A22—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, August 9,1980
Lancaster-Chester Grangers
OAKRYN Legislators,
Congressmen, and
mushroom growers met with
the Pennsylvania State
Grange at Pulton Grange
Hall in Lancaster County, to
discuss problems facing the
Pennsylvania mushroom in
dustry.
The agenda of the meeting
held three purposes, in
cluding generating Grange
policy, information
gathering, and providing an
update of Grange activities
on the mushroom industry’s
problems.
Bob Frederick,
Legislative Director of the
National Grange, reported to
the growers that his
organization, m conjunction
with the Farmers Union and
the Podd Processors
Mushrooms
(Continued from Page Al)
Wednesday’s proposal is
hardly a remedy. “ITC
handed it to Carter to let him
off the political hook,” he
said.
Zemaitis pointed out the
ITC quota will allow Carter
to take some action while not
really stemming the flow of
foreign mushrooms.
U.S. production figures
show it costs about 60 cents a
pound to produce
mushrooms. Far Eastern
growers produce
mushrooms for about 22
cents.
Zemaitis said he will
encourage other
organizations in the coalition
to write Carter a letter
asking for a much stricter
quantity limit—one closer to
the 50 tons originally
proposed by the group.
The Grange, which joined
PFU early in the fight to
obtain quotas, held a
meeting of its own in Oakryn
this week. For details, see
accompanying article
Pennsylvania Farmers’
Association, until this week,
had done little one way or the
other on the mushroom
situation.
Explained PFA’s Richard
W Newpher, the state group
has let the national Farm
Bureau handle the
mushroom situation
Traditionally, Farm
Bureau has been against any
quotas But it supported beef
quotas and probably will
favor the mushroom quotas,
he said
PFA was represented at
this week’s mushroom
meeting m Kennett Square,
sponsored by State
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Association, as well as the
American Mushroom In
stitute, were working
together on the import issue
in Washington, D.C.
Imports from the People’s
Republic of China and
Taiwan are depressing the
domestic canning and fresh
mushroom markets. “The
Taiwanese are shipping
their quota to us,” Frederick
noted, “and then shipping
then* surplus to Hong Kong
where it is processed and
shipped to the United
States ”
Rocco Pugliese, Executive
Director of the Pennsylvania
Food
Association, stated the
imjjort problem from the
People’s Republic of China
Representative Joseph R,
Pitts
PFA has policy to support
“the continuing efforts of the
mushroom farmers in
Pensylvama and the United
States to obtain quantitative
limitations of imported
mushrooms.”
This is basically what the
ITC voted for Wednesday.
Should the President again
ignore ITC’s recom
mendation, both Farmers’
Union and Grange have
made it quite clear they will
seek legislative relief for the
mushroom growers. This
route would go through the
U.S. Congress rather than
the President.
Farm Bureau opposes
legislative quotas. Newpher
mdicated PFA probably
would ask whether its board
wanted to file an exception to
national policy. That would
allow PFA to support the
other farm groups seeking
legislative relief.
Next Thursday, August 14,
the ITC report will go to
President Carter
Carter will have 60 days,
until October 14, to act on the
ITC recommendation
Latest speculation from
political insiders is that
mushroom growers may get
a kinder reception in
Washington this time than in
previous rounds.
One reason is Carter’s
decision will have to be
made before the November
presidential election.
Pennsylvania is seen by
many political observers as
a possible swing state, one
where the President may not
want to encounter resistance
even from a group as small
as the state’s mushroom
farmers.
2635 Willow Street Pike
Willow Street, PA
“will worsen over the next
three to five years.”
“The problem is rooted in
survival,” he said. “The
processor is to the point
where he can no longer af
ford to can only domestic
mushrooms.”
Current production costs
in America are about 65
cents a pound. In the Far
East, production costs are
about 22 cents per pound
Foreign growers can also
use the more effective
pesticides because “they
don’t have the equivalent of
an Environmental
Protection Agency. ’ ’
Charles Wismer, Master of
the Pennsylvania State
Grange, noted that foreign
mushroom producers got
their start mushroom
production with U.S. dollars.
Margaret Edwards, a
Lancaster County Grange
member, verified that fact
saying she “served one of
them dinner back in the 50’s.
Processors
“They weren’t interested
m dairy cows,” she said.
“But, when they got close to
the mushroom houses they
started measuring and
asking lots of questions.
“I asked the man where he
was going to sell his
mushrooms when he started
growing, and whether or not
he would take our market
away from us. He said,
‘France’. So I asked him why
France wasn’t paying his
way over here, and he
changed the subject ”
Another problem
discussed at the Grange
meeting was pesticide ap
proval. Mushroom growers
are having increasing dif-
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ficulty getting state
pesticide labels approved by
the Environmental
Protection Agency.”
“The Extension Service
told us one of the more ef
fective pesticides against
flies, which is one of our big
problems, would probably
get registered last August,”
a Chester County grower
noted. “It’s a year later, and
it’s still not approved.”
The flies produce a worm
that attacks the mycelium of
the mushroom. Those
mushrooms showing fly
damage have a black streak
running up the center of the
stem Some beds don’t even
come up at all.”
Another Chester County
grower mentioned problems
with labor. “In part, it’s a
problem of education, he
noted. “Many growers don’t
know they don’t come under
Act 93. So when the in
spectors show up and tell
them they want to see their
records, they don’t know
enough to tell them to hit the
road.”
Act 93, requires people
who use migrant labor to
register their employees,
pay the minimum wage, and
permits entry and access to
grower records and payroll.
Mack Reese, of Chester
County, noted growers use
“seasonal,” not “migrant”
labor
Other problems mentioned
at the meeting included
diseases, fuel, tran
sportation and pricing.
State Representative
Gibson Armstrong, of
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