I
WYPT Farm Television Series
Features Virginia Beef Industry
HARRISONBURG, Va. On
April 18 at 8 p.m., Reggie Rey
nolds, Bill McKinnon, and Joi
Saville of Virginia’s beef industry
discussed issues of importance to
cattle producers during WVPT
Virginia’s Public Television’s
“Virginia Fanning.”
In recognition of the Virginia
Cattlemen’s Association’s SOth
anniversary, the panel, along
with host Jeff Ishee, addressed a
broad range of topics, ranging
from cattle markets to Country
of-Origin-Labeling; and from the
Virginia Beef Expo to a new book
focused on the history of the cat
tle industry in Virginia.
The management team of
WVPT is solidly behind the new
television series, the Common
wealth’s only locally produced,
televised farm show.
WVPT President and General
Manager Bert Schmidt said, “My
priorities for public television are
our children and our local com
munity. Our expanded children’s
line-up and ‘Virginia Tonight’
are just two of the changes we
made during my first year here at
the station.
The idea for ‘Virginia Farm
ing’ actually hit me early on after
I moved here while I was being
taken to our transmitter in
Staunton. We drove on, what I
would call, the ‘backroads,’ and I
was so impressed with the large
number of family farms that we
passed. I wondered to myself
whether we were doing our job,
as the local public broadcaster, in
serving the farming community.
Were we impacting them?
1 came back to the station, and
asked these questions. I wanted
to create a forum specifically for
farmers to address their needs
and ‘Virginia Farming’ was
the result.”
Schmidt continued, “Clearly
the agricultural industry is a
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UMESTON
Virginia Beef Industry officials recently appeared on
“Virginia Farming,” a new television series on WVPT
Virginia’s Public Television. From left, host Jeff Ishee is
joined by Beef Industry representatives Joi Saville, Reg
gie Reynolds, and Bill McKinnon.
major factor ia all of our lives
whether or not we are working
directly in it. If the farm econo
my is down, it will trickle to each
of us. If the ‘non-farming’ com
munity (in which I count myself)
can have a better appreciation for
the issues facing this sector of our
economy, we can then all work
together better to make our com
munities a great place to live and
work.”
Each week on “Virginia Farm
ing,” host Jeff Ishee reports on
market trends, long-range agri
cultural weather forecasts and in
dividual farm communities.
Guests from across the Common
wealth discuss Virginia’s poultry,
beef, dairy, crop, wine, seafood,
timber, aquaculture, and related
industries with Ishee. The series
premiered March 28, 2003, with
guest Congressman Goodlatte.
Jeff Ishee is Farm Director for
WSVA radio in Harrisonburg
and hosts “On the Farm Radio,”
a syndicated radio show for lis
teners in Virginia, West Virginia,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennes
see and North Carolina. He has a
website www.onthefarmradi
o.com.
“Virginia Farming” airs Fri
days at 8:00 p.m. and repeats
Saturdays at noon and Sundays
at 6:00 a.m.
To submit program topic ideas,
contact Jeff Ishee at phone (540)
363-3938, fax (540) 434-7481 or
email Jeff@onthefarmradio.com .
Visit wvpt.net for the schedule of
upcoming guests. “Virginia
Farming” is underwritten by the
Virginia Farm Bureau Associa
tion.
USD A Sets CRP
Sign-Up For May 5-30
FRENCHTOWN, N.J. Do
reen Beruck, acting county exec
utive director for USDA’s Farm
Service Agency for Hunterdon
and Somerset Counties, N.J., re
cently announced that the next
Conservation Reserve Program
(CRP) general sign-up will take
place from May 5 through May
30. Producers can sign up at local
county Farm Service Agency
(FSA) offices throughout the
state.
“CRP is a cost effective, volun
tary program that helps produc
ers improve our land, water, and
wildlife resources,” Beruck said.
“Also, CRP is the first program
to benefit from new PC-based
common computing environment
(CCE) technology that provides
efficient, 21st century response to
producers’ needs.”
CRP protects millions of acres
of American topsoil from erosion
and is designed to improve the
nation’s natural resources base.
Participants voluntarily remove
environmentally sensitive land
from agricultural production by
entering into long-term contracts
for 10 to 15 years. In exchange,
participants receive annual rental
payments and a payment of up to
50 percent of the cost of estab
lishing conservation practices.
The program allows producers to
lock in multi-year payments
based on local rental rates.
By reducing water runoff and
sedimentation, CRP also protects
groundwater and helps improve
the condition of lakes, rivers,
ponds, and streams. Acreage en
rolled in the CRP is planted to
resource conserving vegetative
covers, making the program a
major contributor to increases in
wildlife populations in many
parts of the country.
The 2002 Farm Bill authorized
USDA to maintain CRP enroll
ment up to 39.2 million acres.
Approximately 34 million acres
were enrolled in CRP contracts
as of March 1 approximately
1516.1 acres in Hunterdon and
128.1 acres in Somerset About
1.5 million acres subject to CRP
contracts are scheduled to expire
on September 30, including 62.2
acres in Hunterdon. Participants
with contracts expiring next fall
can make new contract offers.
The contracts awarded under this
sign-up will become effective on
October 1, 2003 or October 1,
2004. The sign-up marks the 26th
CRP sign-up. Another general
sign-up will be offered through
2007.
FSA will also use CCE tech
nology to evaluate and rank eligi
ble CRP offers using an Environ
mental Benefits Index (EBI) for
environmental benefits to be
gained from enrolling the land in
CRP. Decisions on the EBI cutoff
will be made after the sign-up
ends and after analyzing the EBI
numbers of all the offers. Those
who would have met previous
sign-up EBI thresholds are not
guaranteed a contract under this
sign-up.
CRP is a highly competitive
program, and landowners are en
couraged to find out about the
EBI before the May 30 deadline.
Producers should also consult
with local USOA experts on steps
producers can take to maximize
EBI points and increase the like
lihood that their offer will be ac
cepted.
Producers can avoid the highly
competitive EBI process under
the general sign-up by enrolling
the most environmentally desira
ble land under CRP’s continuous
sign-up program. Under the con
tinuous sign-up, relatively small
amounts of land serving much
larger areas, such as filter strips,
riparian buffers and grass water
ways, can be enrolled at any time.
Wetland restoration has been
added as a continuous sign-up
practice. Wetlands filter out pol
lution and sedimentation, as well
as improve water qual
ity and serve as an im
portant flood control
mechanism by slowing
the flow of water. More
than four million acres
have been reserved for
continuous sign-up
practices. Normal eli
gibility requirements
apply, but the compet
itive nature of the EBI
is waived because of
the environmentally
desirable nature of the
practices available.
Aside from the gen
eral sign-up, CRP’s
continuous sign-up
program will be ongo
ing. USD A has reserv
ed two million acres
for the continuous
sign-up program,
which represents the
most environmentally
desirable and sensitive
land. USDA is making
a special effort to help
enhance wildlife habi
tats and air quality by
setting aside 500,000
acres for bottomland
hardwood tree plant
ing. Continuous sign
up for hardwood
planting will start after
the general sign-up.
For qualification re
quirements and other
CRP information, visit
FSA’s Website at
http://
www.fsa.usda.gov/
BUY,
SELL,
TRADE
OR
RENT
THROUGH
THE
CLASSIFIED
ADS
IN
Lancaster
Farming
PHONE:
717-626-1164
OR
717-394-3047
FAX:
717-733-6058
Mon., Ides.,
Wed., Fri.
8 AM to 5 PM
Thure.
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