The election for the FSA county committee members to represent producers in Local Administrative Areas 1 and 5 was held Thursday with the following results.

Elected to a three-year committee member term in LAA 1 was H. George Hartzell of Slippery Rock Township, with Randy Smith of Washington Township as first alternate. LAA 1 in Butler County consists of Mercer, Slippery Rock, Marion, Venango, Allegheny, Parker, Washington, Brady, Worth, Cherry, Clay, Concord and Fairview Townships.

Elected to a three-year term committee member term in LAA 5 was Virginia Strouss of Findlay Township Allegheny County, with William Scott of Oakdale, Allegheny County, as first alternate and Duane Miller of Clinton, Beaver County, as second alternate. LAA 5 consists of southern Beaver County and all of Allegheny County.

Committee members are paid for their time and mileage expenses. Members are responsible for administering FSA programs in Butler, Beaver and Allegheny counties. Alternates are called upon for committee meetings and other assignments when the regular member is unable to attend.

A locally elected FSA committee serves each agricultural county in the nation. Meetings are open to the public and are held monthly — sometimes more often — depending upon program demand.

The Butler-Beaver-Allegheny FSA office is staffed by four employees who conduct day-to-day operations for the committee.

Pork checkoff program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service announced Nov. 13 it would conduct a Request for Referendum in December among eligible producers and importers of hogs, pigs, pork and pork products to determine if they want a referendum on the Pork Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Order, commonly known as the Pork Checkoff Program.

Participation is voluntary, and only individuals who desire a referendum on the Pork Checkoff Program should participate.

The USDA only will conduct a referendum on the order if at least 15 percent of the total number of eligible pork producers and importers request a referendum. The total number of producers and importers eligible to participate in the Request for Referendum is about 69,446: therefore, at least 10,417 eligible producers and importers must request a referendum.

If necessary, the referendum will be conducted within one year after the results of the Request for Referendum are announced. If results of the Request for Referendum indicate a referendum is not supported, a referendum will not be conducted.

The Request for Referendum will be held Monday through Jan. 2. Producers and importers who were engaged in pork production or in the importation of hogs, pigs, pork or pork products between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2007, and were at least 18 years of age on or before Dec. 31, 2007, are eligible to participate.

For producers, the Request for Referendum will be conducted at the USDA County Farm Service Agency offices where their administrative farm records are maintained.

For producers not participating in FSA programs, the opportunity to participate will be provided at the County FSA office where the person owns or rents land.

Eligible producers may obtain form LS-54-1: Pork Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Request for Referendum from those offices either in person, by mail or by facsimile. Forms may also be obtained at: www.ams.usda.gov/LSMarketingPrograms.

To vote, Form LS-54-1 and supporting documentation, where applicable, such as a sales receipt, veterinary bill, feed bill, copies of grower contracts, cancel check or proof of payment must be returned in person, by mail, or by facsimile to the appropriate county FSA office by the close of business Jan. 2. Form LS-54-1 returned by mail must be postmarked no later than midnight on Jan. 2 and received by Jan. 9.

Agriculture humor

A man's car stalled on a country road one morning. When the man got out to fix it, a cow came along and stopped beside him. "Your trouble is probably in the carburetor," said the cow. Startled, the man jumped back and ran down the road until he met a farmer. The amazed man told the farmer his story about the talking cow. "Was it a large red cow with a brown spot over the right eye?" asked the farmer. "Yes, yes," the man replied. "Oh, I wouldn't listen to Bessie," said the farmer. "She doesn't know a thing about cars."

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.