Crop Insurance

Policy. Remember that? It's what America used to discuss back in the day, before we became obsessed with birth certificates and the 47 percent. Policy is what the government does, instead of how it does it or why - two questions that are admittedly more entertaining, but ultimately immaterial to our daily lives. If we would spend one- tenth of the energy debating the current farm bill as we have over Benghazi we might actually get somewhere in terms of moving the nation forward and addressing some real problems ranging from the national debt to childhood nutrition.

DICKERSON, Md. -- Dairy farmers are increasingly scrutinized by consumers, and dairy experts say farmers can expect to spend 15 minutes a day educating the public and telling the dairy story. A lineup of nationally recognized speakers at the Maryland Dairy Convention will equip dairy farmers and the industry with facts they need to educate and the tools to help them share the story. The event is set for 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Lynfield Event Complex, Building 5, in Frederick, Md. The theme is "New Dairy Challenges in the 2000s.

Colleen Cashell, executive director of USDA's Farm Service Agency in Washington County, said orchardists and nursery tree growers can apply for benefits under the Tree Assistance Program, which was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. Signup continues until July 6 at local FSA offices for losses experienced due to natural disasters from Jan. 1, 2008 through May 7. "This program helps our orchardists and nursery tree growers replant and get back on their feet after natural disasters," Cashell said.

Already hit hard by a year-long drought and low market prices, some Washington County farmers say programs set up to help them, such as one that provides government loans, don't offer much relief. Jim Harp, 52, of Paradise Church Road, has over the years borrowed several hundred thousand dollars through four different emergency loans available because of droughts. "You just get in so deep to the government with the emergency loan that you can't ever pay it back," said Harp, who has paid off one of the loans.

ANNAPOLIS - Because of the severe drought and associated crop losses in Maryland this year, the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO) has created a loan fund to help farmers with weather-related income losses. The 2007 Farm Drought and Weather Event Recovery Assistance Loan Fund aims to help agricultural businesses maintain viability and recover from production and revenue losses by offering low-interest operating loans to producers who have suffered significant crop, livestock, feed and/or dairy losses.

ANNAPOLIS - Because of the severe drought and associated crop losses in Maryland this year, the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO) has created a loan fund to help farmers with weather-related income losses. The 2007 Farm Drought and Weather Event Recovery Assistance Loan Fund aims to help agricultural businesses maintain viability and recover from production and revenue losses by offering low-interest operating loans to producers who have suffered significant crop, livestock, feed and/or dairy losses.

Dairy producers and industry experts are to share secrets of successful dairy production at the Maryland Dairy Industry Association's 2006 Annual Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 16. The meeting, with the theme "Profitable at Any Size," is to begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Carroll County Ag Center in Westminster, Md. "We have secured an unbeatable lineup of speakers for this one-day event," said Dr. Robert Peters of the University of Maryland and co-organizer...

Statisticians from the Republic of Georgia visited a Washington County farm Thursday to see how peaches and apples are grown here. Rinehart Orchards near Smithsburg was the last stop of a United States trip for the Georgian delegation, which is learning American methodologies and procedures in agricultural statistics. The group from Georgia, a former Soviet republic, began its trip Aug. 7 in Washington, D.C., said Barbara R. Rater, the director of the Maryland field office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

by Joe Crocetta / staff photographer see the enlargement McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - Reed Englert remembers shooting 150 deer in one two-year period on his 600-acre northern Fulton County farm because they were eating his crops almost as fast as he could plant them. "I had to stop because my neighbors and the sportsmen were getting up in arms," he said. "Intense hunting is the only way to control the deer. I'd like to see the deer population in Fulton County cut in half.

By BRENDAN KIRBY / Staff Writer photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced Monday that West Virginia has been declared a federal disaster area, making millions of dollars in low-interest loans available to the state's farmers. Farmers in neighboring counties in five other states - including Washington and Frederick counties in Maryland - also could apply for the loans. [cont. from front page ]