseph R. Patti from the public relations staff of the Delaware Valley College To Host Annual A~Day April 28-29 DOYLESTOWN (Bucks Co.) Delaware Valley College will host its annual A-Day cele bration April 28-29 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., rain or shine, here on the college campus. Now in its 53rd year, A-Day is totally coordinated and run by a team of students who are advised by a panel of faculty, staff, or ad ministration members. A-Day showcases the students’ accomplishments over the past year, plus student club exhibits and demonstrations in a country fair-type setting. Featured attrac tions include a craft show, equip ment, display, hayrides through the college’s orchards and farms, SALES $5OO OFF Any Motorhome $250 OFF Any Trailer $l5O Off Pop-Up Offer Ends April 30 Limit 1 Per Customer Not Valid w/Other Offers FREE 1 Year 12,000 Mile Powertrain Warranty For Any Motor Home Bought At Show MARTIN MOTOR HOME Uls*** 1 ” Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. Res ervations are open until June 11 and can be made by calling Jack ie Wimberly at (717) 761-2740. The future of agriculture lies in educating our youth, agricul tural research and technology, and the preservation of farm land. To promote these goals, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau cre ated the Foundation in the mid 1980s to provide funds for educa tional, scientific, and charitable programs related to agriculture. “Agriculture in the Class room” is probably the Founda tion’s most well-known project. Each summer, teachers are of fered a one-week accredited course at Penn State’s main cam pus, where they leam how to use pony rides, an animal exhibit, contests of skill, and a variety of food prepared by the student clubs and organizations. In addition, there is always musical entertainment on the main stage from the Del Val band and chorale and other talented musicians. An estimated 50,000 visitors attend A-Day. All of the proceeds from the event go directly to student scholarships and the student clubs and organizations partici pating in the weekend. A-Day is the largest fund raiser in which the college’s clubs and organiza tions participate all year. Friday, April 27 12-9 PM Saturday, April 28 9AM - 5 PM agriculture in the classrooms for kindergarten through sixth grades. PFAF partners with individu als and county Farm Bureau as sociations to provide schol arships to teachers in both public and private schools to attend the accredited continuing education course. More than 800 teachers have attended since the program began in 1992. A proposed rule and invitation for comment by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of USDA to implement the 1999 Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act was published in the Federal Register on Fri., Mar. 17. The simple message of the leg islation is that a small segment of the livestock industry (bovine, porcine and ovine) has required the packing and processing in dustry to report livestock pur chases and sales of meat to a government agency, electronical ly, two or three times daily, or be penalized for failure to do so with extortion-like civil penalties. The stated purpose of the leg islation is “to ensure that small farmers and ranchers have a full and fair opportunity to compete in an increasingly concentrated agricultural economy,” Agricul ture Secretary Glickman said in a statement. Sounds pretty straight for ward. But the fact is that this vo luminous, prescriptive regu lation will be a nightmare to implement and probably won’t Rentals & Sates Rt. 322 Lititz Mandatory Livestock Price Reporting SPECIAL 7171721-6891 Marlin R. Miller, PFAF execu tive director, said that PFAF funds several other programs which involve agricultural edu cation. They contribute on an an nual basis to the program called “Food, Land, and People,” which was developed in California and adapted to run in schools throughout Pennsylvania with the aid of extension personnel. They also provide funds for Penn help small farmers and ranchers at all. The AMS proposal reaches be yond the expectations of the leg islation in many respects. It raises many more questions than it answers. It includes an exten sive reporting system for the lamb industry. Quite frankly, at face value, the system being pro posed will be so cumbersome and complicated that its negative im pact is expected to be much worse than anticipated. Those af fected directly are livestock packers and product processors and importers who slaughter an average of 125,000 cattle, 100.000 swine and/or 75,000 lambs per year. Importers who annually import an average of 5.000 metric tons of lamb meat are also required to report. Although the government plans to aggregate the reported prices and issue electronic re ports two or three times daily, USDA is still seeking input from the livestock and meat industry on how this new information would best be reported back to Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 21,2001-A2l State’s Rural Leadership Pro gram and the Ag Awareness Foundation, plus scholarships for students at Delaware Valley Col lege and Penn State. PFAF also finances a class for teachers called “Seed Sense,” which is part of the Penn State course. They provide a packet of lesson plans and resource materi als on agriculture to city and sub urban schools. the industry. It remains to be seen if they will be able to make anything out of the reams of mandatory data the price police will whip the industry into pro ducing. The National Meat Associa tion (NMA) vociferously opposed this legislation as it was devel oped last year. One hearing was held before the Agriculture Com mittee in the U.S. Senate at which NMA testified. The bill eventually was attached to an appropriations bill and became law without the benefit of full discussion. NMA and its Washington based counsel, with the input from key members, is developing a summary that will be made available to all members. If you would like a copy of this enor mous proposed rule visit NMA’s files page it at www.nmaonline.org/download AMS has provided additional in formation at http:// www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/ price.htm. Motor Homes Pop« Ups Trailers sth Wheels sur? William R. Henning Penn State Extension fv
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