(L to R) Wil Baker, CBF, Leon Ressler, Lancaster County Extension, Rep. Pete Daley, Bob Ruth, Country View Family Farms, Matt Ehrhart, PA-CBF, Rep. Art Hershey, Marel Raub for Sen. Waugh/ Chesapeake Bay Commission, and Mike Brubaker

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its partners this week released "Voices of Agriculture," a new report that identifies the alarming state and federal funding shortfalls for Pennsylvania farmers, and summarizes the comments of a cross-section of the agricultural community on the potential solutions.

There to receive the report were Rep. Arthur Hershey (R-Chester), Majority Chair of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Peter Daley (D-Washington), Minority Chair of the House Agriculture Committee and a representative of Sen. Mike Waugh (R-York), Majority Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Chair of the Pennsylvania Delegation to the Chesapeake Bay Commission.

The report reflects testimony given by farmers and other agricultural professionals who took part in more than 14 public agricultural listening sessions held throughout the region. Michael Brubaker, of The Brubaker Corp., Inc., facilitated the meetings from September through November 2005.

Hundreds of participants attended the sessions, with hundreds more participating by calling through a dedicated telephone message line. The phone line generated a total of 3,112 individual comments.

Full transcripts of comments and testimony are available online.

“The listening sessions offered an open forum for anyone interested in farming or land preservation to air their concerns and opinions,” said CBF President William C. Baker. “The results of the listening session are clear; in order to remain economically viable and increase conservation practice implementation, Pennsylvania farmers need additional funding from both the state and federal governments and they need it now.”

Although both state and federal funding programs exist, most are under-funded, restrictive, and inadequate to serve Pennsylvania farmers. Data from the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service shows that two out of every three farmers who apply for funding to implement conservation practices are turned away due to lack of funding.

Pennsylvania farmers currently receive less that one-third the national average of support from the federal Farm Bill. “Voices of Agriculture” makes clear that Pennsylvania farmers want to see a Farm Bill in 2007 that levels the playing field and addresses critical problems facing agriculture here in Pennsylvania. It also describes additional state initiatives and funding that are needed for agriculture to thrive in a time of high land costs, increasing environmental demands, and stagnant commodity prices.

”Providing sufficient federal and state funding for the every-day operations of farmers is integral to improving water quality in local streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay,” said CBF Pennsylvania Executive Director Matt Ehrhart. “Farmers have demonstrated that they are willing, if given the tools, to implement practices that reduce pollution and protect valuable soils. It’s time for equitable funding resources to help farmers do the right thing.”

Public listening sessions were held from September to November, 2005 in Harrisburg, York, Gettysburg, Lancaster, Bloomsburg, Lebanon, Chambersburg, Bedford, Quarryville, Lewisburg, Towanda, Mill Hall, West Middlesex, and Doylestown. Partners in the listening sessions included Ag Choice Farm Credit, Country View Family Farms, Delaware Valley College, Green Oil Company, Hatfield Quality Meats, Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit, Morrissey Insurance, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Penn State Cooperative Extension, Penn State University, the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania, Regional Economic Development District Initiatives of South-Central Pennsylvania (REDDI), and the State Grange of Pennsylvania.

Other supporters included the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Audubon Pennsylvania, the Bank of Lancaster County, Binkley and Hurst Brothers, Inc., the Center for Dairy Excellence, the Elizabethtown Grange, Farm Progress Companies, Honeywell, the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Martin Limestone, Inc., Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders, PennAg Industries, Pennfield Feeds, Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders, the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board, Rep. Gordon Denlinger (R-Lancaster), the State Conservation Commission, TeamAg, Triple H Construction, U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, the USDA Risk Management Association, Worley and Obetz, and 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania.

The “Voices of Agriculture” report is available online.

For more information visit the Pennsylvania Farmers At Risk webpage.

4/28/2006