f Farm Groups Call For Emergency Disaster Assistance WASHINGTON, D.C. Na tional Farmers Union and 11 other farm groups recently sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman urging the ad ministration’s support of and ac tive engagement in securing emergency disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers. The organizations commended Veneman for the U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture’s timely an nouncements and actions to ad dress natural disasters devastating crop and livestock production in 2001 and 2002. However, the farm organizations pointed out in the letter that there is still a desperate need for emergency programs to “reduce tragic weather-and disease caused economic impacts experi enced by farmers, ranchers and their communities throughout much of rural America.” National Farmers Union Presi dent Dave Frederickson said the 2002 farm bill was a leap forward for rural America in providing a safety net for producers, but that the new farm law fails to provide emergency disaster assistance. Congress has enacted produc tion loss disaster assistance each of the last four years, but not for producers who suffered losses in 2001. Last year, drought condi tions devastated large portions of Maine, Vermont, California, Ten nessee, South Carolina, Ohio, In diana, New York, New Mexico, Wyoming, Virginia, Washington and Idaho, and the entire state of Montana. In 2002, the drought has per sisted in Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming and has spread to Colorado, Arizona, South Dako ta, Nebraska and Texas. In addi tion, army worms have infested New York and Maine crops, and more than two million birds have been struck with avian flu in Vir ginia. Recently, Minnesota agri culture producers have been struggling to stay afloat due to flooding. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 20, 2002-A3l ASA Strongly Opposes Amendments ST. LOUIS, Mo. The Ameri can Soybean Association (ASA) joined other farm organizations recently at a press conference in Washington, D.C., to express strong opposition to any amend ments to the 2002 Farm Bill. ASA First Vice President Ron Heck, a soybean producer from Perry, lowa, spoke at the press conference about the need to maintain the spending alloca tions as outlined in the new Farm Bill. “After two years of uncertainty over new farm legislation, and historically low prices, farmers now need stability to make long term plans for their operations and their families,” Heck said. “The last thing we need is for congress to reopen the 2002 act and start reducing or modifying our safety net.” ASA was a strong supporter of provisions outside the commodity title of the 2002 Act that benefit Land O’Lakes Joins Mitsui In Cheese And Protein Venture TULARE, Calif. Land O’Lakes, Inc., Arden Hills, Minn., and Mitsui and Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, recently launched Cheese and Protein Internation al, LLC, a joint venture cheese and whey production facility in Tulare, Calif. Chris Policinski, Land O’Lakes executive vice president and Dairy Foods chief operating offi cer, said the facility is “where the processing, supply chain manage ment and marketing capabilities of Land O’Lakes and Mitsui and the milk production capabilities of Tulare-area dairy producers meet the opportunities we are seeing in the cheese markets.” The plant’s location in the na tion’s number-one milk-produc ing county, and the fact that U.S. per capita cheese consumption has increased by more than 20 percent since 1990 pointed to its investment potential, Policinski said. Masayoshi Sato, chief operat ing officer, Foods Unit, Consum er Products and Services Group, Mitsui and Co., Ltd., added that WHITEWASHING with ADVANTAGE FARM WHITE • DRIES WHITE •NO WET FLOORS • IS COMPATIBLE WITH DISINFECTANT AND FLY SPRAYS • DOES NOT RUB OFF EASILY • WASHES OFF WINDOWS & PIPELINES EASILY BARN CLEANING SERVICE AVAILABLE WITH COMPRESSED AIR To have your bam cleaned with air it will clean off dust, cob webs & lots of the old lime. This will keep your bam looking cleaner & whiter longer. CALL US ABOUT ON THE FARM FLY CONTROL Serving Southeastern Pa. And More BEITZEL’S SPRAYING Witmer, PA 17585 717-392-7227 or Toll Free 1-800-727-7228 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM CERTIFIED COMMERCIAL APPLICATORS LICENSED • INSURED 5 Trucks For Air Cleaning And Whitewashing RADIO DISPATCHED TRUCKS Barn Spraying Is Our Business, not a sideline. Spraying Since 1961 To 2002 Farm Bill U.S. soybean producers. These include increased tonnages under various food aid programs, and higher funding for the Foreign Market Development (FMD) pro gram and Market Access Pro gram (MAP). ASA also supported the ex panded scope of conservation ini tiatives, including the Environ mental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and the conser vation security program for working lands. In addition, ASA expects soybeans to benefit from provisions of the energy title of the bill, including incentives for increased use of biodiesel and other soy-based bioproducts. “ASA is opposed to reducing spending in the Farm Bill to fund other programs, including disas ter assistance,” Heck said. “ASA joins other farm groups in strong ly opposing amendments to the 2002 Farm Bill.” his company sees tremendous po tential for the new plant. The plant, with an injtial ca pacity of 3.4 million pounds of milk per day, is producing moz zarella cheese, dried whey, and whey fractions. Construction on the approximately $l5O million facility began in November 2000, and was completed on-time and on-budget. A significant expan sion, bringing the plant’s capacity to approximately six million pounds of milk daily, is anticipat ed. Lancaster Farming's Classified Ads Get Results!
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers