Hot News

4.17.2007

By LYNNE HOOT

As a result of the passage of House Bill 558, starting in October, it will no longer be unethical for farmers to work for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
Actually, there are several farmers who currently work for MDA, but they were grandfathered in after the State Ethics Commission ruled in the early 2000s that being a farmer caused a conflict of interest.
MDA’s current farmer employees, who hold positions throughout the department, do a great job and provide unique knowledge and skills.
For Maryland’s soil conservation districts, passage of HB 558, sponsored by Delegate Paul Stull, R-Dist. 4A, and co-sponsored by 32 other delegates, means that when MDA starts hiring new field employees to work in the district offices later this year, they can include local farmers.
There is a provision for MDA to work with the State Ethics Commission to prepare regulations to deal with potential conflicts of interest.
Individuals with farm backgrounds become fully functional district employees quickly and require little training. There are many farmers with small operations who cannot survive without off-farm employment and many seek positions with health insurance for their families.
The technician and planner positions in the soil conservation offices provide a perfect opportunity for these farmers to work in an area where they have expertise and understanding and who are well received by the clients they serve.
Farmers employed to write soil and water conservation plans and schedule the implementation of the best management practices in these plans for their fellow farmers understand cropping patterns, farming issues and financial limitations.
• The Green Fund (HB 1220/SB 901), which would have provided significant financial resources to support agricultural best management practices, did not make it through the Senate.
Originally touted as “teeth for smart growth,” the bill was amended in the House to become more of a funding source than a way to improve the way Maryland’s landscape is being eaten up by random development.
The bill will be studied over the summer and will return next year along with other fund-raising and spending programs. It is important that agriculture play a significant role in this process.
• HB 1268, to change the way the septic system funds from the Bay Restoration fee (flush tax) are used from 40 percent for cover crops to 60 percent, was also defeated. This would have provided more than $2 million additional funds for the cover crop program.
• Legislation to name Sassafras Sandy Loam as the state soil did not move from committee and has provided the press with an opportunity to question the need for a “state dirt.”
The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts, along with several soil scientists from across the state, was hoping to add Sassafras to the list of the state’s symbols in time for a display on the importance of soil at the Smithsonian Institute in 2008.
Twenty-two other states have officially designated a state soil and the Smithsonian’s recognition is encouraging several other states to follow suit this year.
• Maryland’s crop insurance premium program was amended by HB 1389 to allow the state to pay up to 8 percent of the premium cost for the USDA-sponsored program. The current law allows MDA to pay up to $2 per acre, although no funding has been provided for the program since 2003.
Although no funding was allocated again this fiscal year, it is hoped that future consideration will be given to this law that brings federal payments to farmers in response to crop and income losses at a time when farmers need it most.
The Ag Stewardship Act of 2006 (HB 2), requested MDA to prepare a report on its marketing and agricultural development activities.
The report assessed the agricultural support programs in the surrounding states and showed that Delaware and Pennsylvania have each provided crop insurance coverage to their farmers and, as a result, have received significantly more federal support dollars through both premium support and insurance payouts than Maryland.
The new language in Delegate Norman Conway’s HB 1389 amends the original law so that the funds can be allocated to encourage a farmer to improve his or her coverage level to a higher level (65 percent or above), which will significantly improve the farmer’s insurance payments when a crop or income loss is experienced.
MDA has made great strides in recent years working with USDA’s Risk Management Agency, to ensure that crop insurance programs are designed to benefit Maryland farmers.
• All farmers can be proud that their state legislature chose not to micromanage animal husbandry practices but instead be guided by scientific research.
There was strong opposition from the agricultural community to legislation that would have banned the use of gestation crates that do not allow a pig to turn around without touching the sides.
The American Veterinary Medical Association published a report in June 2005 in which they reviewed gestation crate housing; they determined that traditional gestation stalls are no better or worse than group housing and that both systems have advantages and disadvantages.
Although the legislation would only have a direct impact on a few hog farmers in the state, there was concern from all livestock producers that this would be the first of many bills that would try to restrict a farmer’s ability to determine the best scientifically researched system for their farm.
(The hog industry has no objection to Smithfield’s recent decision to phase out gestation crates or Burger King’s decision not to purchase meat from cage reared animals. These are market-based decisions that a farmer can consider when determining whether or not to use gestation stalls.)
• Biofuels and energy bills were in plentiful supply this year. Legislation passed requiring the state to use B5 (diesel with 5 percent biodiesel added) for 50 percent of its heavy equipment and heating use. A similar bill passed last year for regular diesel vehicle use.
Legislation was amended from a biodiesel use mandate (B2) to become a task force to evaluate options for the state to increase the use of biodiesel and other renewable fuels, review their impact on agriculture, and examine Maryland energy policy.
Membership on the task force includes Maryland Farm Bureau, the relevant state agencies and several representatives from gasoline supply and distribution organizations. MDA will provide the staff to the task force, which came back to life in the last hours of the session.
HB 1045 — Ethanol and Biodiesel Production Credit Amounts — was amended in the House to increase the state incentive for ethanol from small grains and for biodiesel from soybean oil from a newly constructed crushing facility from the current 20 cents to 30 cents; increase the fee for biodiesel from other feedstocks from 5 cents to 20 cents, and add ethanol from biomass at the higher level.
Unfortunately, the bill was given an unfavorable report in the Senate as the potential fiscal note on the bill was $2 million per year, although to date no biofuels facility has applied for the incentive. To be eligible, a company must provide farmers with the opportunity to be investors in the project.
• The dairy industry can now haul milk in trucks up to 87,000 pounds on state roads in 10 counties (but not on Interstate highways).
Also there is a pilot study to produce cheese from raw milk, but the general public will still need to travel out of state if it wishes to purchase raw milk directly from a farm.
• Somerset, St. Mary’s, Wicomico and Worcester counties now join most other counties for the one-day hunting on Sunday, but Harford County’s effort to be included was not supported in the Senate.
• The termination provision on the Young Farmers Advisory Board was lifted and the board now becomes a permanent fixture.
• The Ag Commission now has a biofuels member added to the list of commodity and industry representatives.
• There were some changes made to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation program including elimination of districts and the need for a landowner to be signed up in a district before being eligible to sell an easement.
Overall, it was a good session for conservation and agriculture.