Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 12, 1995                   TAG: 9501130037
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

A new federal law requires farmers to buy crop insurance if they expect to be eligible for many U.S. Department of Agriculture benefits.

At least enough insurance to cover crop catastrophes is needed in order to participate in commodity price support programs, certain Farmers Home Administration loans and the Conservation Reserve Program.

The coverage compensates farmers for losses of more than 50 percent of their crops, at a rate of 60 percent of the expected market price for the crop. It costs $50 per crop per county, according to Fryda Powell, acting county executive for the Roanoke County Consolidated Farm Service Agency office in Salem.

Coverage is available until the sales closing date for each crop. The date in Virginia for apples, barley, oats, peaches potatoes and wheat is March 15.

-Staff report

Roanoke welcomes ever more visitors

The 45,714 visitors who stopped at the Roanoke Valley Information Center on the Roanoke City Market last year represented a 16 percent increase from 1993 and set a record. The count has risen each year since the center opened seven years ago.

Numbers provided by the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, which operates the center, show the number of visitors averaged 5,039 per month. They came from several states and more than 40 foreign countries, the bureau said.

-Staff report

Briefly ...

Tultex Corp., Martinsville maker of fleece activewear and licensed sports apparel, on Wednesday reported unaudited revenues of $563 million for its fiscal year ended Dec. 30, up 6 percent from $533.6 million in 1993. But the company said it expects earnings for the year to be below the 25 cents per share projected last month by industry analysts. Tultex expects to report 1994 earnings Feb. 7.

Cincinnati Milacron Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to sell American Mine Tool Co. in Chilhowie to Greenfield Industries Inc. of Augusta, Ga. The transaction is expected to be completed within a month. AMT, with about $30 million in annual sales, is a leading producer of carbide-tipped bits and accessories used in mining and highway resurfacing. AMT is a division of Valenite Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cincinnati Milacron of Cincinnati.

River Ridge Supply Co. Inc. of Lynchburg and Roanoke said it has received a two-year forklift-maintenance contract from Ericsson Corp. in Lynchburg and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in Danville.