—Lancaster Farming. Saturday, January 8, 1972
14
Lancaster Co. FFA and Adult Tobacco
(Continued from Page 1)
Michael E Rohrer Strasburg
RIM, third. Clair Brenneman,
Lancaster RD6, lourth, and
Dennis Sangrev. Conestoga RD2,
filth
Long Idlers Witmer J
Rohrer. Strasburg RDI. second,
Paul D Kreider, Ronks RDI,
third, Michael E Rohrer,
Strasburg RDI, lourth. and
Donald E Shand, Pequea RDI,
tilth
Short tillers Elmer Boyd,
Ephrata RDI, second, Witmer J
Rohrer Strasburg RDI, third,
David H Fre>, Conestoga RD2,
lourth. and Eugene M Rohrer,
Strasburg RDI, fifth
In comments on tobacco
growing. Ro> Hohrer said many
Lancaster County tobacco
growers have “some poor
tobacco” this year Some key
(actors in this, he said, were not
wilting their tobacco enough
before hanging, hanging it too
close, not allowing it to get
enough air to dry properly, and
generally wet and moist con
ditions this year which caused the
tobacco to have a high moisture
content in the field and stoppped
Food Stamp
Rules Changed
The U S Department of
Agriculture recently announced
revisions in Food Stamp
Program regulations to prohibit
the return of cash as change in
lood coupon transactions and to
prohibit the use of food coupons
as payments for deposits on
bottles or other returnable
containers
The revisions were made under
USDA rule-making procedures in
response to comments contained
in the Agricultural Ap
propriations Conference Report
of July 22,1971 The Senate House
conferees said the practice of
giving cash change “threatens
the success of the Food Stamp
Program and should be
stopped
The revisions require retail
food stores to issue credit slips or
tokens to food stamp shoppers for
amounts up to and including 49
cents, with the credits good only
for eligmle foods in the same
store
Previously, food stamp rules
permitted change up to and in
cluding 49 cents to be given in
cash in a single transaction
Unendorsed 50-cent food stamp
coupons will continue to be used
lor change in amounts of 50 cents
or more
Deposits on bottles or other
leturnable containers of eligible
foods must now be paid by the
purchaser in cash, instead of with
food stamps as was the previous
practice
Those persons favoring the
amendments feared willful
abuses of the cash change
privilege through deliberate
attempts to convert coupons into
cash Suppoiters also felt that,
thiough catelcssness, change
returned to iccipients might not
lie used to purchase needed food
Poisons objecting to the
pioposai felt credit slips could
decrease a recipient’s pur
chasing power i( lost, slow down
the check-out process, com
plicate a retailer’s accounting
sjstem, obligate a recipient to
return to that particular store,
and deprive recipients of extra
cash for those necessary food
items not eligible for purchase
with food coupons
it Irom drying properly in the
shed
A tobacco buyer himself for
Lornlard, Rohrer noted that “a
lot of fellows are growing more
than their sheds can really
handle ”
But he conceded that building
new tobacco sheds is very ex
pensive in relation to the return
Asked about new tobacco
harvesting machines being
developed, Rohrer said he
doesn’t see them being adaptable
to the type of tobacco now being
grown in Lancaster County In
the South where he believes these
machines may be useful, the
tobacco plants are much smaller
He believes there would be too
much plant breakage with the
much larger varieties being
grown here
Rohrer also noted that the
tobacco companies are paying
the top dollar now for chewing
tobacco rather than the cigar
tobacco which is being grown
locally. Chewing tobacco
requires a much thinnter leaf and
vein than is now being grown
locally, he said
AK. Mann Jr, one of the
tobacco show judges, picked up a
hand of Rohrer’s winning tobacco
and said it was of such out
standing quality it could be sold
as cigarett tobacco
Mann was joined by Lester
Whitmore of American Cigar in
judging both the open and FFA
shows
Floyd Imes, 523 Rambler Road,
Manheim, an Agway employe,
was corn contest judge
In commenting on his own
procedures in selecting his
winning entries in the tobacco
competition, Rohrer said he
selects several quality hands of
tobacco and strips the leaves,
sorting them into piles of
wrapper, filler and binder. When
he has a large pile of about 200
leaves, he then carefully selects
the very best under light.
He also believes that planting
vigorous plants in the spring is
very important. He grows t his
own seed.
James Gruber, Elizabethtown RD3, opens a leaf of his
grand championship entry in the Lancaster County FFA
Tobacco Show Thursday at the Farm and Home Center.