f
Pa. Farmers
To Go
To Washington
CAMP HILL (Dauphin Co.)
About 200 farmers from across
Pennsylvania will be traveling to
Washington, D.C. to meet with
their congressmen and U.S. sena
tors on important legislation af
fecting agriculture.
A new farm bill and authority
to negotiate better trade deals for
U.S. agriculture will be among
the top issues on the agenda for
discussion during the National
Legislative Conference, March
20-21, being conducted by the
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
(PFB). Farmers taking part in the
Washington Tour are members
of county farm bureau national
legislative committees.
“There are some big issues for
farmers currently being decided
in Washington,” said PFB Presi
dent Guy Donaldson. “Farm Bu
reau has developed grass-roots
based policy on how best to han
dle these issues. Our members
will be meeting face-to-face with
their representatives and senators
to explain our concerns and
make recommendations.”
Several farm issues to be dis
cussed during the Washington
Tour are:
• Farm Bill A conference
committee has been named to
iron out differences in House
and Senate-approved versions of
a new farm bill. The farm bill will
determine how farm programs,
such as commodity support pay
ments, conservation, agricultural
research and export promotion,
will operate over the next several
years.
• Renewable Fuel Standard
Farm Bureau supports inclusion
of a renewable fuel standard in
national energy policy which will
require use of five billion gallons
of renewable fuels such as etha
nol and soybean-based biofuel in
the U.S. by the year 2012.
• Trade Promotion Authority
Farm Bureau is seeking con
gressional approval of Trade
Promotion Authority so the Pres
ident can negotiate new and bet
ter trade deals. Trade Promotion
Authority will allow the adminis
tration to correct trade imbal
ances that hurt farmer income.
• Death Taxes Congress en
acted Farm Bureau-supported
legislation last year which in
creases exemptions and reduces
rates for the federal estate tax.
The tax would be completely
eliminated in 2010. However, due
to budget reconcilia
tion requirements, the
repeal of the so-called
“death tax” will sunset
in 2011. Farm Bureau
is supporting H.R
2316 and H.R. 2631 to
make repeal of the
death tax permanent.
• Tax Relief
Farm Bureau supports
S. 312 and H.R. 2347,
the Tax Empowerment
and Relief for Farmers
and Fishermen bill.
which would allow
farmers to set up
“rainy day” savings
accounts for use when
farm income is low.
The bills also provide
for tax deductions for
food donations and en
sure that farmers are
not unfairly taxed on
rental income and are
not disqualified from
using income averag
ing due to the Alterna
tive Minimum Tax.
Critical Issues Center Of Farm Bureau Forums
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
GRANTVILLE (Dauphin Co.)
Topics important to the agri
culture business were on the
agenda at recent forums con
ducted by the Pennsylvania Farm
Bureau.
The agenda of the two meet
ings was developed out of a top
10 list of concerns formulated by
the state commodity committee,
which is comprised of producers
from many aspects of agriculture.
Ethanol was on the slate for
two of the speakers.
Ed Stahl, project director, Gar
den State Ethanol, believes that
the fuel source will become in
creasingly important as it ad
dresses energy security, environ
mental, and economic issues.
The U.S. has 54 operating
ethanol plants with five under
construction. Potato, beer, and
cheese whey waste are some of
the options used by plants out
side of the corn belt, where most
of the plants are located.
Consequently, putting a plant
in New Jersey is “a little out of
the box” said Stahl. However
close markets for the carbon di
oxide and dry distiller’s grain
and energy demands make the
effort worthwhile.
The fuel is more environ
mentally friendly because, al
though carbon dioxide is released
as it burns, as in traditional fossil
fuels, the carbon dioxide comes
from crops and will be reab
sorbed by crops. This does not re
lease “new” carbon dioxide for
merly trapped beneath the
earth’s surface as a fossil fuel.
The fermenting process yields
carbon dioxide and dry distiller’s
grain. The carbon dioxide can be
used for beverages or dry ice pro
duction for a revenue source of
$l5 per ton. The distiller’s dry
grain is a beef and dairy food
source.
Producers have an interest in
the program because “any pro
gram that encourages use of land
in fact becomes a farmer preser
vation program,” he said.
One bushel of corn yields $4
worth of ethanol, $1 worth of dry
distillers grain, and 9 cents worth
of carbon dioxide.
The location of the anticipated
plant will be in south Jersey, just
across the Delaware Memorial
Bridge. Stahl estimates that it
will be under construction at the
end of 2002 and operating by the
end of 2003.
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Scott Welsh, agriculture eco
nomic development specialist,
York County Economic Develop
ment Corporation, gave an up
date on the proposed plant in
southcentral Pennsylvania. Al
though the idea originated in
York County, “We’re looking at
it on a regional basis,” he said.
A consulting firm from Colo
rado has completed a feasibility
study. After inspecting nine po
tential sites in several counties
and determining grain availabili
ty, road and rail access, market
proximity, labor, and even pre
vailing winds to mitigate the
odor, the business rated four sites
as excellent prospects and five as
good.
Assuming that 25. percent of
corn production in a region
would go into ethanol produc
tion, 19-35 million gallons of
ethanol a year could be produced,
said Welsh.
With the feasibility study com
plete, the next step is to focus on
business organization and site se
lection. Organizers must also de
cide about the percentage of local
and important grain to be used.
Welsh predicts groundbreak
ing to take place 1-1 'A years in
the future. “We feel there is merit
in moving forward” with the
project, said Welsh.
Ron Gaskill, director of regula
tory relations for the American
Farm Bureau, discussed market
consolidation.
“What I want to do is encour
age everybody to take a broader
view about what is happening,”
he said. “It is important to un
derstand why consolidation is
taking place.”
Shrinking margins on the food
retailer’s end have forced them to
become increasingly streamlined.
“It starts with the consumer,” he
said, as they demand better quali
ty, better service, and more
convenience, yet expect to
pay less.
“From that point it works
its way down the food man-
ufacturing process,” he said.
Retailers are starting to re-
quires suppliers to manage
their own inventory, for in-
stance. A retailer that is
contracting with a preferred
supplier will give the sup
plier a space in the ware
house, then put the respon-
sibiljty of managing
inventory on the supplier.
Joe Speicher
175 North Imler Valley Rd.
Imler, PA 16655
Pennsylvania Plant
Consolidation
Another change in the food in
dustry is the growth of supercent
ers that offer a wide variety of
merchandise and food. That type
of store has grown to $123 billion
in 2002 in the food market indus
try. In addition “club,” or mem
bership stores, have also in
creased and have influenced the
retail business.
“Food systems will become in
creasingly concentrated in the
next decade. That’s why packers
are buying each other up,” he
said. Packers must provide the
demands of the concentrated,
large retailers.
“I leave you with an under
standing that this issue is not
going away. Market forces by
themselves will not resolve it,’ he
said. “Maybe it’s time to revisit
some of the collective marketing
and bargaining mechanisms or
look at alternative agriculture.”
Terrorism And Ag
Marel Raub, director of regula
tory affairs for the Pennsylvania
Farm Bureau, discussed bioterro
rism and agriculture. “It doesn’t
always mean what you think ini
tially we have a lot of home
grown terrorists that we need to
be aware of,” said Raub.
Three types of terrorist include
animal rights groups, anti-bio
tech groups, and political terror
ists.
Animal rights groups have sev
eral methods of advancing their
agenda. On technique includes
protests where they may dress in
costumes. They also may hand
out literature or conduct “res
cues” of animals from research
labs or farms. Additionally they
may use vandalism, arson, or dis
ease.
Funds come from individual
contributors, foundation grants,
or other like-minded organisa
tions. The Website www.activist
cash.com tracks the funding
sources of some of these groups.
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By educating themselves, and
the community (activist groups
target young people), producers
can combat these groups.
Do not confront these groups,
as they want publicity and are
looking to make a scene, Raub
said.
“Leave it up to commodity
promotional organizations” to
answer the accusations and put
out the truth. She also warned
producers to be vigilant about
their own property and carefully
screen those asking for a facility
tour.
Anti-biotech terrorists are very
similar in agenda, funding, and
propaganda methods to the ani
mal rights groups. Their goal is
to decrease consumption of bio
tech crops and hinder the re
search of new crops.
Political terrorists intending to
harm the U.S. are working to in
flect fear and cause economic
damage. Since agriculture is a
great economic force in the U.S.,
spreading biological diseases and
destroying the food supply are
tools used.
Raub warned that theft of agri
cultural material and equipment
may be dangerous. Bombs, for
example, can be constructed with
chemicals used by farmers, and
crop dusters may also be used to
introduce pests or other patho
gens.
Become involved in Emergen
cy Management Planning, said
Raub.
During the afternoon session
Bill Foose, USDA, spoke about
the basics of the Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program
(CREP). Scott Klinger, biologist
for the Pennsylvania Game Com
mission, also addressed the pro
gram.
The Farm Bureau conducted
the seminars in Indiana and
Grantville on Wednesday and
Thursday.