A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 13, 2002
New NRCS Chief Takes On Conservation Challenges
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Bruce Knight took over as chief
of the National Resource and
Conservation Service (NRCS)
just one day before the president
signed the new Farm Bill this
spring.
The new job for the South Da
kota grain farmer brings with it
the formidable reponsibility of
overseeing how conservation pro-
4-Hers Exhibit In Annual Jackpot Show
SANDRA LEPLEY
Somerset Co. Correspondent
MEYERSDALE (Somerset
Co.) A Lebanon County 4-H’er
won the Somerset County Junior
Open Jackpot Show conducted at
the Somerset County Fair
grounds on Sunday, June 23.
Kyle Fleener, Robesonia, won
overall grand champion steer
with his prized beef named
“Red.” Fleener is a member of
Lebanon County 4-H.
Dan Miller, Meyersdale, won
overall reserve champion and
also grand champion Somerset
County exhibitor during the
event with his steer named
“Baby.”
Miller’s younger sister, Beth
Miller, took home the reserve
champion title in the county divi
sion of the competition with her
steer named “Little E.” Both
Millers are members of Buffalo
Creek 4-H in Somerset County.
The judge for the beef show
was Mark Sneed of Eaton, Ohio.
Other winners for the county
exhibitor’s competition were Jake
Wheeler, Somerset, Lacey Mur
ray of Garrett and Shawn Trout
man of Hyndman.
The show is open to all mem
bers of 4-H, Future Farmers of
America (FFA) or Junior Breeder
Association.
Other division champions in
the Jackpot Show were Sara Jo
Campbell, Sycamore, and Liz
Hitz, Littlestown. Reserve cham
pion winners were Shane Cebu
lak, Morgantown, W.Va.; Lacey
Weimer, New Alexandria; and
Jake Wheeler, Somerset.
Beth Miller also won grand
champion for the Club Calf Sale
competition, which involves all
beef bought at the Club Calf Sale
in October. Other placings went
to Lynn Weimer, New Alexan
dria; Shawn Troutman, Hynd
man; Norman Coberly, Meyer
sdale; and Lacey Weimer, New
Alexandria.
Also conducted in conjunction
with the beef show is the Somer
set County Market Lamb Pro
Sho, conducted on Saturday,
June 22. For the first time this
year, the Somerset County Mar
ket Swine Pro Sho was conducted
on Friday, June 21.
Courtney Cowden, Washing
ton County, won grand champi
on at the sheep show, while For
rest Ohler, Rockwood, won
reserve champion.
For the Somerset County Mar
ket Swine Pro Sho,
held Friday, June 21,
Allyson Entz, Linden,
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grams will be administered across
the country.
“We have a tremendous chal
lenge ahead of us,” Knight said
this week.
One major goal of those pro
grams is to preserve water quality
in a nation where water issues are
increasingly in the spotlight.
Knight said his role, and that of
the NRCS, is not to take sides
with any particular approach to
farming, but to offer tools that
Dan Miller, Meyersdale, won overall reserve champion
and grand champion county exhibitor at the Jackpot
Show.
Kyle Fleener of Lebanon County won the supreme
grand champion beef title at the Somerset County Junior
Open Jackpot Show, an annual event held at the Somer
set County Fairgrounds in Meyersdale on June 21, 22 and
23.
took home grand champion,
while Jacob Logan, Irwin, reserve
champion. The judge was Dan
Willoughby of Westfield, Ind.
WATERLESS TOILETS
Says New Programs Are ( More Targeted 9
help all farmers take care of the
environment and comply with
regulations, present and future.
“It’s a very delicate walk to
make,” Knight said of his role
distributing conservation re
sources among the country’s di
verse agriculture.
Conservation tools in the new
Farm Bill “will fit well” with
Pennsylvania farmers, he said.
The bill increases ftinding for
conservation programs by 80 per
cent, and has “a real strong em
phasis on working lands,” more
so than in previous farm policy,
according to Knight.
He referred to the new version
of the Conservation Reserve En
hancement Program (CREP.)
Originally crafted in 1985, this
program offered strong incen
tives to leave farmland idle for
conservation reasons. That pro
gram “didn’t work too well in
Pennsylvania,” Knight said.
The new CREP, however, is
“more targeted” to critical areas,
offering bonus payments for
farmers who create buffer zones
to protect bodies of water, for ex
ample. This practice will not only
serve to create buffers between
fields and water but also “pro
vides a buffer between (the pres
ent) and future regulations,”
Knight said.
He characterized the new ini
tiatives as “voluntary, win-win
practices for private lands.” Fed
eral aid will be available in sever
al forms, including cost sharing,
technical assistance, and rental
payments, he said.
Some of the other programs
under Knight’s care include the
Farmland Protection Program
(for farmland preservation), the
Environmental Quality Incen
tives Program (EQIP), the Wild-
Lancaster County Field Day Set
HOLTWOOD (Lancaster Co.)
The “Enhancing and Sustain
ing Small Family Farms and
Water Quality in Pennsylvania
Through Regenerative Agricul
ture” Field Day, hosted by The
Rodale Institute and Steve Groff
of Cedar Meadow Farm, will
take place on Friday, July 26.
The event will be conducted
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m, at Cedar
Meadow Farm, 679 Hilldale
Road, Holtwood.
David E. Hess, secretary for
the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP)
will be the guest speaker at the
event.
Highlights of the day include:
• Soil Management for Water
Quality on Livestock Farms pres
ented by Ray Weil, University of
Maryland;
• The Soil Food Web and Re
generative Farming presented by
Don Lotter, the Rodale Institute;
• Impact of Organic Practices
on Farm Economics and Water
Quality presented by Jeff Moyer,
The Rodale Institute; and
• tour of Cedar Meadow Farm
conducted by owner Steve Groff.
Steve Groff and his family
farm the 175-acres of vegetables
and crops on hilly land in Lan
caster County, Pennsylvania
called Cedar
Meadow Farm.
Groff has pio-
neered the
“Permanent
Cover Crop
ping System”
Bruce Knight
life Habitat Incentive Program
(WHIP), the Wetlands Reserve
Program, and assistance pro
grams for natural disasters.
Before joining the NRCS,
Knight was head of the lobbying
department at the National Com
Growers Association, and has
been involved in various efforts
to shape federal farm policy over
the past 15 years.
For more information about
conservation programs, contact
your county NRCS or Conserva
tion District office. See the NRCS
Web site at www.nrcs.usda.gov.
that includes no-till, cover crops,
and effective crop rotations as a
way to increase profits, enhance
soil and water quality, and re
duce pesticides.
The cornerstone of this system
is a unique emphasis on main
taining a permanent cover of
crop residues and cover crops on
the soil surface and having some
thing living in the soil at all
times.
The day is co-sponsored by the
Pennsylvania DEP and USDA
Initiative for Future Agriculture
and Food Systems through the
work of The Rodale Institute.
Pre-registration for the field
day is required. Walk-ins will be
permitted to attend, but must
register upon arrival. A fee of SIS
per person includes presenta
tions, lunch and refreshments.
Additional information is avail
able on the Rodale Institute web
site at www.rodaleinstitute.org.
To register, contact The Ro
dale Institute by phone
610-683-6009, fax 610-683-8548,
or email info@rodaleinst.org. Di
rections are available at www.ee
darmeadowfarm.com under field
days.