Town meeting set today at fairgrounds
Members of the local agricultural community will have a chance to address their concerns and talk with Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis C. Wolff during a town meeting today at the Fayette County Fairgrounds. “It is a great opportunity for people to meet and ask questions with the secretary,” said state Rep. Peter J. Daley, D-California, who has served as minority chairman of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee the past three years. “Agriculture and agricultural affairs are a major industry in Fayette County, and it is the number one industry in Pennsylvania. We want to address the economic development of agriculture with the secretary’s visit.”
The meeting will be held in the Fiddler’s Building from 4 to 6 p.m.
With foreseen cuts in state funding for agricultural programs, particularly within the 4-H and Penn State Cooperative Extension programs, Daley said Wolff’s visit is only a beginning. Daley plans to seek the secretary’s help in an assortment of projects, including establishing a new one-stop shop combining the 4-H and Cooperative Extension at one location and to institute an agricultural education center in Fayette County, which Daley believes is most needed.
“To my knowledge, we lose 2,000 farms a year, although there are still many farms around here,” Daley said.
Daley said farms are being lost because of high expenses and lack of motivation from youth, although he disputes that point with an example of the numerous younger people involved with Cooperative Extension and 4-H.
“It is a great experience for those kids,” said Daley.
“For, it is the farmers that feed America. Without them, we would not have any food.
“I want secretary Wolff to see that there are farms outside of Lancaster County, and he does know that.”
But, Daley wants the secretary to see first hand.
“I think Gov. Rendell is committed to sending his people out to meet people in different areas so they can address these issues,” said Daley.
According to Don Fretts, county extension director of Penn State Cooperative Extension in Fayette County, agricultural officials are facing a 5 percent reduction in the state’s funding toward the Penn State Cooperative Extension and the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Under the new proposed budget, which could be released by the end of October, the 5 percent reduction will continue, officials said.
Fretts said 60 to 80 jobs, including county official positions at 4-H and Cooperative Extension workplaces, might be eliminated because of the funding reduction, which affects all counties in Pennsylvania.
“There are efforts from legislators and the governor to reintroduce education and programs,” said Fretts. “We are hoping for this reduction to turn around.”
“We do foresee problems, so they need to keep Fayette County and Pennsylvania in mind in the process,” Daley added.
He said the meeting is also an opportunity for governing officials to gain a first-hand understanding of the area’s “agribusiness,” or operations incorporating agriculture and business at the same location. For example, Daley said, an agriculture business venture may include crops, feed stores, a fertilizer plant and more on site.
Daley predicts many residents from all over the county will attend the meeting to hear Wolff’s answers to pre-sent questions such as the encroachment of urban development and strip models on rural farmland, the regulation criteria for meetings on creation of small water projects, deer crop damage and local anti-farming ordinances.
Fretts said he is excited to meet Wolff again but does not completely know what to expect in the way of dialogue at the meeting.
“Dennis is coming to get acquainted with all the local agricultural leaders,” said Fretts. “It’s always good when your government agents are familiar with the area so when challenges and problems arise they can relate, and it’s good for them to offer some suggestions to us regarding agriculture and problems we face.”
A dairy farmer, Wolff owns Pen-Col Farms, a 600-acre, 400-head dairy cattle operation specializing in purebred Holstein genetics. He serves as a member of the Agriculture Technical Committee of the World Trade Organization, Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders and Penn State University Board of Trustees.
Wolff, who took office May 5, was recognized as a master farmer in 1994 because of his outstanding management skills, land stewardship and role in the agricultural community.
Before traveling to Fayette County, Daley and Wolff will hold a town meeting today from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Claysville Volunteer Fire Department in Washington County. Also, Daley will lead state legislators from the Council of State Governments’ Agriculture and Rural Policy Task Force on a study tour of two Washington County agribusinesses Saturday.