Ag Group Tells Congress New Policy Tools Are Needed WASHINGTON, D.C. “In this new farm economy, the old tools we’ve used to try and shore up and protect farm income sim ply aren’t enough to do the job. We need a bigger toolbox and some new tools,” Wayne Nelson, president of Communicating for Agriculture and the Self-Em ployed (CA) and a South Dakota grain farmer, said in testimony before a U.S. House of Represen tatives Subcommittee. “These new tools include legis lation that would encourage value-added agriculture develop ment as a vital pint of long-term strategies for farmers in a rapidly changing food and agricultural system,” Nelson emphasized at a hearing on “Regrowing Rural America Through Value-Added Agriculture” by the House Small Business Subcommittee on Rural Farm Service Agency Explains Loan Deficiency Benefits POTTSVILLE (Schuylkill Co.) Grain prices are still below the established loan rates. The loan rates for 2001 crops are: barley 81.44, oats $1.30, wheat $2.63, corn $2.13, and soybeans $5.43. Whenever the daily market price is below the above rates a defi :iency payment is available. In all cases the benefit must be requested while you still have control of the grain. If you are selling grain directly from the field you must request payment Ohio State Honors Dairy Industry Leaders PLAIN CITY, Ohio, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, recently inducted Ron Long, vice president sire procure ment, Select Sires Inc., into its Dairy Science Hall of Service. Each year at its recognition ban quet The Ohio State University Buckeye Dairy Club presents this award, to an individual whose ini tiative, guidance and sharing of knowledge have made him a pio neer in the dairy industry. Long has been a dairy industry leader at the state, national and international levels for more than 40 years. While much of his lega cy is seen in the improved type and production of dairy cattle, he also has served the industry well through his service and mentor- Dr. Jim Kinder, left, chairman of Ohio State’s Animal Science Department, presents Ron Long, Select Sires vice president of procurement, with the 2001 Dairy Sci ence Hall of Service Award. Enterprises, Agriculture and Technology. Specifically, Nelson said CA supports H.R. 1094, the “Farm ers Value-Added Agricultural In vestment Tax Credit Act” that would allow producers to receive a 50 percent tax credit on invest ments in producer-owned, value added enterprises up to $30,000 per year, and H.R. 1093 that would establish innovation cen ters to provide technical assist ance, market and business devel opment services for new value added ventures. “It is now abundantly clear that vertical integration in agri culture is here to stay,” said Nel son, citing reports that only 17 percent of hogs are sold on the open market today compared to 43 percent in 1997. “This is a cause of great worry among prior to harvest. The benefit amount will be based on the date of sale. If placing grain in farm storage, you xan select the day you wish to take the benefit any time prior to sale or feeding. If you wish to take a loan you will receive the full loan rate to use to pay bills. At any time prior to feeding or sale you can repay the loan at the daily market price or principle plus interest, which ever is less. For example: if you loan $213 for com and the mar ket price is $1.90 on the day you ing of others. Dairy producers throughout the world have benefited from Select Mating Service (SMS), a cattle-mating program pioneered by Long that has grown to in clude more than 50 professionals who make more than 2 million matings annually. In addition, Long has served as president of National Dairy Shrine, as well as a member of the National Associ ation of Animal Breeders (NAAB) Standardization of Type Traits Committee, Holstein Frie sian Association (HFA) Type Ad visory Committee, HFA Genetic Index Committee and Ohio State’s Dairy Science Advisory Committee. He is also a well-re garded national and internation al judge. farmers, but the results of this trend are by no means necessarily bad. Vertical integration can have many benefits the only question is, will farmers truly participate and will they share in its rewards?” He told the members of the Subcommittee that vertical inte gration from the farmer’s field to the grocery shelf could offer the opportunity to better line up sup ply with demand. It also offers the opportunity to produce more specialized, tailored products that consumers want, whether it’s lean pork, organic vegetables, branded beef products or special ty grains. Nelson said another important new tool is Congressional support for stronger oversight to preserve competition in the agribusiness and food industries, and com- repay you pay $1.90 per Bu. There is no interest charge in his case. The difference, $.23 is con* sidered a market gain. In 2001, USDA has not re ceived authorization to make these benefits available on farms not enrolled in the seven-year Production Flexibility Program. This applies to all program crops: however, soybeans are eli gible for benefits on all acres re ported to the FSA office. For questions contact the FSA office at 570-622-1555. Alter earning a bachelor’s de gree from Ohio State, Long re turned to Longway Holsteins as a partner to manage the 70-cow herd. He then became an official HFA classifier. Following that, he was herd manager of the 600-cow herd at SanMarGale Farm. In 1973, Ron became vice president of dairy sire procurement for Se lect Sires, beginning a long tenure at what now is the leading A.I. organization in North America. In 1998, Ron became chairman of the dairy sire department at Select Sires. Through his leader ship, Select Sires consistently has developed what is arguably the industry’s leading dairy-sire of fering in all breeds. These bulls have also become chosen sire fa thers for future generations, in fluencing all active-A.I. lineups. Based in Plain City, Ohio, Se lect Sires Inc. is a federation of 10 farmer-owned and controlled co operatives. It provides highly fer tile semen as well as excellence in service and programs to achieve its basic objective of supplying livestock breeders with America’s best genetics at a reasonable price. See Lancaster Farming Cow Cam Visit our Website at www. lancasterfarming.com mended the Subcommittee Chairman, Congressman John R. Thune (R-SD), for introducing H.R. 1526, the Agriculture Com petition Enhancement Act. Thune’s legislation would put limits on mergers to prevent ex cessive concentration and pro vide for stronger oversight in the Department of Justice. “The approach that is needed is to use new policy tools to see that farmer can participate in, are served fairly by, and will ben efit from vertical integration, rather than being taken advan tage of,” Nelson said. The CA leader also expressed support for USDA’s cooperative stock purchase loan guarantee program, and urged the legisla tors to consider establishing a low interest loan program to help be ginning farmers to participate in new value-added co-ops. Nelson also reiterated his or ganization’s support for legisla tion that provides an economic safety net for the farming com munity by continuing reliable National Poultry Meeting Planned For October In Maryland GEORGETOWN, Del. More than 500 poultry indus try personnel from across the country and around the world are expected to attend the Na tional Meeting on Poultry Health and Processing in Ocean City, Md., October 17 - 19. Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. (DPI), the trade associa tion working for the continued progress of the Delmarva Pen insula’s broiler chicken indus try, sponsors this highly re spected meeting. “The meeting, now in its 36th year, is unique in that it brings together poultry health, live production, processing food safety, allied industry, and academic personnel to hear presentations that pro vide practical information to the poultry industry,” com mented meeting chairman Dr. G. Donald Ritter, the chair man of DPl’s Poultry Health Committee. That committee, plus DPl’s Processing and Food Safety Committee, se lected speakers from 10 states, the District of Columbia, and two foreign nations. In the combined session to open the educational portion of the meeting on October 18, speakers will discuss various topics related to food safety, consumer acceptance of irra diated chicken, and U.S. ani- AMS Selects Plant Variety Protection Office Commissioner WASHINGTON, D.C. - The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service recently announced the selection of Paul Zankowski as the new commissioner of the Plant Variety Protection Office. Zankowski comes to AMS from a position with the Harris Moran Vegetable Seed Com pany in Modesto, Calif., where he held the title of director of biotechnology. While with Harris Moran, Zankowski de veloped commercial biotechnol ogy products, administered the molecular biology program, and conducted extensive plant breeding research. As commissioner, Zankowski Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, July 28,2001-C5 farm income support programs and strong conservation incen tives in the new Farm Bill Con gress is about to write. And, Nelson urged members of the Subcommittee to support: • Help for beginning farmers and ranchers by exempting state “Aggie Bond” finance programs” from state bond caps, and legisla tion that would allow the Farm Service Agency beginning farmer loan guarantees to be used on Aggie Bond loans. • The Ag Tax Package, H.R. 2347, that includes a range of tax changes that benefit agriculture, including: FFARRM accounts, which provide tax-deferred saving ac counts to enable farmers and ranchers to save in good years for use in bad years. Needed clarification of IRS rules regarding taxation of in come from CRP payments and certain farm rental payments. Other provisions that would benefit cooperatives and begin ning farmers. mal health programs. Poultry health sessions in clude presentations on IBDV, a novel pathogenic reovirus strain in Europe, field obser vations from a Southeast U.S. reovirus infection, new ap proaches to control LT, sup plying the live bird markets, low pathogen A 1 control in northeast live bird markets, disease-control decision mak ing, performance impacts from management practices, regional perspectives on broil er health, and five presenta tions on the importance of proper hatchery procedures. In the Processing Session on October 18, topics include practical approaches to Liste ria-proof packaging areas, edi ble coatings to protect food from pathogens, accurate de tection of bone fragments, im proving deboning quality, water reuse in processing, and preparing for USDA’s mois ture retention rule. For further information about the 36th National Meet ing on Poultry Health and Processing, contact Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., 16686 County Seat Highway, Georgetown, DE 19947-4881; fax (302) 856-1845; telephone (302) 856-9037; or send via e mail to dpi@dpichicken.com. will head the USDA staff that administers the provisions of the Plant Variety Protection Act. The act extends intellectual property right protection to de velopers of new varieties of seed reproduced and tuber propagated plants. This protection encourages develop ment of new varieties of plants, benefiting agriculture, home gardeners, and consumers. Zankowski received his M.S. and Ph.D in plant physiology from the University of Califor nia and a B.S. in biology from the Pennsylvania State Univer sity.
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