Government Programs, Insurance, Crop Issues At Conference
MICHELLE KUNJAPPC
Lancaster Farming Staff
ALLENTOWN (Lehigh Coun
ty) A recent crops conference
conducted in several locations
across Pennsylvania provided
producers with the opportunity
to learn about government aid,
crop insurance, forage quality,
and wildlife management.
By attending the sessions par
ticipants were able to earn pesti
cide core and category credits.
The conference, sponsored by
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion and nine agriculture indus
try sponsors, was conducted over
four days in four counties. Ap
proximately 800 producers came
to the meetings.
Locations included Leesport
Farmers Market, Leesport, Berks
County; Days Inn Conference
Center, Allentown, Lehigh Coun
ty; Montgomery County 4-H
Center, Creamery, Montgomery
County; and East Brandywine
Fire Hall, Guthriesville, Chester
County.
The program included two
night meetings in the Lehigh and
Montgomery County locations.
In addition Allentown and
Montgomery County hosted two
evening meetings.
While one objective was to
help producers reach certification
requirements for pesticide licens
ing, another objective was to
“provide research-based, unbi
ased education and the latest up
dates for farmers,” said Mena
Hautau, who helped to organize
the event.
All producers who apply pesti
cide or herbicide must become
certified by attending classes,
gaining credits, and taking a test.
After the test is successfully com
pleted the license must be re
newed every three years, which
can be accomplished by attending
meetings and gaining credits.
Government Programs For Ag
John Berry, Lehigh County ex
tension agent, spoke about gov
ernment programs for agricul
ture, an aspect of government
that has become increasingly im
portant to today’s farmers,
according to Berry.
“The last few years, govern
ment programs have been an im
portant part of net revenue
stream,” he said. “These pro
grams may have reputations as
Good News Lititz Area Farmers... Now you too
can enjoy the benefits of banking at an
independent community bank.
Vivian Keesey, certified crop insurance agent, and
John Berry, Lehigh County extension agent, were two in
structors at a recent crops conference.
freebies or something-for-noth
ings. However they’re not hand
outs but a normal business sense
kind of programs.”
Get on the books at the Farm
Service Agency (FSA), said
Berry. “At least participate in
FSA reports with your acreage
and yield history. Then you’re on
their books when a new program
rolls around,” he said. Producers
who are deemed eligible are often
from FSA lists.
“I’m trying to stimulate your
thinking and get you to pay at
tention to FSA literature and
Lancaster Farming literature to
look for programs coming down
the road in the future.”
One example of a government
programs include the Dairy Mar
ket Loss Assistance program. In
addition, the Debt For Nature
program allows producers debt
forgiveness on a percentage of
debt from loans from the FSA if
they develop a wetland on their
property. In the past two years, a
Farm Storage Loan program en
couraged on-farm storage for
crops.
“One of the underused features
of the USDA and FSA is the non
recourse market assistance loans
and loan deficiency payments
that allow producers to manage
risk. Its a logical choice for mar-
keting soybeans,” he said. “The
federal government feels strongly
about ensuring a safety net, a
baseline rate since the world soy
bean market tends to fluctuate.”
NRCS is another government
organization willing to help pro
ducers, said Berry. Dealing most
ly with soil erosion and water is
sues, they will cost share with
farmer for such ecological im
provements as stream bank fenc
ing. Also, a no-till seeder for veg
etable crops is available for use
free of charge.
In summary, “start a reporting
history so when a new farm aid
program does roll along, you’ll be
eligible.”
He also emphasized participa
tion in loan programs, he said,
stressing that producers should
be proactive rather than relying
on spot disaster relief.
Crop Insurance
Vivian Keesey, a certified crop
insurance agent, presented a few
basic ideas about crop insurance
for 2002.
During the lecture she em
phasized government help in cat
astrophic coverage (CAT). Since
the state government is encourag
ing farmers to purchase coverage,
they are subsidizing CAT cover
age, she said.
In addition to paying the ad
ministration fee for insurance, be
tween the federal and state gov
ernment, the two institutions are
paying more of the insurance
premium than the producer has
to for crop loans.
The multiperil crop insurance
(MPCI) plan is designed to pro
tect farmers for the loss of crop
production below a predeter
mined guarantee. A producer
must insure all the acreage of the
insured crop in the county in
which they have a share, said
Keesey. It goes by crop and by
county, she said. Actuarial data
must be estimated for that crop
in that county, she said.
The plan covers adverse
weather, fire, insects, plant dis
eases, wildlife damage, and fail
ure of irrigation water supply.
The guarantee is calculated
using the producers actual histo
ry if possible, at least four
years. Producers can chose their
level of coverage for each crop.
“You are guaranteeing your
self a percentage of that yield, so
the higher the yield the better,”
she said. “You pick a price per
bushel you’ll be paid if you have
a payable loss.”
The yield guarantee how
many bushels the producer is
guaranteed is the average yield
multiplied by the coverage level.
Since the producer has a
choice, Keesey recommended
using the market price, since that
price is usually higher than the
established price, she said.
Other plans include the Index
Income Protection, which pro
tects against yield loss and mar
ket price decline. The plan uses
price elections based on the
monthly average in a pre-selected
month on the Chicago Board of
Trade. It also indexes the produc
ers yield against the county’s
yield.
The Crops Revenue Coverage
(CRC) protects against yield loss,
price decline, or a combination of
the two. It uses price elections
based on the monthly averages of
the pre-selected months on the
Chicago Board of Trade. It al
lows for an increase .in liability
without increasing the premium
should the fall harvest be greater
than the spring base price, said
Keesey.
Insurance sales closing rate for
the spring planted crops is March
IS.
Soybean Diseases
Eric De Wolf, department of
plant pathology at Penn State,
gave an update about soybean
diseases.
Sclerotinia Stem Rot, or white
mold, as its more commonly
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 26,2002-A27
called, is a disease that has gray
ish-black stone-like structures in
the stem. These structures can
survive in the soil for at least
seven years.
They grow and produce mush
room-like structure that produces
the spores that infect the flowers
of the soybean plant. The disease
needs a moist, 50-degree environ
ment to grow and produce
spores. The spores can be hiding
among seeds and be put into the
soil, which spreads the disease.
Crop rotation, while it will not
kill all the spores, will at least re
duce them.
“The longer you can rotate
away, say, 2-3 years to a nonhost
crop, you will reduce risk,” said
De Wolf.
Controlling broadleaf weeds,
which can be hosts, will also be
helpful, along with selecting vari
eties of soybeans less susceptible
to the disease. Producers could
also adjust their row spacing to
allow for air movement.
De Wolf also addressed the
soybean cyst nematode, a disease
that may impact Pennsylvania
soybean producers in the near fu
ture. It has caused the greatest
soybean losses of any pathogen in
the U.S. The disease centers in
the southern and midwestem
U.S., but has spread as far east as
Ohio.
The nematode causes a stunted
and yellowed crop. However
aboveground symptoms, which
are similar to those of other field
problems such as drainage and
fertility, are not apparent until
the nematode population is high.
The most reliable means of
identification, besides sending a
sample to a laboratory, is to dig
up and massage the soil off the
rootlets to look for small white
to-yellow cysts.
Juvenile nematodes penetrate
the roots and feed on the veins of
the developing crop.
Anything that can move soil
can introduce soybean cyst nema
tode, he said. Crop rotation is
again a method of control, along
with periodic soil sampling and
checking plants. Additionally,
broadleaf weed control is impor
tant.
In the last two years, another
pest has been introduced to the
soybean crop world. The soybean
aphid, once it was found in Wis
consin, was quickly identified in
many other areas. The aphid
spreads soybean viruses and may
even cause virus interaction,
where two weaker strains can in
termingle and become a more
formidable virus.