32—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 4,1978
Answers
(Continued from Page 1)
membership includes
thousands of dairymen in the
Northeast, including Penn
sylvania and Delaware* on
March 1 voted to study a
supply cut-back program.
On a related issue, a
delegate body of 200, one
from each of the Co-op’s
locals, resolved:
“Whereas the cost of
handling surplus milk IS
becoming an ever increasing
burden on co-op members,
now therefore be it resolved
that Eastern Milk Producers
Cooperative, Inc. do
everything possible to have
milk orders provide for the
cost of handling surplus milk
and that costs be charged to
all producers within a given
federal milk marketing
order.”
Eastern’s study and
concern exemplifies the
severity of the situation. It
is, however, just one ap
proach.
Boyd Gartley, director of
member and public relations
for Inter-State Milk
Producers; favors a plan
which would bring more
money into advertising
campaigns and increase
sales. Such a move would
boost incomes while chop
ping burdensome surpluses.
Inter-State, with
headquarters in suburban
Philadelphia, along with
other major dairy
cooperatives in the Nor
theast, has been urging
members to assess their
production and marketing
patterns. Surplus production
has caused IMPCO to make
additional charges to cover
extraordinary marketing
costs. The same has been
true with other dairy
organizations.
Inter-State and its sister
cooperative m Baltimore,
Maryland Cooperative Milk
Producers, are both very
much looking forward to the
opening of their jointly
owned Holly Milk plant near
Carlisle which is presently
being constructed at a cost of
more than $8 million.
Multitude of variables
affect fruit industry
LANCASTER - Every
thing from the 1977 Farm
Bill to diet changes to the
energy problem are un
certainties that will have
their effects on fruit
growers, says Arnold Lueck,
Lancaster County Extension
Agent.
Addressing a gathering of
'"fruit growers on Wednesday
morning, Lueck outlined
those uncertainties on which
the orchardists and fruit
producers should keep labs.
First of all, says Lueck,
one of the non-agncultural
variables which wil l Iwe an
effc-t on the ndu.di - is the
cl .-rent trade do" <’t r > well
as the United ■'tab ; inflation
rate which nas increased
by five per m lecent
years
Energy, of u" is of
deep concern, as ,\cd as the
tCf-S r^^r
<£Sj*jl
sought
Completion is expected in
mid-Spring. Once that plant
is in production, some of the
Northeast’s milk “overflow”
will be eased somewhat.
Eastern, a Syracuse, N.Y.
based cooperative with
nearly 8000 members, ex
plains its cut-back studies:
“Certain efficiencies have to
be made.” An ekample -
which would not directly
affect the surplus situation -
is the curtailment of every
day farm pick-ups. Inter-
State is considering a move
in that same direction and
may offer inducements to
dairymen to get them to buy
larger bulk tanks. Other
wise, higher stop charges
will be reflected in hauling
rates. A streamlining of the
hauling program will not do
much to cut surplus
production, but it will at
least help to keep costs
down, co-op officials explain.
Thinning herds to
decrease milk production is
being considered by many
dairymen, especially lately
since cull cow prices moved
up significantly. Auction
prices this week are ranging
in the low to raid thirties per
hundredweight according to
information received at-
Lancastcr Farming.
“This is an excellent time
for dairymen to cull herds,
and thus assisting in the cut
back of milk production,”
said Lisle Dutton, public
relations director for
Eastern. “If dairymen cut
back, they’ll see their per
unit costs drop,” the
cooperative official added.
“Volume of milk
production isn’t the answer
to profits,” Inter-State’s Jim
Sumner observed. “More
and more of your successful
dairymen are beginning to
find that out,” he added.
Dutton explains that the
industry has been faced with
so much milk, that Class I
utilization has been forced
down. Class II milk has
increased, and blend prices
have declined as a result,
regardless of price supports.
The National Milk
tax program. President
Carter and any moves he
makes will also put its mark
on the fruit producing in
dustry as well as the stock
market, the falling dollar,
and the social security
program.
Ticking off the
agricultural variables bound
to affect fruit growers in the
future, Lueck named farm
income, the farm strike, the
1977 Farm Bill, the weather,
diet changes, and the
dismembering of the USDA.
> -v— -wKywc «ww-«> ~ * ‘~-^*f£j'
fTtrtr, . r|^i« h .'*
Cheap teed and ci ip>.
more than ZVz years straight.
Producers Federation, an
organization which is
headquartered in the
Washington D.C. area, is
cautiously optimistic about
future milk supplies.
Statisticians in the NMPF
office have noticed that
although milk production is
still increasing, the upward
trend is slowing down. This
gives NMPF marketing
specialists some en
couragement to believe that
the situation isn’t entirely
out of hand.
NMPF statistics show that
•national milk production for
January of this year was up
by one per cent over January
of 1977. Total milk
production in 1977 was two
per cent above production in
1976.
Looking at figures more
closely related to Penn
sylvania, Inter-State’s
assistant economist, William
F. Newell, revealed the
following trends:
Pennsylvania dairymen
produced some 7.14 million
pounds of milk from 700,000
cows in 1975. In 1976, they,
produced 7.5 million pounds
from 706,000 cows. Last
iccotinted for ever-rising milk prodin
year, 7.8 million pounds of
milk were produced, while
cow 'numbers declined to
703,000. Cow numbers are
remaining steady, says
Newell, but due to increased
per cow production, the
Keystone State’s milk
production for 1978 is
estimated at slightly over 8
million pounds.
Although better beef
prices are causing some
dairymen to thinjierds, the
availability of cheap feed
has not stimulated the
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market too much, Newell
continued to observe.
Concern over surplus milk
production can be described
as casual to - alarming,
depending on sources of
information. In fact, a good
many dairymen are not at
all concerned.
Milk marketing experts,
and numerous
knowledgeable dairymen
are urging that the industry
undertake some self-help
measures before it is too
late.
16x10
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