38 —Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 5, 1977
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I LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I
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Beef Task Force explained
Dear Editor;
In his letter in your
B’ebruary 26 issue, Mr. Reist
R. Mummau in his op
position to the Beef Market
Development Plan brings
forth several misconceptions
that are shared by many. He
was correct, however, in
saying that there was con
siderable opposition in
getting the law through
Congress, but this opposition
came from labor unions,
militant consumer activists
and misinformed urban
congressmen.
To set the record staright,
I would like to point out the
following.
The Beef Market
Development Plan is not a
government program! This
is a producer self help effort
that was conceived, bom,
and developed by some of the
best minds m all phases of
the cattle industry, nation
wide. It is to be financed in
its entirety by cattle
producers only.
Government’s role in the
program is minimal. The
funds collected nation-wide
by the beef check-off will be
controlled by the up-to-68
representatives of the cattle
industry on the Beef Board.
The “government”, a part of
USDA, will only confirm
nominations to the Beef
Board, nor will they control
the funds or the program.
Their only function, as with
other commodity check-off
plans (such as cotton,
potatoes, sheep and swine} is
Vegetable classes slated
LANCASTER, Pa. - Home
vegetable gardeners will
again have an opportunity to
attend a senes of three
evening classes prior to the
Spring planting season.
These informative
educational meetings,
conducted by the Penn State
Cooperative Extension
Service are scheduled for
March 8 and 9, 15 and 16, 22
and 23, at the Farm and
Home Center, Lancaster.
Instruction on each of the
two consecutive dates will be
the same, since each week
the seasons will be on dif
to act as a referee - to blow
the whistle if the Beef Board
steps out of bounds of the
law. This Beef Board will be
made up of cattlemen, un
paid except for travel ex
penses to board meetings.
If a producer is opposed to
the check-off he may apply
for a refund of the amount
paid in assessments by
writing to the Beef Board,
supplying evidence of how
much he has paid. In the
event producers grow
unhappy with the program
they, upon request of 10 per
cent of the number of voters
in the initial referendum,
can have the secretary of
agriculture conduct another
referendum; then he must
terminate the order if a
majority of those voting
favor termination.
In the export field, funds
raised by the Beef Check-off
can, by contractual
agreement, be used by the
U.S. Meat Export
Federation to develop
markets abroad for our high
quality, grain-fed beef, a
commodity that only we in
the United States produce.
While on the other hand, beef
imported into the U.S. is
mostly lower quality grass
fed beef that goes into
manufacturing such as
canned soups, T.V. dinners,
sausages, and is also used as
a ground beef extender by
some processors. This meat
is a bothersome competitor
to our beef, particularly cow
ferent aspects of gardening
throughout the three-week
series. Starting time is 7:30
p.m. each evening. No fees
or advanced registration will
be required to attend.
A.G. Lueck, county
agricultural agent m hor
ticulture, will be in charge of
these evening meetings. A
special session on backyard
fruit growing will also be
held on Tuesday April sth.
This will give backyard fruit
growers a chance to learn
more about this kind of home
horticultural endeavor.
beef, and helps depress our
cattle market. Funds raised
by the check-off, by law,
cannot be used to lobby
against imports. Lobbying is
the domain of the American
National Cattlemen’s
Association, the Farm
Bureau Federation and the
like
Unfortunately we have
come to a point in our
country when we must ad
vertise and promote our
basic foods in order to sell
them at an advantage to the
producer and to the con
sumer. Substitutes are of
fered in a glowing fashion
making it necessary to
promote the real thing in self
defense. The manufacturing
community is out to replace
our natural foods with
snythetics (ersatz products)
with supposedly the
unhealthy particles removed
by chemical means and
vitamins added.
If you think this isn’t so,
just look what margarine
and its Madison Avenue
“nutritional experts” have
done to butter, what syn
thetic fabrics have done to
the natural fibers. Ever
heard of Hamburger Helper -
Stove Top Dressing (instead
of potatoes) - or Morning
Star so-called “sausages”?
Ever heard of Tang - Egg
Beaters?
To sell our wholesome
natural products and to
defend ourselves against
YiiSSmSS.
3-point
tractor hitch
Two-speed landing gear
(lack) provides easy
hitching with an
empty or loaded trailer.
Cattleman still suspicions
Dear Editor: -
It has bveen stated by an
offical of the Beef Task
Force, that the government
has nothing to do with this
program, That is certainly
true that the government has
nothing to do with the
promotional end, like ad
vertising, receiving the
millions of assessments,
installing $30,000.00 dollar
executives, and such
measures as its directors
decide, but where the law, or
government’s responsibility
comes in, is in seeing that
these assessment’s come in.
If they do not the Beef Board
has recourse to the law to
see that they do. That is the
purpose of establishing a law
regarding the plan.
It is like the income tax
law, all the people are
required to make an income
tax report and pay their tax,
but it is the Internal Revenue
Service which is the arm of
the government that sees
that they do.
How would you like, if
every cattle owner be
required to keep record of all
cattle pruchases and sales,
to determine your yearly
beef boycotts, the polyun
saturated fat hucksters and
the colon cancer ad
venturists we have got to get
our Beef Market Develop
ment Plan passed in the
referendum this Spring.
If we fail to pass this
program, then we can be
sure that things will never be
any better than they have
been.
Think of it as a 3-ton grain truck
for about half the price.
This versotil* trailer feoms op with yoor pickup to help you move atom
livestock ond other heovy loads in a hurry
tv rf::o Q i. o A 9r 'JT" e ; can ca , rry °* much ° s ° 3 i ° n ,rucv >* c°n wi over
7 /, tons Or 285 bushels of gram It con even operate os a flat bed to carry farm
equipment The Agn Trailer can handle twice as much as o 4 wheel trailer And
unlike a 4 wheel if can handle those loads safely at highway speeds
Standard Faaturas:
i'r~ 4 ?i,ra' 42 - ■*— W.. &nu
,#at ° reS ° n ° 3 ,on ’ ruck ,ut ,h * ,rock W 1" “»• Wlth retractab l* pm and
Com* In Today And Cfi*ck An Agrl-Trallar Ov*rl 1861 trUCkk>ed plat * -
REGV CITY, INC.
668 Shiloh Pike, Rt. 49, Bridgeton, N. J.
PHONE 451-3144 (609 area code)
assessment for the Beef
Board, not just once, but
from now on and on. This is
what will happen if the
needed money does not come
in.
If this referendum passes,
this Beef Task Force can
launch a multimillion dollar
program and the law is the
guarantee that they will have
Sincerely,
JohnW. Stump
Chairman,
Maryland Beef
Development
Task Force
Agri-Trailer
the money assessed from the
cattlemen, to carry their 4
program on.
These are the kind of
forces within our national
boundaries, that are
destroying the freedom that
has made this nation great.
Sincerely,
Heist R. Mnnunau.
Mount Joy, Pa.
Heavy-duty
hydraulic hoist.