Lawmakers Reverse Decision On Farmland Bill (Continued from Page A 1) ago,” said Guy Donaldson, Penn sylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) president. “If lawmakers can re verse course so quickly on a pro posal that breaks longstanding public policy to protect farmland owned by the commonwealth, there’s reason for concern about other commitments to farmland preservation.” Donaldson said, “It’s passage will likely lead to targeting of more state-owned farmland for development. There’s something very contradictory about spend ing millions to preserve farmland while at the same time giving up prime farmland owned and con trolled by the state.” “We are extremely disappoint ed that the House would recon sider House Bill 66 after it was initially defeated by such a large majority (150-50),” said Brenda ATTENTION: mjlm VEGETABLE GROWERS PLASTIC MULCH SALE 4’ x 4000VMHI 40 Roll Minimum Smooth 5 55.90 Embossed 5 65.00 Free Delivery (Eastern Coast, USA) • • Call for Truckload Pricing • • Call for Row Cover ■ Berry Boxes - Seed Prices Prices Good Thru Jan. 17th AGWAY 1731 W. Main St., Ephrata, PA 17522 717-733-6593 m*> Shambaugh, Pennsylvania State Grange legislative director. “We are most disappointed in those representatives who changed their vote the second time around and supported the bill. This bill could have far-reaching impact on future agricultural land owned by the commonwealth.” One component of the bill is permitting the transfer of agricul ture restrictions on the 22 acres to a 46-acre site in Elk Township. Concerns are that if allowed, this bill could impact agricultural land preservation programs, opening the door for agriculture restriction movements. “The General Assembly just can’t appreciate how dangerous this precedent is, and it is prece dent setting,” said Jayanna Yeakle of PFB. “They just look at it as one farm and one farmer that they are displacing, but it is paving the way for developers to raid a host of farms and prime farmland.” “The Grange has always been a strong supporter of the agricul tural preservation program,” said Grange State Master Betsy Huber. “We believe that pre served farmland should remain permanently preserved in order to maintain the integrity of the program. Transferring a cove nant would set a dangerous prec edent and possibly have a nega tive effect on future covenants.” An option available to develop ment is a brownfield located to the west of Warren. It is a former manufacturing facility located on Rt. 6 that has been vacant since 1995. “The Grange certainly sup ports economic development but feels that the available brownfield would be a much better option for all parties. Shopping centers are not easily converted back to farmland,” Huber said. State Rep. Sheila Miller (R-Berks County) expresses deep concerns on the true potential the impact House Bill 66 places not only on farmland, but all state owned open space. The property that was is sued the deed restriction is governed by Act 442 of 1967 and Act 159 of 1982. Both acts restrict the conveyance of state owned farmland to be preserved as open space or for farmland. Miller also notes that Act 442 governs all of state gamelands in addition to the farmland. She said, “I contend that .S, _u, (-Jia . . tIA i*-2-. ,*Ja .tL . ciLi. ,j& , rsifa ,X , . JZ . .Jt , .-Sif. .iL . Water mSgon “The Freshest Water On the Trail" Pools • Power Washing • Wells • Cisterns Stainless Steel Water Truck Rentals 24 hours a day • 8 days a week Conestoga Water Wagon * P.O. Box 31 4* Conestoga, PA 17516 f | 717/629-2756 | ffil .ffi, JLi, Jb ,*Xs /-S& |<Ca 42-| a 3& a®, «®, /V , y TF *!P * * Tp P *SP t P * P P <P PPPP* P P P Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 20, 2003-A29 ((The General Assembly just can’t appreci ate how dangerous this precedent is, and it is precedent setting. They just look at it as one farm and one farmer that they are displacing, but it is paving the way for developers to raid a host of farms and prime farm land. 5 J with passage of House Bill 66, we jeopardize more than $564 mil lion the commonwealth has in vested in protecting more than 2,000 farms by throwing doubt on the permanency of any law that is passed to protect farmland and open space when it becomes the target for other land uses.” House Bill 66’s passage through the house and pending vote will place Gov. Rendell in conflict with the executive order signed in July 19, where he states, “It is the policy of the commonwealth to protect through the administration of all agency programs and regula tions, the commonwealth’s ‘prime agricultural land’ from ir reversible conversion to uses that result in its loss as an environ mental and essential food and fiber source.” While concerns among agricul ture organizations are high. Sen. Noah Wenger (R-Lancaster County) does not believe this will impact our state farmland preser vation programs. “It will have an impact on that particular property,” said Weng er, “I don’t see it impacting the state (farmland preservation) Jayanna Yeakle Pennsylvania Farm Bureau program.” Wenger noted, “That was state-owned property, and the easement was placed on it by the legislature. The easement had not been sold it did not go through the farmland preservation pro gram as we know it.” Wenger said that money generated from the sale of the property in Warren County will go into the state farmland preser vation program. House Bill 66 states that any proceeds from the sale of the farmland received by the state will be credited to the Agricultur al Conservation Easement Fund. House Bill 66 was introduced at the beginning of the imple mentation of Warren County’s comprehensive plan. The plan was developed to generate eco nomic growth for the county. According to House Bill 66, Warren County is facing several economic challenges, such as an unemployment rate of 19 per cent. a decreasing county popula tion, and a high percentage of land owned by state or federal government, which limits the county tax base. Southwest Pa. Regional Dairy Day March 11 INDIANA (Indiana Co.) The Penn State Cooperative Extension of southwest Pennsylva nia is again sponsoring a southwest Regional Dairy Day, Thursday, March 11, at the Four Points Sheraton, Greensburg. This year’s featured speakers include Dr. Nor mand St-Pierre from The Ohio State University and Dr. Karl Nestor, dairy nutritionist for Myco gen Seeds. St-Pierre’s topic is titled “Profile of Succesful Dairy Farms” and Nestor's topic is “Evaluating Forage Quality.” The afternoon session will feature four work shops. Producers will have an opportunity to se lect two workshops. Topics will include contin ued discussion on “Profile of Successful Dain, Farms,” “Evaluating Forage Quality,” “Improv ing Cow Comfort and Movement,” and “A Dairy Producer’s Experience With Hispanic Labor.” Once again, the planning committee has devel- Get Kory A_ Kozy Heat t 1 R t I* I A C [■ S JPWWL 1060 Division Highway 322 East, Ephrata, PA 17522 1 Block East of Rt 222 (717) 733-4973 800-642--0310 www.bowmansstove.com Mon., Tues., Wed. 10 to 6; Thurs., Fri, 10 to 8; Sat. 10 to 4 oped an educational program that will pro vide practical informa tion for the dairy pro ducers of southwest Pennsylvania. For more information, contact Eugene Schur man, extension agent, dairy, (724) 465-3880.
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