Cambria Farm Bureau members get updates on long-delayed federal farm bill

Eminent domain, data centers also discussed at annual meeting

CARROLLTOWN -- Cambria County Farm Bureau members discussed local, state and national issues during their annual policy development meeting Wednesday at the Saint Benedict Community Center in West Carroll Township.

President Marty Yahner said the federal farm bill is making its way through Congress but is several years overdue. It's "vitally important" that the farm bill gets passed because it provides the programs, financial stability and certainty that farmers need, he said.

U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-Blair, used quotes from Yahner and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Tommy Nagle in a hearing related to the Data BRIDGE Act, the federal bill that aims to make it easier for rural areas to get more broadband and internet coverage, according to Yahner.

"We've been talking to (Joyce) about that for quite a few years," Yahner said. "That is moving; that's a great thing because farmers and all rural people need that."

At the state level, eminent domain is a huge issue for farmers right now, Yahner said, adding eminent domain ties in with data centers.

"Data centers are coming, but they need to be cited in the right place -- not on rural farmland," Yahner said, noting the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau has a policy that recommends data centers produce their own power and use their own water.

On the local level, the Cambria County Farm Bureau also establishes its own policies from a grassroots level, Yahner said, noting there were more than 20 policy resolutions that members created and voted on during Wednesday's annual fall meeting.

The Cambria bureau made nine recommendations to the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau's board of directors. They included reinstating a code of conduct, revising the by-laws to include a way to remove officers and creating written job descriptions for the executive staff.

The Cambria bureau also made a recommendation to Penn State that it hire an agronomist to the Cambria County Penn State Extension office. Members also voted on recommendations to the county, requesting the commissioners hire a clerk for the Cambria County extension office and restore full funding to Penn State Extension -- to bring back the 4-H extension educator position.

Thankfully, farmers received adequate rain this year, which resulted in a better growing season for nearly all crops, Yahner said.

"I would think almost all crops are better than they were the last couple of years when we did not get enough rain. Mother Nature still decides what we get or don't get," Yahner said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.