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improve the market for wool and lamb are carried out under terms of an agreement between the Secretary of Agriculture and the American Sheep Producers Council, Inc. (ASPC), as authorized by law. The proposed new agreement is similar to the last one. By approving it, producers would authorize payment deductions of up to 11/2 cents a pound on shorn wool and 7 1/2 cents a hundredweight on unshorn lambs, compared with 1 cent and 5 cents in the past. The higher deductions, recommended by most of the State and regional sheep organizations which are members of ASPC, would be necessary to finance ASPC's proposed programs. The referendum will be conducted through the A SC S county offipevjCopies of theagr^er ment and ballots will be distributed to sheep producers in early September. Balloting will take place during the period September 12-23. Producers may cast their ballots by mailing or delivering them in person to the ASCS county office by the close of the referendum.
Drought Conditions
Strike Heavy Blow
June-July drought conditions | struck Virginia agriculture a j heavy blow. Using 1965 crop | prices as a base, the aggre- ; gate loss to farmers from j July 1 to August 1 for 14 key | crops was estimated about $30,000,000. These figures were released today by the Virginia Department of Agriculture. This is a decline of about 13 percent from prospects of a month earlier. Rains during the past 10 days have greatly improved some crop conditions, except in Northern Virginia where drought conditions still prevail. The lack of moisture during July greatly reduced crop prospects in the state. The August 1 corn crop is estimated at 19,338,000 bushels, slightly more than' one-half of the July 1 forecast. This crop was by far the hardest hit by the drought. Hay production was reduced 220,000 tons from last month's estimate--a loss of about 15 percent. Tobacco did not suffer as much during the drought, since much of the acreage was irrigated. The flue-cured tobacco crop declined 3 percent from July 1 to August 1. Declines for other types of tobacco are
90.7%