A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 27, 2003
Ag Organizations Celebrate Passage Of‘Right To Farm’ Measure
CHARLENE M. SHUPP
ESPENSHADE
JMitcasler Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Lawmakers gave Pennsyl
vania agriculture an early Christ
mas gift with the passage of
House Bill 1222, a bill which
could seriously impact townships
with illegal ordinances governing
agricultural operations.
House Bill 1222 passed the
General Assembly on Dec. 19
and has been sent to Gov. Ren
dell’s office for signing. The
House passed the legislation with
a vote of 134-53 and the Senate
with a vote of 46-3.
Agriculture organizations are
pleased with this outcome.
“Clouds are beginning to clear
over Pennsylvania’s farms,”
noted Guy F. Donaldson, Penn
sylvania Farm Bureau (PFB)
president. “The General Assem
bly has decided that a patchwork
of illegal ordinances among
townships is destructive to agri
Visit Dairy Checkoff
Booths At Farm Shows
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Dairy checkoff informa
tion will be available at both farm
shows in Pennsylvania in 2004
the Keystone Farm Show in
York, Jan. 6-8, and the Pennsyl
vania Farm Show in Harrisburg,
Jan. 10-17. Dairy promotion ac
tivities at both events are spon
sored jointly by the Pennsylvania
Dairy Promotion Program, the
American Dairy Association &
Dairy Council Mid East and the
Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association.
“I encourage dairy farmers to
visit either show to learn more
about how the dairy checkoff is
working to increase the overall
demand for dairy products,” said
Dave Trotter, dairy farmer from
Lawrence County and farmer
spokesperson for ADADC Mid
East.
Dairy farmers are invited to
visit building 5, booth 528 at the
Keystone Farm Show, located at
the York Fairgrounds, and booth
5087 and 5088 in the Main Exhi
bition Area of the Pennsylvania
Farm Show.
“Dairy farmers can learn more
about how the dairy checkoff is
managed efficiently and effec
tively and how dairy checkoff is
working to bolster the image of
dairy products and the dairy in
dustry,” Trotter said.
Other dairy activities at the
Pennsylvania Farm Show focus
on the 3-A-Day of Dairy theme.
3-A-Day of Dairy is an integrated
nutrition-based marketing and
consumer education program to
promote three servings of dairy a
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culture. The commonwealth al
ready has stringent environ
mental safeguards which are
among the most restrictive in the
nation. Farm Bureau believes
Governor Rendell will agree that
certain regulations governing ag
riculture should be decided at the
state and federal levels.”
The legislation allows courts to
require townships to pay a farm
er’s legal costs after challenging
an ordinance if the officials
knowingly or recklessly violated
state law when adopting it. Simi
larly, a farmer may be required to
pay the township’s legal fees if a
lawsuit is found to be frivolous.
Approximately 50 of Pennsylva
nia’s more than 1,450 townships
have adopted ordinances that
further restrict agriculture and
exceed existing state laws,
according to PFB statistics.
“Proponents of illegal local or
dinances tried to portray these
regulations as reasonable over
sight of large farms. Such ordi-
wholesome way to help families
meet their calcium needs.
3-A-Day of Dairy activities at
the dairy checkoff booth will in
clude the “soccer shootout” and
basketball “pop-a-shot” contest.
Winners receive special prizes
and all visitors will receive
3-A-Day of Dairy tattoos and
other free educational informa
tion, along with the chance to
enter a 3-A-Day of Dairy T-shirt
drawing. Three winners will be
selected each day of the show at 3
p.m.
Visitors may view the giant
butter sculpture, created from
more than 800 pounds of real
butter, in the Maclay Street
lobby. The butter is donated by
Land O’ Lakes, Inc., Carlisle.
The 2004 sculpture contains ad
ditional surprise ingredients rep
resenting the dairy industry. A
cheese sculpture will also honor
the 75th anniversary of FFA and
will be on display throughout the
show.
Jan. 13 will be Dairy Day on
the Culinary Connection stage
featuring two well-known chefs
and cookbook authors, Betty
Groff and Fritz Blank. Also on
Tuesday, a cow-milking contest
will take place in the milking
parlor. Participating will be Sec
retary of Agriculture Dennis
Wolff, Betty Groff, Fritz Blank,
and a local TV personality.
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nances, in fact, create enormous
barriers and uncertainty for
farmers who may need to change
their operations, or expand their
farm to make room for sons and
daughters,” Donaldson said.
“Farmers, young and old, won’t
risk an investment and their fu
ture if they know that a few local
officials can impose restrictions
that go far beyond state and fed
eral laws.”
“Pennsylvanians have spoken
loudly and clearly about the need
to maintain the rural character of
the commonwealth by preserving
farmland and the farmer,” said
Robert Gueldner, president of
PennAg Industries Association.
“Preservation requires uniform
and fair laws across all local gov
ernments.”
“The passage of House Bill
1222 is a big win for agriculture,”
said Gueldner. “There are ordi
nances in Pennsylvania that un
fairly discriminate against agri
culture. Municipalities have been
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Passing On the Farm Workshop Jan. 20
MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.)
Transferring a family farm
to the next generation seems as
natural as the change in sea
sons. But tax traps, family
squabbles, and lack of financ
ing or business planning chal
lenge many families attempting
a transition and outright
threaten the continuation of
some farms.
To help Pennsylvania farm
families navigate these chal
lenges, Pennsylvania Farm
Link and Penn State Coopera
tive Extension program will
host a “Passing on the Farm”
workshop Jan. 20 at the Berks
County Cooperative Extension
office in Leesport.
The workshop runs from
9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Speakers
will address bringing the next
generation into the farm busi
ness, farm viability, farmland
preservation programs, estate
planning, legal aspects of trans
fers, retirement planning, fi
nancing for new farmers, and
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reminded that they can not pass
ordinances that are contrary to
the laws and overall best interest
of the commonwealth.”
Pennsylvania State Grange be
lieves that this is a positive win
for agriculture.
“House Bill 1222 is vital for
Pennsylvania agriculture,” said
Grange legislative director Bren
da Shambaugh. “There are town
ships across the state that have
knowingly passed ordinances
against agriculture. One such
case cost the farmer more than
$BO,OOO to fight that illegal ordi
nance. This legislation gives
farmers a chance to recoup costs
and is a deterrent to passing
these illegal acts.”
While PFB, PennAg, and
Grange are celebrating this bill
passage, Pennsylvania Associa
tion for Sustainable Agriculture
(PASA) is upset with how this bill
was handled.
“It’s a real shame that our
friends in the agribusiness sector
crop insurance. In addition,
farmers from the region will
discuss their families’ efforts to
transfer their businesses to the
next generation.
According to the 1997 Cen
sus, three times as many farm
operators are over age 65 as
under 35. Just from the per
spective of retirement age, one
third to one-half of farmers will
retire in the next decade. How
we address this problem will af
fect agriculture in Pennsylvania
for generations to come.
Marion Bowlan, executive di
rector of Pennsylvania Farm
Link, said, “How a farmer
plans for his or her successor is
one of the most important life
time decisions that farmers will
make. Because it requires frank
and open discussions about re
tirement and death, many fam
ilies either delay or avoid the
planning process.”
“This strategy only narrows
the choices and options avail
able to both the retiring farmer
and the beginning farmer and
feel they have to operate this
way, but in many ways the bill
(HB 1222) at least speaks for it
self,” said Brian Snyder, PASA
executive director. “They brought
it in through the back door and
concealed it from public view
until an opportune moment when
people would be too busy to no
tice because they knew this legis
lation couldn’t stand the light of
day. They lumped township su
pervisors into a bill that deals pri
marily with juvenile delinquents,
habitual criminals and sexually
violent predators, because this is
how they view anyone who would
get in the way of their excessive
profit-taking ways.
“This bill is not about helping
farmers— farmers are merely the
pawns in this shadow game,”
said Snyder. “As with most legis
lation these days that is
promoted as defending the family
farm, it is designed instead to
benefit those who take their prof
it off the backs of real farmers.”
may result in unwanted tax
consequences. Perhaps the
most difficult decision to make
is the decision to ‘just do it. 1
Once you have made that deci
sion, there are many individu
als and organizations such as
Pennsylvania Farm Link that
can help you in the planning
process.”
The Passing on the Farm
Workshop is provided at no
charge to farmers. Lunch will
be provided at a cost of $7 per
person, payable to Berks Coun
ty Extension Special Account.
Please contact the Berks Coun
ty Extension Office by Jan. 13
(610) 378-1327 to make reser
vations.
To get to the workshop from
Rt. 183 north, travel about 3 A of
a mile to the traffic light at
West Leesport Road. Turn left
onto West Leesport Road. Pro
ceed l'/«0 mile to the stop sign,
turn right onto County Road.
Travel 1.1 miles on County
Road. The Ag Center is on the
left.