Frederick Farm Bureau hosts officials in ag forum

By CARYL VELISEK
Staff Writer

NEW MIDWAY, Md. — Representatives from county, state and national offices met with members of the local agricultural community for a Legislative Day Forum on Feb. 11, to discuss a number of issues.
The forum was put together by members of the Frederick County Farm Bureau, the Frederick County Pomona Grange, and the Catoctin Soil Conservation District.
Acting as moderators for the discussions were Tom Browning and Ray Ediger for Farm Bureau, Sheila Felzer and Jim Moser for the Grange, and Denny Remsburg for the conservation district.
A lot of questions were asked and many were answered. Those that weren’t were promised to be looked into and relayed back.
As was to be expected with such a group, there was political stumping, but, as a whole, most participants agreed the session was informative and helpful and one of the best held in a while.
Blaine Young, president of the Frederick County Board of Commissioners, led off the discussion stating that Frederick County is in the top 10 counties in the United States in farmland preservation and assured the group that officials are not looking to create or expand any new growth areas within the county at the expense of agriculture.
He also spoke about reducing stream buffers to state standards and talked briefly about the so-called septic bill, S.B. 236, saying it was based on faulty science.
Young also told the audience that the county was in the process of reducing government and had so far reduced the number of county workers by 370 employees.
Plan Maryland was discussed at length and it was noted there is very little of farming in the plan.
Audience members were urged to contact their representatives about the issues with which they disagreed.
There was discussion about the proposed waste disposal facility in Frederick that is to begin construction in 2015 and will bring 100 jobs to the county, noting it was always a political issue.
State Sen. Ron Young, R-Dist. 3, said he feels the proposed gas tax is going nowhere and he also thinks there will be some kind of septic bill going through this year but not the present one.
Other issues discussed by state representatives included off shore wind power and solar energy, and how they affect farm families, a new liquor licensing plan for micro-breweries, drilling for natural gas, and child labor laws
Dairy farmer Chuck Fry explained that the child labor law, SB594, which limits children’s work on their family farms “will kill dairy farming.”
At the national level, agricultural trade, environmental regulations, taxes and the energy policy, PlanMaryland, the septics bill, property tax reduction and the proposed child labor laws were among the topics discussed at length. along with the upcoming Farm Bill.
Julianna Albowitz, representing Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said the Farm Bill must be re-authorized in 2012, and that agriculture is a critical industry for Maryland’s economy.
About the immigration issue, Albowitz said, “Immigration reform is not expected to be voted on this year. We need a program that rewards people who play by the rules. Currently, the immigration program needs fixing.”
Immigration laws as they stand now, Browning noted are “cumbersome, complicated and expensive”.
Fry also said that when it comes to the Farm Bill, 78 percent concerns nutrition matters and the rest concerns farming.
“Agriculture is always asked to do more with less,” said Summerfield, who grew up on a farm. “And if we fight only for agriculture, we are apt to get nothing.”
Sen. Ben Cardin’s Western Maryland representative, Robin Summerfield, also addressed a number of the same farm issues as did Sallie Taylor, who was representing Congressman, Roscoe Bartlett.