> News > Local News

Email: "Special crops, dairy helped with farm bill"
*To:		<--TO Email REQUIRED!
*From:		<--FROM Email REQUIRED!

The 18 apple varieties at Boyer Orchards in New Paris are the size of pinky fingers, on schedule for harvest between August and October.

Every year brings different weather conditions, determining how many apples, pears and peaches the Boyers will have to sell. This year’s crop looks good after the trees avoided frost.

Another comfort this year comes from provisions in the federal Farm Bill, updated every five years.

In this year’s bill, specialty crops — fruits, vegetables and fruit and nut trees — for the first time receive full recognition and $3 billion in mandatory spending during the next decade for research and market promotion.

“We’re really excited about the farm bill,” said Matt Boyer, who runs the orchard with his brother Bruce. “Specialty crops account for about half of all cash crop receipts in America.”

Despite that, they use fewer acres than agronomic crops — corn and soybeans used for food, fuel and feed.

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Carl Shaffer said the bill ‘‘has a lot of good things in it for Pennsylvania,’’ including a continued safety net for dairy farmers if milk prices fall below a certain level.

The provision would provide a federal subsidy for dairy farmers if prices fall below $16.94 per hundredweight (nearly 12 gallons) of Class I fluid milk. It also includes adjustments for higher feed costs.

While milk prices soared last year, they’re now dropping, and farm bureau spokesman Mark O’Neill said subsidy payments may come later this year.

Prices for April ranged from $23.91 to $24.46, according to state Milk Marketing Board data, down from January’s $25.27 to $26.02.

“What’s been driving milk prices down is overproduction from big states,” including California and Arizona, Shaffer said.

Overproduction started when last year’s prices rose. What helps Pennsylvania dairy farmers, he said, is that many grow their own corn to feed their cattle.

Matt Boyer serves as president of Pennsylvania’s Horticulture Association, which discussed the farm bill during a board meeting last week.

He said a problem arose when an entire section was dropped from the bill during the voting process.

After the House and Senate passed the bill, a mistake in the clerk’s office resulted in a version that was missing the section on trade being sent to President Bush. Bush vetoed that bill, after which the House and Senate overrode the veto before the mistake was discovered.

Before the Memorial Day recess, the House voted on a replacement, complete bill. The Senate must vote again before the bill goes back to the White House.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, who favored the Farm Bill, the veto override and the replacement bill, supports provisions to benefit rural areas, including much of his district.

One section provides grants to help rural areas upgrade and expand wastewater treatment facilities, a federal mandate as part of Chesapeake Bay cleanup.

‘‘It’s due, in large part, to the Chesapeake Bay, which is a national treasure, and we need to protect it,’’ Shuster said. ‘‘But it’s up to the federal government to cover some of the costs.’’

He also supports parts of the Farm Bill regarding issues other than agriculture, such as nutrition. The bill improves food stamp benefits and provides healthy foods to schools.

Those provisions please the Boyers, too.

‘‘Our crops are really important to the diet,’’ Matt Boyer said. ‘‘You’re supposed to eat your fruits and vegetables for better health.’’

He said specialty crop growers need all the help they can get with research and planning for the future.

‘‘Invasive plant pests and diseases cost our business millions of dollars each year and threaten the future of fruit and vegetable commodities,’’ he said.

Shuster and Shaffer agree with the importance of the Farm Bill to prevent dependence on foreign food.

‘‘Our food policy, it’s part of our national security,’’ Shuster said. ‘‘We have to always make sure we’re never reliant on another country for our food supply. It puts America in a very weak position.’’

Mirror Staff Writer Jessica VanderKolk is at 946-7465.

 

Subscribe to The Altoona Mirror

Share: