Vol. 47 No. 27
Lawmakers Reach
Farm Bill Agreement
Policies Called More Equitable For Northeast
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
WASHINGTON, D.C. After
nearly two months of negotia
tions, U.S. House and Senate
conferees have agreed on a na
tional farm bill in time for most
of this year’s agricultural produc
tion.
The House approved the com
promise bill by a vote of 280 to
141 Thursday afternoon and
President Bush urged the Senate
to vote promptly so he could
“sign the bill into law.”
The “Farm Security and Rural
Investment Act of 2002” man
dates agricultural policy for the
next six years, with about $l7O
billion in funding allocated for
the next 10 years $73.5 billion
above the previous farm program
budget baseline.
According to Joel Rotz, Penn
sylvania Farm Bureau policy spe
cialist, the new farm bill will
bring a greater share of assist
ance to Pennsylvania’s dairy
farmers and diversified crop pro
ducers than ever before.
“Clearly, this farm bill is more
equitable to Pennsylvania farm
ers than any other farm bill,” he
said.
A significant boost in conserva
tion fonding, a nationwide dairy
program, yield and base acreage
updates for crops, and lowered
payment limits are key provisions
of the new bill.
Bill conferees agreed on a total
payment limit to farmers of
$360,000 per year, a compromise
between the Senate bill’s pro
posed cap of $275,000 and the
House’s limit of $550,000.
Advocates for smaller, diversi
HERSHEY (Dauphin Co.) Texas native Linda Davis sang country songs for a crowd
of about 1,100 at the PennAg Poultry Council banquet here Monday evening. With
Davis, from left, are Dan Heller, Poultry Council chairman; Jim Shirk, Council assistant
vice president; and Qlenn Esbenshade of Esbenshade Farms/Mills. Photo by Dave Lotovor
www.lancasterfarming.com
ted family farms strongly back
lower payment limits to more
fairly distribute aid among the
nation’s farmers.
For the nation’s dairy produc
ers, the bill establishes a new $1.3
billion program that will provide
direct payments when the price
of fluid milk in the Northeast
Milk Marketing Area falls below
$16.94 per hundredweight.
With this “countercyclical”
provision, dairy producers in all
regions of the country will receive
45 percent of the difference be
tween $16.94 and the market
price.
These dairy payments will be
capped at 2.4 million pounds of
milk per year, equivalent to the
production of a typical herd of
135 to 140 cows. About 90 per
cent of the milk produced in
Pennsylvania comes from herds
that size or smaller, according to
Ken Bailey, Penn State dairy
economist.
Retroactive to Dec. 1 of 2001,
the program could pay out about
$6O million this year to Pennsyl
vania dairy producers, Rotz said.
The bill also maintains the cur
rent $9.90 per hundredweight
milk price support program, cov
ering all types of mUk utilization.
In other specifics, the legisla
tion:
• Mandates an additional
$17.1 billion for conservation pro-
grams over the next decade, an
80 percent increase. Included are
a new $2 billion Conservation Se
curity Program with incentives
for farmers to adopt better envi
(Tum to Page A 24)
Four Sections
At Hershey Gardens, with the amusement park’s ferris wheel in the background,
pink “Salmon Jewel” tulips give way to yellow*and-pink “Blushing Lady” late tulips.
Approximately 30,000 tulips color the gardens’ landscape in the spring. Read more
about Hershey Gardens on page 82. Photo by Michelle Kunjappu
Conference Explores Sensibility Of Smart Growth
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
MILLERSVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) Smart Growth is the anti
dote to sprawl, a noted land use
expert told more than 180 munic
ipal officials and policymakers
Monday evening at Millersville
University.
William H. Hudnut 111, senior
resident fellow of the Urban
Land Institute in Washington,
D.C., said that only “responsible
leadership and the use of the land
to enhance the environment” will
Saturday, May 4, 2002
keep us from sprawl. He defined
sprawl as “unplanned, low-densi
ty development,” he said, that
spreads farther and farther out
from towns and cities.
Hudnut spoke during the Lan
caster County Smart Growth
Conference at Millersville Uni
versity.
Population growth is inevita
ble, according to the land use
Farm Show Complex Construction Update
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©farm
Showi
Building For The
Future - On Schedule
Editor's note: Written by Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary
Samuel E. Hayes Jr. exclusively for Lancaster Farming, this new
column will provide monthly updates on the exciting new con
struction under way at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in
Harrisburg. Construction is on schedule to be completed for the
2003 Farm Show.
Secretary Hayes has been serving Pennsylvania agriculture
since June 1997. A lawmaker and legislative leader, Hayes served
in the state House from 1970-1992, including as Majority Leader
and House Whip. Secretary Hayes served on active duty with the
U.S. Army and is a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he received
the Bronze Star.
Secretary Hayes is chair of various organizations, including the
state Farmland Preservation Board, Farm Show Commission,
(Turn to Page A 24)
$36.00 Per Year
specialist. Hudnut, who pointed
out the myths generated by those
who resist the policies of smart
growth, noted there will be 60
million more people in America
in 2020 than in the year 2000.
Those 60 million people will take
up more area than the “size of
Texas and California combined.”
Hon. Samuel E. Hayes Jr.
Pa Secretan of Agriculture
$l.OO Per Copy
(Turn to Page A 26)