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,
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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.
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William R. Henning
Penn State Extension
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