V 01.47 No. 20
Mainland Holstein Association Celebrates Banner Year
DAVELEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
WESTMINSTER, Md.
Maryland Holstein Association
members gathered here last
weekend to commemorate a
history-making year and look
toward the future.
A number of youth and adult
Holstein enthusiasts were recog
nized for their outstanding con
tributions toward the
advancement of the Holstein
breed.
Five youths received aca
demic scholarships for their
achievements in the dairy field.
Brett Haines, a dairy science
major at Delaware Valley Col
lege, was named Maryland Out
standing Holstein Scholar and
awarded $2,000.
The son of Michael and Anita
Haines, Taneytown, Brett is in
volved in all aspects of the
family farm and owns about 25
registered Holsteins. He has
been active in 4-H dairy judging
and in dairy bowl competition
on local, state, and national
levels, and has served as presi
dent of the Maryland Junior
Holstein Association. He aspires
to a career in dairy genetics.
Gary Brauning 111, Andrea
Hood, Josh Sanders, and Bar
bara Schenning rounded out the
Educator Promotes LEAP
To Certify More Ag Teachers
MILLIE BUNTING
Market Staff
PORT ROYAL (Perry Co.)
MeeCee Baker is an agricultural
educator at Greenwood High
School, but now she has
“leaped” to a wider field of in
fluence as an adjunct professor
at North Carolina State Univer
sity.
Knowing that there is a criti
cal shortage of teachers in agri
culture across the country,
Pa. Governor Candidates Detail Their Platforms Before
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Three candidates for
state governor were invited to
share their ideas about proposed
administrations Monday before
Ed Rendell
www.lancastorfarming.com
field of scholarship winners,
each receiving $750 toward their
education.
Brauning, Haines, and Hood
were also named Maryland Hol
stein Association distinguished
junior members for 2002.
For high junior production
achievement, Marlee Savage of
Montgomery County was recog
nized for three top cows, includ
ing Hobble Hill Pooh, who
produced 39,174 pounds of
energy-corrected milk as a 3-
year-old. Ryan Savage, also of
Montgomery County, owned
two cows that topped the list in
their age group. Stephanie
Kepler, Frederick County, had
the high-producing 4-year-old.
Maryland Holsteins made an
unprecedented splash in 2001 at
the Royal Agricultural Winter
Fair in Canada, when Ernest
Kueffner and Oseeana Hol
stein’s 4-year-old Tri-Day
Ashlyn-ET and 5-year-old
Ernest-Anthony SD Tobi-ET
were named supreme champion
and reserve grand champion, re
spectively.
“At no other tipie have the
grand champion afld
grand champion come from the
same state,” noted Arthur Rha
derick, outgoing president of the
(Turn to Pago A 34)
Baker seeks to interest more
men and women in becoming
certified in agricultural educa
tion.
As a part of the LEAP Pro
gram, she is working to do that.
LEAP is the acronym for Li
censure in Education for Agri
cultural Professionals. The
program allows an individual
with an ag-related bachelor’s
degree to take courses online to
(Turn to Page ASS)
Cornucopia here at the capitol.
Three candidates were invited
Ed Rendell, former mayor of
Philadelphia, democrat; Robert
P. Casey Jr., state auditor gen
eral, democrat; and Mike Fisher,
attorney general, republican.
Mike Fisher
Four Sections
John Hall, left, received the Distinguished Service Member Award at the Maryland
Holstein Association banquet. With Hall, from left, trophy donors Helen and Dennis
Remsburg, and Lois Remsburg Skeen. Photo by Tanya Miller
Program Promotes Environmental Stewardship
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
On Monday a group of pro
ducers and allied industry mem
bers gathered for a monthly
poultry seminar sponsored by
Penn State extension and de
partment of poultry science.
Ken Kephart, professor of
animal science at Penn State,
was the guest speaker during the
meeting. Kephart summarized
the Pennsylvania Environmen
tal Agricultural Conservation
Certificate of Excellence
(PEACCE) program.
The program evolved from a
livestock evaluation program
and is sponsored by several agri
cultural and conservation-based
organizations.
The goal of the program is to
But only Rendell spoke in
person at the annual meeting of
the Pennsylvania State Council
of Farm Organizations con
ducted earlier in the day.
Tuesday, May 21 is the state
primary. Election Day for gover-
Bob Casoy
Saturday, March 16,2002
promote environmental stew
ardship, provide odor solutions,
minimize water impact, improve
community relations, decrease
liability, and help agriculture
move toward self-regulation.
PEACCE, a free program, is
comprised of several compo
nents, the first of which is an en
vironmental awareness course
immediately followed by a test.
Approximately 600 participants,
mostly pork producers, have
been certified so far in the pro
gram.
This classroom phase, 1-1 Vi
hours long, is an “attempt, in a
relatively short period of time, to
get producers to think about en
vironmental stewardship,” said
Kephart.
The second phase is an on
farm assessment and environ
nor is Nov. 5.
Rendell, who has targeted
property/school tax reform as a
priority, noted how the individ
ual property owner absorbs the
burden for institutional costs,
compared to about 25 years ago.
Rendell noted that in 1974-1975,
the state paid for about 55 per
cent of the school costs in SOI
districts. Today that number is
down to 35 percent, leaving tax
payers with heavier burdens.
“In educational funding, Gov.
Schweiker’s administration pro
posed a 1 percent increase in ed
ucational funding,” Rendell
noted. “With inflation just
under 3 percent, that’s actually
a cut in educational funding.”
That and other factors have
forced “property tax hits”
which are unfair to people, he
noted.
Rendell’s plan: double the cig
arette tax (which is still lower
compared to other Northeast
states) and authorize slot ma-
$34.00 Per Year
mental review. Approximately
125 people in Pennsylvania have
been through this phase, said
Kephart.
The evaluation is a confiden
tial,, voluntary report. Assessors
check the farm’s ventilation,
odor, and manure storage, for
example, to address water and
air quality issues.
Two trained assessors list the
farm’s strengths and challenges
in a report that is issued to the
farmer two weeks after the visit.
The report also lists cost
effective recommendations.
Both the first and second
phases are available. The third
phase is expected to be available
in mid-2002.
Thirdly a conservation dis
trict checklist must be com-
(Turn to Page A 35)
Cornucopia
chines at racetracks.
Adjoining states have slots,
Rendell noted, which draw tax
payers and their money away
from Pennsylvania.
Rendell, popular with voters
in the more “urbanized” coun
ties surrounding Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh, touted his “eco
nomic incentive” packages to
take advantage of the two larg
est state industries, agriculture
and tourism.
Rendell noted he would help
fund and increase those indus
tries and revitalize those
strengths. “That I can guarantee
you,” he said.
Rendell, however, admitted
he knew little about the agri
industry infrastructure but said
he would be willing to “learn,
listen, and adapt,” much as he
did in revitalized business in
downtown Philadelphia.
Rendell noted on his Website
(www.rendellforgovernor.com)
(Turn to Page A 32)
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