A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 29, 2003 Lehigh County Farm Bureau Recognized NEW TRIPOLI (Lehigh Co.) Lehigh County Farm Bureau received the coveted “All Star” award for 2003 in Hershey at the 2003 Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Convention. The “All Star” award is the most prestigious award bestowed by the state asso ciation. The award honors the county farm bureau that achieves the highest score in the Recogni tion and Awards Program. Brian Dietrich of New Tripoli, presi dent of the county for 2003, ac cepted the award from Guy Don aldson, state bureau president. This marks the third year in a row that Lehigh County received the honor. Four primary program areas make up the structure and pur pose of the organization. They are Member Relations, Member Services, Governmental Rela tions, and Agriculture Commodi ties. The business of the group is vested in a thirteen-person board of directors and membership is the lifeblood of the group. The award was based on an all-time high of 809 families. This figure represents 188 new members, which were recruited in 2003. Bill Boyd, Mertztown, and Ray Fluck, New Tripoli, served as Membership Chairman for the 2003 year. The governmental relations cabinet member is Arland Schantz, Zionsville. Local, state, and federal legislative issues fall under this category. Some of the issues worked on by Lehigh County this year included elimi nation of the inheritance tax, ex pansion of the use of renewable fuels, property tax reform, and the high cost of health care. Nine policies were forwarded to the state for inclusion in the state program. The Member Relations seg ment is chaired by Bill Boyd, Mertztown. Membership, Publi cations, Promotion and Ag Edu cation, Women’s Committee and Young Farmer and Rancher committees are all covered under this area. Karen Boyd, Mertz town, served as the Women’s Committee Chairman. Her 12-member committee is the most active in the organization. Their activities include the Spring Mini-Farm Show, Farm Wife Dinner, Farm Safety Day Camp, and various displays at Fairs. The Promotion and Education Committee was chaired by An nette Pattishall, New Tripoli. She coordinates the Ag in the Class- room contribution, which gives local teachers the opportunity to attend a one-week workshop at Pemi State University. Funds generated by the Women’s Com mittee also support this great cause. The Young Farmer and Rancher Committee this year was coordinated by Mike Fink, Germansville. Activities included Discussion Meet participation and the Achievement Award Contest. Communication with the membership has helped the or ganization to achieve this award. A yearly directory, as well as a bi monthly newsletter, keeps every one informed. Beverly Gruber, New Tripoli, Secretary and Newsletter Editor, is responsible to see that the entire membership is aware of the group’s issues and happenings. The Member Service area of the association was chaired in 2003 by John Berry, Enunaus. Services offered and products purchased by the membership came from Safemark Products, Farm Management Services, Na tionwide Insurance, Blue Cross, as well as specific contract serv ices. A special insurance meeting was held in Lehigh County in September to benefit the mem bership. The final area is the Agricul ture Commodities. Mike Fink, Germansville, chaired this area. Eleven of the primary commodi ties in the county have commit tees. These include com and small grains, dairy, fruit and veg etables including potatoes, live stock, poultry, forestry, greenhouse/nursery, and others which includes hay and wine. The committee chairmen from the commodities made presenta tions at board meetings through out the 2003 year. Lehigh County also has five very active advisory councils. These councils meet each month and research a topic of interest to the Ag community. The Board roster is completed with an addi tional four members, Sterling Raber, Orefield; Dick Bleiler, New Tripoli; Diane Schlauch, Slatington; and Larry Bachman, New Tripoli. A total of 20 members attend ed the award ceremony in Her shey. In addition to the “All Star” award, the county was also recognized for winning 14 pro gram awards. Schnecksville Woman Appointed To National Agricultural Committee CAMP HILL (Cumberland Co.) Andrea Senunel of Schnecksville, Lehigh County was recently appointed by Ameri can Farm Bureau (AFBF) Presi dent Bob Stallman, to a brand new AFBF committee. The two year project, called Making American Agriculture Productive and Profitable (MAAPP), gets under way in December. The group was created to study issues that could affect the future of American agriculture and devel op policy options to help Farm Bureau members become more productive and profitable for years to come. Penn State Aids In Effort To Stop Spread Of Rabies UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) The costs of dealing with rabies are extremely high, and that’s why a wildlife expert in Penn State’s College of Agricul tural Sciences is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies to stop rabies from moving west out of Pennsyl vania. “ Ohio doesn’t have much rac coon rabies it just has not got ten there yet,” explains Gary San Julian, professor of wildlife re sources. “Rabies was brought to Pennsylvania from the South. The costs involved when a person is bitten are high rabies is a massive problem, so it’s critical to try to stop it here.” The USDA dropped fish meal pellets containing a raccoon ra bies vaccine in September from Senunel is one of 23 farmers and Farm Bureau leaders from around the country who will col lect and consider information from within and outside Farm Bureau. The information will be used to develop policy options for consideration by the AFBF vot ing delegates and board of direc tors. Each committee member was nominated by their state Farm Bureau president and represents the diversity of agricultural com modities produced as well as all regions of the country. Senunel is involved in all as pects of running her familys 200 low-flying aircraft in the less densely populated areas of Mer cer, Lawrence, Beaver, Washing ton and Greene counties, and in parts of Erie, Crawford, Ve nango, Butler, Allegheny, Fayette and Westmoreland counties. The baited zone extended ap proximately 60 miles into Penn sylvania and officials say the drops will move eastward in fu ture years as funding permits. The vaccine contains only a small, non-infecdve portion of the rabies virus that cannot cause rabies. When a raccoon punc tures the sealed plastic package, the vaccine is released into its mouth. A number of agencies are par ticipating in the effort to stop ra bies from spreading west from Pennsylvania, including the Unit- acre dairy farm. Excelsior Farm. They have 225 registered Hol steins and 10 registered Brown Swiss. She is past chair of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureaus Young Farmer and Rancher Committee and is currently an ex-officio member. She is active in her county Farm Bureau and is a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureaus Speakers Bureau. She is the audi tor for North Whitehall Town ship, a member of the Lehigh County Holstein Club, and a member of Pennsylvania Ag Re publicans. Semmel enjoys show ing cows at the Allentown Fair. ed States Department of Agricul ture, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Allegheny County De partment of Health, Erie County Department of Health, Pennsyl vania Game Commission and Pennsylvania Department of Ag riculture. Penn State is part of the Rabies Task Force and is doing research on rabies in Penn sylvania for the USD A. “This is the second year for dropping raccoon baits and the program is critical for helping to control the spread of rabies,” says San Julian. “It’s a serious con cern here in Pennsylvania. This year, by the end of September, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, a total of 321 capes .of animal rabies have been reported. Of this number, 188 were rac coons.” 1
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers