I Grants Available For Conservation Districts To Implement ‘PEACCE’ HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) PennAg Industries Asso ciation and the Lancaster County Conservation District will release funds through the Ombudsman pant to 17 county conservation districts across the state to imple ment the Pennsylvania Environ mental Agricultural Certification of Excellence Program (PEACCE) in January 2002. Conservation Districts who wish to participate in the PEACCE propam will be pant ed $2,000 to assist in the certifica tion process of up to three farms per county. Currently, the PEACCE propam is a pilot pro pam in Chester, Lancaster and Berks counties, with a goal to complete 20 certifications by Jan. 1,2002. The overall mission of PEACCE is to promote environ The PA Crop Insurance Assistance Program has been extended for crop year 2002. Benefits include: To receive agent www.RMA@usda.gov. insurance Enrollment Deadline: Pennsylvania encourages growers to have crop insurance protection as part of their farming risk management plan. All policy fees and approximately 20 percent of net premium costs are paid for growers. Sponsored by the PA Department of Agriculture with cost share support from RMA/USDA. mentally safe agricultural prac tices among livestock and poultry producers, to encourage them to minimize risks to the environ ment and in turn minimize per sonal liability, and to recognize those producers who meet or ex ceed standards as established by PEACCE. The Pennsylvania sponsors of the PEACCE propam include: PennAg Industries, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania As sociation of Conservation Dis tricts, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania State University, and the Penn sylvania Department of Environ mental Protection. For more in formation on the PEACCE propam, please contact Amy Van Blarcom at (717) 651-5920. FREE “CAT” Coverage Discounted Premiums & Fees (Paid for “BUY-UP” Coverage) these Sam Hayes Secretary of Agriculture Pennsylvania Crop Insurance Program benefits, contact a crop today. List available at March 15 - Spring crops Mid-Atlantic Regional Watershed Roundtable Conducted DOYLESTOWN (Bucks Co.) With the support of EPA, the USDA Natural Resource Conser vation Service (NRCS), the Na tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and ad ditional sponsors including DEP, representatives from watershed programs and groups in seven states, and the District of Colum bia attended the 2001 gathering of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Wa tershed Roundtable here Dec. 3-5. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Roundtable covers the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl vania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir ginia, West Virginia, and the Dis trict of Columbia. It consists of a diverse group of stakeholders that engage in dialogue and in formation exchange to support collaboration on community- Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 15,2001-A3l based watershed protection and restoration efforts. The 2001 roundtable gathering was convened to improve coordi nation and to explore and strengthen the connections among grassroots river/watershed leaders, representatives of state and federal agencies, municipal government officials, planners, and business community repre sentatives with an interest in wa tersheds. In the last two years, the Mid- Atlantic Regional Watershed Roundtable has discussed goals common to watershed interests throughout the region and has set a long-range vision to improve coordination of efforts in the Mid-Atlantic states that could re sult in minimizing fragmentation and duplicated effort. To move this vision ahead, the 2001 gath ering focused on three goals: • To disseminate best prac tices and lessons learned for wa tershed associations and local planning efforts. • To strengthen and integrate the watershed movement by fo cusing on the links between and across agency, governmental, and watershed boundaries. • To further organize and sus tain the Mid-Atlantic Roundtable effort and to create a mechanism to disseminate information. The first day of the roundtable was devoted to a series of panels giving brief reports stinting at the national level then zooming in to the region, the states and the local watershed level. Partici pants discussed the possibility of adopting some of the strategies and tools that other regional wa tershed roundtables are creating to benefit their constituents. Regional watershed round tables are convening across the nation. The watershed round tables are regional networks of diverse stakeholders that engage in dialogue and information ex change to support collaboration on community-based watershed protection and restoration efforts. A better expanded, updated edition of the Lancaster Farming Agricultural Directory is scheduled in the Dec. 29 issue. Included will be more contact names, addresses, phone numbers, and Web addresses than ever before. Generator Systems Diesel or Propane, 10-500 KW, Agricultural and Industrial. New, Used or Reconditioned Martin Diesel Services Shop (570) 658-5303 Office (570) 922-4494 PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE PURSUANT TO THE SUNSHINE ACT DEPARTMENT OF Agricultural Lands Condemnation Approval Board Hearing 9:00 A.M. • Dec. 20 (and Dec 21 if nec.) Perkins Student Center Penn State - Berks Campus, Reading, PA PURPOSE: To consider the condemnation of productive agricultural lands enrolled in an Agricultural Security Area The stated purpose of the proposed condemnation by Reading Municipal Airport Authority is to acquire, by the power of eminent domain, a portion of ground for a Runway Protection Zone. John W. and Fayne Hartman own this property, located in Bern Township, Berks County. CONTACT: Thomas Oyler, Jr. Bureau of Farmland Preservation 2301 North Cameron Street Harrisburg, PA 17110 (717) 783-3167 iRICULTURE