Conservation Programs

Nominations open for FSA committees Farmers, ranchers and other agriculture producers can nominate eligible candidates for the 2007 elections to serve on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees. Elections are being held for the southern part of the county, including Westminster, Sykesville, Mount Airy and Finksburg. Committees make decisions on county commodity price-support loan eligibility, establishment of allotments and yields, conservation programs, disaster programs, employment and other issues.

Although by all accounts the Maryland legislature had a very productive session, legislators fell short in protecting the land that most sustains us - our farmland. While we applaud the successful defense of open space funding overall, for the second year in a row, both the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Fund and the Rural Legacy Program were slashed. This year they lost a combined $8.7 million. The trend and timing of these cuts is alarming. In addition to providing a host of benefits, starting with our food, farmland is central to meeting the Chesapeake Bay restoration goals to which Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia have committed.

IF TALK about power grids, energy production and utility deregulation makes make your eyes glaze, this may wake you up: In less than a year, price controls begin to come off residential electricity rates in Maryland. When that happens, Maryland consumers will learn a hard lesson about market economics. For years, Maryland, like most other states, regulated electric utilities. Maryland's Public Service Commission (PSC) kept tabs on projected demand and, if needed, could order utilities to build new power generating facilities.

MARYLAND HAS many environmental treasures, including the Chesapeake Bay and our rural landscapes. Since taking office in January, I have instructed members of my administration to evaluate new land purchases based on their ability to contribute to the Chesapeake Bay restoration. Maryland has been a natural leader in land acquisition since 1969. Many Marylanders would be astonished to know how much land in Maryland is already under the state's conservation management. Today, 19 percent of Maryland's acreage - nearly one of every five acres - is permanently protected.

A day after advancing a proposal to give homeowners an estimated $5 monthly credit on their electric bills, state lawmakers decided yesterday to cut that amount to less than $2 while directing the rest to conservation and other programs designed to reduce energy use. Proponents say the latest plan approved by the Senate Finance Committee would save consumers an average of more than $9 a month over time because the state would be investing in programs that...

More details about how the 1990 Farm Bill will affect county farmers will be available early next year, but farmers should prepare for more environmental restrictions, conservation programs and flexibility in grain subsidies."

The state Public Service Commission approved yesterday a $12.9 million increase in electricity and gas rates for Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. to pay for the company's conservation program.The increases, which become effective July 1, will add 15 cents to the average monthly electric bill for 600 kilowatt hours and 14 cents to a monthly gas bill for 90 therms.The money will finance BG&E programs that offer rebates to customers who use more efficient lighting, heating and cooling equipment.

THE 1996 Freedom to Farm law tried to wean farmers from a tradition of government support and overproduction. It didn't happen, as transition payments became permanent and "emergency" aid created even higher subsidies. The new $171 billion House farm bill would increase those subsidies over the next decade, giving more money to larger, wealthier farm owners at the expense of smaller farmers. That is utter nonsense: paying higher subsidies for more crops that aren't needed, driving up farm costs and squeezing more family farmers out of business.

WILLIAM DONALD Schaefer made news last week by acknowledging that Maryland had a $1.2 billion budget surplus on June 30. But how many heard Mr. Schaefer's full explanation? Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has already committed half that money to balance the fiscal 2006 budget that began July 1. In the long term, red ink looms. State spending is growing at a pace that the current tax structure cannot support. Mr. Ehrlich claims to be fiscally responsible, yet he continues to misrepresent his own government's finances.