V01.22N0.14 Shelhamer confirmed ag secretary By DIETER KRIEG HARRISBURG - Penn sylvania’s new secretary of agriculture believes there’s virtually no job too tough for an efficient fanner to tackle. That’s why be has made a solid farm background one of the prerequisites necessary to work in his department. “Hie farmer is Family farms threatened HARRISBURG - An Ag- Land Trust investment plan, proposed by two major financial firms, threatens the existence of family fannsin America and would lead to higher consumer food prices, the Pennsylvania State Grange warned last week. Energy crisis contemplated By SALLY BAIR Feature Writer LANCASTER, Pa. - Agricultural uses of energy have been given priority in all major pieces of legislation dealing with the natural gas crisis, according to Edward Callan, Columbia Gas Transmission Company. Calland answered the question of agricultural usage at a meeting called by Rising milk production worrisome By DIETER KRIEG MOUNT JOY, Pa. Dairy industry leaders and Penn sylvania’s new secretary of agriculture, Kent Shelbamer, are expressing some concern over the trend of milk production. Inter- State Milk Producers Cooperative, which held a district meeting here on Thursday afternoon, noted PFA works with marketing By SALLY BAIR Feature Writer LANCASTER, Pa. - If you’re interested in buying and eating premium Penn sylvania products, the Pennsylvania Farmers’ Association has a direct marketing program made to order for you. Lancaster County Far mers’ Association President, Earl Newcomer, Washington Boro Rl, ex plains that PFA’s marketing Serving The Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania Areas - Also Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware Down-to-earth approach preferred very versatile, he had to be,” Kent Shelhamer told Lan caster Farming in an in terview on Monday. “He is ingenious and diverse, that’s what I want to develop in my department.” Shelhamer, who has a strong farm background himself and still operates a farm in Columbia County, In a letter to Pennsylvania congressmen and to the United States and Penn sylvania secretaries of agriculture, J. Luther Snyder, master of the State Grange, declared that the plan would put' the production of major field crops - such as corn. 16th District Congressman Robert Walker last week to discuss the area’s energy goals and seek possible answers. Commissioner Robert Bloom said that the Penn syvlania Public Utility Commission “will do what we can” in meeting the needs of Pennsylvania food industries during the crisis. He was unsympathetic to that its January 1977 supply increased by 9% per cent ' over a year ago. The energy crisis was partially blamed for the predicament. As fer ; as is known, no milk needed ' to be dumped, although there < were some very dose calls. One situation which hung | in the balance in a very precarious position was the future of milk shipped to program is organized to provide fresh, quality produce direct to con sumers, both members and non-members. He says, “We pay premium price for the best quality - we don’t try to meet anyone’s competitive price.” According to Vaughn E. Hunter, sales director for the Pennsylvania Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association, an arm of PFA, the program started five Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 19,1977 wants the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to be more responsive to farmers’ needs and he says he will work diligently towards that end. Describing -himself as a “mover and a shaker,” the 52-year old former legislator says his office will be open to hear (Continued on Page 17] soybeans, wheat and other grains - “under the control of two financial giants.” The Ag-Land Trust idea was developed by the Con tinental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company and the brokerage firm of [Continued on Page 16] plants which had not made arrangements for a second “back-up” fuel systems as they have been told to do, but he also said he was reluctant to see milk dumped because of it. When asked specifically if farmers would be assured of “adequate” supplies to meet their spring needs, (Continued on Page 151 , Dietrich’s Dairy in Reading. ' The firm turns fluid milk into powder and came close to having its gas supplies shut off. Inter-State con vinced the Public Utilites Commission to change the status for Dietricks and the gas kept flowing. Also in strumental in saving the area’s dairymen a king aized headache was Myers’ years ago as a fruit program, when PFA par ticipated with the Florida Farm Bureau in shipping , citrus to Pennsylvania. Eventually,- Hunter said, “We developed our own label and started selling apples down there.” From this modest start, the program slowly became involved in marketing hams, mushrooms and grapes, and IConiMid m Pan II) Meet Pennsylvania’s new secretary of agriculture Kent Shelhamer, a Columbia County farmer with 12 years of legislative experiences behind him. Professing a practical, grass roots, nuts-and-bolts philosophy, Shelhamer wants his Metered Gas Service of Maoheim which furnished emergency fuel supplies to the Reading firm. A check with Dietrich’s on Thursday afternoon revealed that the crisis is over and that no such serious flare-ups are expected in the immediate future. The burden of having too much milk on hand remains however. Concern over excessive supplies was Daniel Martin Department to be responsive to farmers’ needs. His reputation as a listener and a "mover and shaker" are well known and respected. The senate confirmed him as secretary of agriculture on Monday by a 47 to 0 vote. expressed by Dr. James Honan, general manager of Inter-State, and Daniel Martin, Manheim area dairyman who serves as vice-president of the dairy cooperative. Joining the dairy cooperative leaders in voicing this concern was Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Kent Shelhamer, who in an interview with In This Issue Fann Calendar v 10 Editorial comments 10 Homestead Notes 42 Home on the Range 45 Jr. Cooking Edition 47 Women’s Calendar 48 Joyce Bupp 48 Dairy feature 62 Classifieds 64 Fanners oppose dam 94 YorkDHIA 98 Living feature 105 Public Sales Register 107 Sale Reports 127 $4.00 Per Year Lancaster Farming on Monday said: "I think today ire are in an area of having substantial surpluses in milk, and we could see some read serious problems in the milk in dustry. This could precipitate some new legislation. ’’ He added that he hopes he is wrong in his assessment, but that all (Continued on Page 23} James Honan
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