Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 6 · column 2 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
For the farmer to get that information, he would generally have to retain ownership of thj calf through slaughtering^i^ew
jaffad producers can afford to wait m3f long before getting any income, she said, and for that reason banks, feeders and slaughterhouses need to work with producers, Ms. Rifaat said.
She believes the success of the beef industry is essential to the survival of Rappahannock County as an agricultural area.
"A cow is an efficient converter of grass to protein we can eat," she said. If the beef industry cannot survive in Rappahannock County, farmers will be offered high prices for their land by developers. "He sells and the fields get built over, like Fairfax and Prince William. At that point you might as well kiss the tourist industry goodbye."
Ms. Rifaat said for the beef industry to continue the county, the land use tax program must remain unchanged. She is also concerned about the stewardship act, and said it must be "applied reasonably." She said if the government "is going to require fencing streams to keep cattle out, they will have to come up with the funds. It can’t be done out of a farmer's operation. There is not the money to do it."
Ms. Rifaat said she would like to see a land trust program in Virginia, such as exists in several other states, where farmers can sell development rights and continue to farm. The scenic easement program only benefits larger farmers doing estate planning, she said. "The smaller producer doesn't do estate planning," she said. "He just wants to keep farming."
She suggested a levy on all real estate transactions to fund such a trust to purchase development rights, and said she would be interested in working on establishing such a program in Virginia.
Bill Oliver oversees the cattle operation at Eldon Farm, Rappahannock's largest beef operation.
He noted that beef prices "have always been in a 10-year cycle from
95.2%