Elanailrrhrmini Saturday Sept ?5 IQ /(> 15 w _3Hrf Str.isburg Rl. showed the champion the West Lampeter Community Fair THIS 10-QUART PLASTIC RAIL WITH CLARK DAIRY SUPPLY Rising Sun, MD VAN-MAR FEEDS, INC. E. W. HOLTON EARL SAUDER, INC. Shoemakersville, PA Daretown, NJ New Holland, PA H. JACOB HOOBER HYKES QUALITY FEEDS McCRACKEN’S FEED MILL, INC. Intercourse, PA York Haven, PA Manhelm, PA H. M. STAUFFER & SONS, INC. Witmer, PA RICHARD B. KENDIG Special Accounts Representative Phone 302-478-3058 R-D. 1, JERSEY SHORE, PENNSYLVANIA 17740 EVERY 100 LBS OF BEACON MILK REPLACER YOU BUY. : er expires October 16, 1976. W. L MUMMERT CO. Hanover, PA CHESTER WIEST Sales & Distribution Manager Phone 717-741-2600 BEACONFEEDS Beacon Feeds, York, PA Phone 717-843-9033 This offer's a 3-way winner. You get a sturdy plastic pail. Your calves get the nutrients they need for good health and quick growth. And you make more money by selling your milk. THARPE & GREEN MILL ROBINSON BROS. NEW FREEDOM FARM & GARDEN CO. New Freedom, PA R. E. RUDISILL Sales & Distribution Manager Phone 717-854-2281 Churchville, MD Delta. PA John Strawbndge of Stewartstown showed a number of blue ribbon hogs at the York Fair Berks Ag Center acclaimed By Frederick E. Bubb Information officer, SCS, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Have you ever called a government office, found out you had the wrong agency, and then called three or four numbers before you got the right office? Or have you had to drive from town to town to visit U.S. Department of Agriculture offices? This used to be the case m Berks County, Pennsylvania. Recognizing the need for improved service to the agricultural community, Berks County officials looked for an opportunity to improve government assistance. About this time USDA began a program of encouraging housing all its agencies in a single building, called an agricultural ser vice center. This concept appealed to the Berks County commissioners and a decision was made to build the first agricultural service center in Pennsylvania. Agricultural agencies now operate with facilities never dreamed possible. Several sizes of conference and meeting rooms are available, including an auditorium which seats several hundred people. Equipment rooms, ample storage, space, abundant parking, and even a lun chroom are extra facilities in the building. Showing great foresight, the Berks County com missioners added several other uses to the building. Civil defense and county communications are in the basement. The lunchroom is also in the basement and provides a dual role as food support for the civil defense operation. The building contains all county storage and shop facilities. Craig Williamson, of the Penn sylvania Civil Defense Council, termed the building outstanding, attractive, and at the same time, functional. The Berks County center houses the Cooperative Extension Service, Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Farmers Home Ad ministration, and Soil Conservation Service, USDA. Other agencies m the center include the county conservation district, which operates the reception and information center, and an Phone 717-753-3210 Intermediate Education Unit and County Weights and Measures Office. County Commissioner Vernon K Shaffer, who also serves on the conservation district board, states, “I am pleased and proud to have been part of the team that helped make this agricultural center a reality. In this day of hunger in the , world, the farmers of Berks ' County need all the help they can get.” The pubbc reaction to the center has been good. Before the center, USDA agencies were located in three towns. SCS District Conservationist J. Noms Judy reports that i more farmers are coming to the agency offices now. Berks County fanner Mark Wolfskill echoed this feeling. According to Wolfskill, “Farmers can now visit all . the agencies under one roof, saving them time and gasoline along with the convenient and free parking. I think farmers will now participate in more programs because of the accessibility of visiting all these agencies under one roof.” The Berks County center is one of five agricultural service centers in Penn sylvania. Others are in operation in Erie, Lancaster, Dauphin, and Washington Counties. All are en thusiastically supported by farmers and agency per sonnel. Erie County dairy farmer Calvin Henry commented, “Service centers are a definite advantage to far mers who use the services of a number of agencies. The common phone number and joint meeting room are a big help to farmers.” Another Erie County farmer, Burdette Sedler, added: “It is much easier to get your questions answered promptly.” He noted that the modem facilities also benefit the agency personnel. 0. Bard Judy, SCS district conservationist in Washington, Pennsylvania, spoke for all the SCS district conservationists in Penn sylvania who operate in service centers: “We are finding that cooperation between the agencies in creases greatly-we are working together more now than ever before.” i u 1 UU Uw I 1 j l