Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:39pm.
Changes to Program Will Slow Turnaround Time LANCASTER, Pa. — Kathy Heil, county executive director for USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Lancaster announced Tuesday that because of low milk prices FSA will be making payment in April to producers through the FSA’s Milk Income Loss Contract, or MILC, program. The 2008 Farm Bill made changes to the MILC program, most notably the addition of a dairy feed ration cost adjustment in addition to changes to the payment rate and modifications to the per-operation poundage limit, depending on when the milk is produced. “We will be making MILC payments as a result of the low prices but because of the changes to the program ordered in the 2008 Farm bill, the payments may be higher but will take a bit long to gather the required data before payments can be made,” Heil said. FSA makes MILC payments on a monthly basis when the Boston Class I milk price falls below $16.94 per hundredweight (cwt) as adjusted for feed costs.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:38pm.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania producers who want to be eligible for disaster assistance in 2009 must have crop insurance coverage on most insurable spring-planted crops before March 16, said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. “For the first time, most crops must be covered by a crop insurance program to be eligible to receive federal disaster payments,” said Wolff.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:31pm.
Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
New York Correspondent SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The New York Farm Show proved to be the busiest, biggest yet with sizable crowds of farmers, laborers and landowners braving temperatures well below freezing and gusty wind. The show boasted five buildings of farm seminars, vendors and informational displays, from A.G.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:28pm.
Steve Taylor
New Hampshire Correspondent DOVER, N.H. — The University of New Hampshire’s Cooperative Extension is facing the fight of its life to preserve its longstanding commitment to maintaining a full-service presence in each of the state’s 10 counties. New Hampshire until now has bucked the pattern of the other New England states, which have consolidated and greatly reduced field offices and professional staff at the grassroots.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:25pm.
Andrew Jenner
Virginia Correspondent BOLAR, Va. — You have to really want to get to Bolar to end up there, a half-dozen or so steep, winding mountain crossings west of the Shenandoah Valley, then south to the far end of Highland County, Virginia’s smallest, with a population under 2,300 and falling each year.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:23pm.
Chris Torres
Staff Writer Manure has become quite the commodity these days, as evidenced by the prices garnered for 4,300 tons of it at an auction recently in Danville, Pa. The auction, held last Friday at the Don Cotner farm, attracted about 70 people and 21 registered bidders. According to Mike Weaver of Weaver Auction Service, the auction was the first of its kind in the region, modeled after a similar auction that has been held for the last six years near Erie, Pa. “As far as I know, there is only one other one in the state that I am aware of,” Weaver said. The 4,300 tons of poultry manure was sold in lots or “houses” based on the nitrogen, phosphorus and potash (N-P-K) analysis. The auction attracted six buyers. The highest bid came from a farmer near Bloomsburg, Pa.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:20pm.
Charlene M. Shupp
Espenshade
Special Sections Editor ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Holstein Association recognized the achievements of several breeders last week as part of its annual convention in Lehigh County. The convention was sponsored by the southeastern region county Holstein clubs. Earning the Hall of Fame awards were Fred Strouse and F.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:17pm.
N.Y. Senator’s Proposal Concerns Dairy Industry Carol Thompson
The Valley News A bill proposed by N.Y. State Sen. Darrel Aubertine that would require cheese products to be classified as “non-dairy” has raised the ire of many in the dairy industry who claim the legislation, if passed, would severely hurt them. The bill, introduced by Aubertine, who chairs the senate’s Agricultural Committee, would specify that a milk protein concentrate, or caseinate, in its manufactured form, would not be a dairy product. Cheese is made from caseins and, under Aubertine’s bill, could not be labeled as a dairy product, according to those who oppose the legislation.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 03/06/2009 - 2:13pm.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A two-year, statewide study of private water wells by Penn State Cooperative Extension has revealed both good news and bad news about much of the state’s drinking water. First the positives: The levels of lead and nitrates in wells seem to have fallen sharply in the last 25 years, and well owners are generally happy with their ater supplies. The negatives? Forty percent of the more than 700 wells tested failed to meet the state’s safe-drinking-water standards for at least one contaminant.
Submitted by Editor on Thu, 02/26/2009 - 5:35pm.
Agriculture, Health Secretaries to Chair HARRISBURG, Pa. — To provide better oversight of Pennsylvania’s food supply from the field to the dinner table, Gov. Ed Rendell Wednesday announced the formation of the new Governor’s Food Safety Council and announced his appointees to the panel. The first council in the state to focus on food safety, members will advise the governor on direction for security protocols and practices at all stages of the food supply.
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