For Immediate Release
April 30, 2007
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Building a Vision for Rural Pennsylvania holds session in Leesport

LEESPORT – The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee continued its Building a Vision for Rural Pennsylvania series last Friday with a listening session in Leesport, Committee Chairman Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster) said.

State Senator Michael O'Pake (D-Reading), the minority chairman of the Committee, hosted the public session at the Berks County Agricultural Center. About 40 people attended to share a broad range of concerns about the agriculture industry and rural communities.

Committee Vice Chairman Mike Waugh (R-York) attended the session as well, in addition to representatives of Senator Terry Punt's (R-Chambersburg) office and Senator Mike Folmer's (R-Lebanon) office. Berks County Commissioners Thomas Gajewski and Judith Schwank, and state Department of Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff also attended.

"We were privileged to be able to hear from individuals on a wide range of topics last week, Brubaker said. "I have been very pleased with the turnout and the wealth of information my Committee has received to date."

Secretary Wolff addressed the Committee on several topics, including the health of the dairy industry and the ACRE law.

"A number of federal fixes have come out of our Department's Seeds of Change Initiative, particularly over the past year," Wolff said. The Seeds of Change Initiative brought together more than 400 agriculturalists to provide comments on Pennsylvania's needs in the 2007 federal Farm Bill. Milk price volatility was one of the six major areas of concern that emerged from the initial meeting of stakeholders in March 2005.

"In addition, the Governor has petitioned the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board to use its authority to capture over-order premiums in other marketing areas," Wolff continued, saying that this would boost the profitability of Pennsylvania dairy producers. He expects a ruling from the Board in mid-May.

"We need to align dairy pricing policy with the real market," Wolff said. "The global market has expanded and we should align our pricing and markets to take advantage of that."

Wolff also recommended that feed and other input costs be taken into account when determining pricing. "In addition, our milk revenue insurance program was presented by the state Department of Agriculture to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which would allow the farmer to insure his milk revenue just like he insures soybeans," Wolff said. This proposal has been received positively at USDA and is undergoing further review, he said, adding that Pennsylvanians should write to their federal representatives and ask them to support the Northeast marker bill and the dairy policy as introduced.

Further, Wolff addressed the Pennsylvania ACRE law (Act 38 of 2005). "Like with any new policy, there have been challenges," Wolff said. "However, some townships have withdrawn their ordinances that have been challenged before the situation reached the legal stage, some have been reviewed by the state Attorney General, and those that have been dismissed in court will be appealed.

"It is working, and we will continue to monitor the situation," Wolff said. Several local supervisors who attended the meeting also spoke about ACRE and their concerns with the law.

Wolff also applauded the Berks County farmland preservation program as a wonderful investment for both the county and the state.

Lehigh County Commissioner Sterling Raber, who is also a member of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, talked about the need for additional funding for farmland preservation. In particular, Sterling discussed the idea of allowing counties to impose an additional 1% realty transfer tax to provide funding for preservation, and also talked about landowner liability and conservation district funding.

"I would like to see changes to Act 217 (of 1945, the Conservation District Law), especially more funding" commented Glenn Seidel, former Director of the Berks County Conservation District. He referenced a 2005 report completed by the state Legislative and Budget Finance Committee.

Tami Hildebrand, Executive Director of the Berks County Agricultural Land Preserve Board, also discussed need for permanent funding and the need to review the funding formula for farmland preservation. "I feel agriculture should be weighted more heavily, and so should the local monies put into the program," Hildebrand said, "and I believe the formula should be reviewed periodically to make sure the program is reflective of changing times." She commented that even with the $2,500 cap, which was just increased from $2,000, the level it had been for the ten previous years, there is still a long waiting list in Berks County to preserve farmland.

Commissioner Schwank addressed the Committee with her concerns about the lack of education about the use of biosolids. "I am worried that this creates conflict between farmers and their neighbors," Schwank said. "We must be responsive to these concerns, but we also want to work with the agriculture community. I believe we need more research and education as well as additional funding for local conservation districts to assist landowners."

David Fink, a Lehigh County farmer and vice president of operations of Green Renewable Energy Ethanol and Nutrition Holding LLC in Emmaus, told the Committee how his company plans to build an ethanol plant in Schuylkill County.

"Pennsylvania's energy independence initiatives and the viability of agriculture go hand in hand," Fink explained. He suggested that assistance is needed to finance alternative fuels production facilities, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build.

"We no longer need talk," Fink said. "We need action."

Participants also talked to the Committee about the need for fresh food among low-income families and communities. Peg Bianca, Executive Director of the Greater Berks Food Bank, requested that the Committee support a funding increase to the State Food Purchase Program to $20 million for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Governor Rendell has proposed cutting the Program's funding from $18.75 million to $18 million.

"In 1989, we had 18,000 people living in poverty in Berks County," Bianca said. "Ten years later, that number had grown to 26,000, and today, 43,000 are living in poverty in the county."

In addition, Bianca asked that the state's appropriation for Farmers' Market Food Coupons be increased back to its current level of $3 million; the Governor has proposed cutting that program to $2 million. She also requested $750,000 for a new Pennsylvania Agriculture Surplus System program, which would distribute lesser-grade apples to needy families and give Commonwealth farmers payment for apples they may not have sold otherwise.

Several supporters of organic agriculture addressed the connection between quality food and health care. They indicated that people tend to spend many times more on health care than they do on food; however, if more were spent on quality food, they might need less for health care.

Keith Masemore, a dairy farmer who is President of the Berks County Farm Bureau and a Hereford Township supervisor, raised several issues. "We need to address landowner liability, we need property tax reform, we need to get rid of the prevailing wage requirement for townships and we need to allow townships to use state health programs," Masemore said. "We must also educate township officials so they understand agriculture and so things don't get to the point of litigation between farmers and townships."

Masemore also supported farmland preservation, saying, "farmland preservation starts in the mind of the farmer – if we can preserve the farmer, the rest falls in line."

Several individuals discussed their concerns with the USDA's National Animal Identification System, which was proposed by the federal government. One farmer, Roy Hetrick, expressed his support for animal and premises identification because it is useful in pinpointing where the diseases are that could affect him and his farm.

Others who attended talked about problems with Canada and snow geese, the high costs of health insurance, fuel costs, and the Governor's proposed cuts to agriculture programs for 2007-2008.

"I am very interested in listening to the concerns our agricultural and rural communities have so that my Committee can build a truly comprehensive agenda for the current legislative session," Brubaker said, "and I want to thank Senator O'Pake for inviting us to Leesport so that we could hear from constituents in his district."

The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee has one session remaining in its series, a May 14 meeting in Mercer County.

Contact:

Kristin Ebersole, Executive Director
Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

717-787-4420