A34—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, June 14,1980
Independents
(CeMiniied from Page Al)
have to worry about a
market for your milk
regardless of what happens
to fluid sales in the city.
“It is only right and proper
that you should strongly
consider joining
Eastern...we strongly
recommend that you join the
Cooperative,” he concluded.
But the dairymen are not
sure they can afford a |5 stop
payment 15 times a month,
plus eight cents per hundred,
plus dues, plus assessments
like those Eastern levied last
week.
McDonald confirmed
Eastern has an arrangement
with Farmland to accept
milk produced close to the
South Waverly plant from
Farmland while Farmland
takes Eastern milk produced
closer to its dairy. Such
igreements are common to
tvoid shipping expenses, he
aid.
Mo one from farmland
was available to comment.
Early this week rumor
spread in the farm com
munity that Eastern field
men were claiming to have
an-agreement with local co
ops not to accept milk from
the affected shippers. Both
NEDCO and Eastern denied
any collusion in accepting or
rejecting members
Fenton Murphy, treasurer
of NEDCO, said it was
simply a matter of everyone
being full of milk.
“No way is there an
agreement between us,” he
said.
He said some shippers had
called NEDCO co-ops
looking for a market, but
because of the supply
situation they were being
turned down.
Eastern’s McDonald
demed rumors that the Co-op
is picking on smaller
dairymen, saying the notice
will be served down the -oad.
Nevertheless, farmers in
the northern part of the state
are running scared. Several
said they were worried about
not having a market at all—a
fear that runs deep for
anyone with a perishable
commodity.
Nothing is being said by
the fieldmen visiting the
affected dairymen to ease
that fear.
In fact, many of the far
mers report the op
posite ... that they are
being told by the Eastern
fieldmen that unless they
sign up there will be no place
else to go.
The message delivered, by
implication, the farmers say
is “sign up or sell out.”
Making matters easier for
Eastern is the fact most milk
produced in the area goes to
its South Waverly plant.
Dairymen say they were
told that even should
NEDCO agree to allow them
to join that Eastern would
not let its drivers pick up the
milk. And Eastern would
levy an additional $1.95 per
hundredweight charge to
process the milk.
At least one dairy official
outside of Eastern has
suggested it would be best
for the farmers to wait until
the last possible moment to
take any action.
Since notice has not been
served, he pointed out, the
farmers still have at least a
month’s leeway. And, he
said, a lot could happen in
that time to open up alter
native markets for dairymen
hesitant to follow the crowd.
Producers will have to
have the backbone to hold
off, though, he concluded.
Among positive signs are
the passage Wednesday of
SB 10 which will allow big
milk tankers to travel the
roads. One of Farmland’s
major problems was geting
the 80,000 pound tank trucks
they felt were economical on
state highways.
The Governor is expected
to sign the bill into law
Tuesday. At present, though,
it is just one glimmer of
hope.
Other producers said they
thought Eastern seemed
pretty sure of its getting a
loan guarantee from Far
mers Home Administration
to run the operations at
South Waverly.
Should that loan guarantee
fall through, they point out,
Eastern could fmd itself
flooded with milk producers.
Speculation is that
Eastern is waiting for final
word on their FmHA request
before having the letters
sent out.
Even should the Farmland
Congressman charges FmHA
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
U.S. Congressman Tom
Harkin has asked President
Carter to “immediately”
reduce interest rates for
emergency loans to finan
cially troubled farmers
under the Economic
Emergency Assistance loan
program from 14 per cent to
10 per cent.
In a letter to Carter the
lowan said the loans are
supposed to carry an interest
rate pegged to the cost of
money to the government.
The current rate being
charged for the loans by teh
Farmers Home Ad
ministration, 14 per cent, is
well above the government’s
cost of money. That cost has
been steadily declining since
early April and is now just
9.23 per cent as measured by
the interest it pays for three
No-till oats, alfalfa
on Schuylkill tour
BEGINS A tour of no-till
oats and alfalfa spring
seedings will be held
Tuesday. June 24th, 1980
(ramdate - June 26th). The
tour will begin at 7:00 p.m. at
George Rebuck’s oat fields
on the Kauffman Farm Rt.
25 one mile east of Begins
look for signs.
1 fhe second stop on the tour
will be at Ron Dietz no-till
alfalfa seeding on the Sdn-
shippers join Eastern now it
remains likely, some say,
that they would bale out at
the first opportunity.
“We don’t like the way
they are doing business,” a
dairyman’s wife concluded
with loan
year U.S. Treasury cer
tificates.
Harkin is the author of
legislation which extended
the EEA loan program an
additional two years and
authorized an additional $2
billion in emergency loans
under the program. He told
Carter Congress never in
tended the government to
make a profit on loans to
hard-pressed farmers.
Harkin noted the Ad
ministration promptly
raised interest rates for the
emergency loans when
government borrowing costs
began to rise in March.
“To be quite frank, Mr.
President, I find it very
disturbing that the Depart
ment of Agriculture would
be so quick to increase in
terest rates and to be so slow
m reducing them,” Harkin
wrote.
walm farm. The tour will
conclude at the Jim Shadle
farm for another look at no
till oats and also to view
slides of the equipment and
methods used in the seedling
establishments.
The demonstration plots
and the tour are the result
of a cooperative effort of the
above named farmers,
Chevron and FMC chemical
companies and the
Schuylkill County Extension
Service.
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interest gouging
Harkin made a similar
request last week in a letter
to U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Bob Bergland.
Harkin said he was not
taking his request to the
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