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Vol. 47 No. 49
Livestock Producers Take Message To Harrisburg
Grange Weighs In On S.B. 1413 As Court Responds To Fulton County Case
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Andy Freitag stands at the halter of the grand
champion Clydesdale mare, Solomon’s Asti, exhibi
ted by Greenwood Farms Wednesday at KILE. Read
more about the show on page A 24.
Photo by Andy Andrews, editor
Fisher, Rendell Respond To Candidate Questions
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
E PH RATA (Lancaster Co.)
Pennsylvania’s election of a new gov
ernor could hinge on several issues in
the next month, including revising
what some see as an outdated and
outmoded property tax, how much
influence agriculture will have in
Pennsylvania Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candi
date Mike Fisher spoke in early September at the Pennsylvania Agricul
tural Issues Dialogue at Landis Valley Museum.
Photo by Andy Andrews, mdltor
www.lancasterfarming.com
Co.) Four Pennsylvania live
stock producers met with law
makers and media representa
zoning requests, and whether pro
duction agriculture can remain via
ble in the state.
Two candidates are set for a show-
Four Sections
With Election A Month Away,
Candidates Tackle Ag Issues
Saturday, October 5, 2002
lives at the Capitol on Tuesday
morning to talk about their oper
ations and how local ordinances
have affected them or could po
tentially affect them.
The informal breakfast was or
ganized by the Pennsylvania
Farm Bureau, a group that has
thrown its support behind Penn
sylvania Senate Bill 1413. If
adopted, this law could require
townships to pay legal fees if cer
tain local ordinances affecting
agriculture are challenged and
ruled illegal. The bill passed the
Senate in April and moved to the
House for consideration in May.
Craig Richard of Northumber
land County raises about 12,000
hogs per year in two facilities in
Locust Township, Columbia
County, where a township ordi
nance limits livestock operations
to 150 animal units or a total
of 150,000 pounds of live animal
weight. The regulations specify
water, setback, and acreage re
quirements as well, he said.
He is concerned about his son,
a 20-year-old college student, see
ing little future in farming be
cause of such ordinances prevent
ing further expansion of his
livestock operations.
Richard also raises broilers in
two houses and runs a beef feed
lot, but claims township authori
ties seem most opposed to hog
operations, apparently because of
greater odor potential.
However, the regular checks
Richard receives from the cor
poration with which his hogs are
contracted provides him a steady
income that helps keep him on
the farm, he said. That allows
down a month from now, on Nov. 5.
when voters will cast their decision
for either Republican candidate and
state Attorney General Mike Fisher
Ed Rendell, former Philadelphia mayor and Democratic gubernatorial
candidate, spoke at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days in late August.
Photo by Andy Andrews, editor
him the opportunity to pursue
other types of agriculture, includ
ing about 1,800 acres of field
crops, plus sweet com that he
sells at a roadside market
With weather and prices mak
ing it tough to turn much of a
profit on field com and soybean
Trevor and Mariah Tompkins are eager to show visitors
all the things they do on their farm. Their parents, Mark
and Cindy Tompkins, own Evergreen Lane Farm, Mon
trose, and are offering visitors a fun-filled “Day on a Dairy
Farm” Oct. 12. See page 810 for details about the Sus
quehanna County event.
Pork Industry Fosters
m
Positive Attitude
BRIAN SNYDER
Center Co. Correspondent
CENTRE HALL (Centre Co.)
Farmers and consumers who
lament the changes in America’s
or Democratic candidate and former
Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.
Here we present a roundtable of
the issues, with questions and an-
$36.00 Per Year
crops, “The sweet com has kept
us afloat,” Richard said.
Doug Graybill, a hog and poul
try producer from Granville
Township, Bradford County, rep
resented one party that success
or urn to Page A 34)
hog industry over the last few
decades, and who long for the
wonderful taste of pork they re
(Turn to Page A 33)
swers from two candidates.
First, Lancaster Farming presents
Mike Fisher’s answers, presented in
early September this year at a Penn
sylvania Agricultural Issues Dialogue
at Landis Valley Museum. Then we
present Ed Rendell’s answers.
$l.OO Per Copy
(Turn to Page A 25)