V0L.26N0.# 7" During a ceremony at the Amos Funk Farm Market, MHlersvitle, Governor Dick Thornburgh signed House Bill 1176 changing inheritance tax laws to en courage continued use of farmland for agricultural purposes. Attending the services were: left to right, Rep. Joseph Pitts, Gov. Thornburgh, and Sen. Rich ard A. Snyder. Back row; Secretary of Agriculture, Penrose Hallowell, Rep. Noah Wenger, Rep. Gibson Armstrong and Amos Funk. Full sisters by Elevation top harvest sale at $29,000 each lANCASTER - Two full sisters by Elevation, reported to be the highest record excellent pair ever sold at public sale, topped the Golden Harvest Sale at the Guernsey Pavilion Thursday at $29,000 each. Anchor and Hope Elevation Sarah, EX-92, and Anchor and Hope Elevation Sunny, 2E-91, were brought into the ring together and auctioned as a choice or both. Described as the “Now Generation” of the Holstein breed, they were purchased by Weir Stewart, Hillsdale,N Y They were consigned by Anchor and Hope Farm, Inc., and Charles McLaughlin, Port Deposit and Taneytown, Md. As a five-year-old, Sarah has a 305-day projection of 25,700 lbs of milk and 1074 of butterfat Sunny, in 360 days, has a production record as a Farm Show director resigns HARRISBURG - Horace Mann was appointed Friday by Secretary of Agriculture Penrose Hallowell to serve as acting director of Farm Show m the wake of the resignation of Pennsylvania State Farm Products Show Director, Hugh Coffman. Coffman resigned from the $29,600 a year post less than °ne month before the complex’s biggest event of the year. Farm Show. His resignation becomes ef fective Tuesday. Mann had previously served as director from 1964- 1971. He will serve as tem porary replacement for six-year-old of 34,700 lbs. of milk and 1439 butterfat at 4.15 test. A third full sister has 927 lbs. of fat in 10 months and is expected to be the third to top the 1,000-lb. mark. The sisters were All-Ohio Produce of Dam in 1979 and 1980. Sarah is bred to Valiant and Sunny to Chief. Neither has been flushed. Opening the sale, the sisters’ bidding started at $lO,OOO and quickly moved to $21,000. Then more slowly, but still in $l,OOO jumps, bids rose to the top offer of $29,000 The sale, attended by a standing-room-only crowd in the pavilion, could have been billed as an “Elevation Event ” In all, 23 of his daughters and a son, plus 10 units of semen, went across the auction block. The largest single con signor in the Golden Harvest Sale and the following Coffman. “This will be a temporary appointment until after Farm Show. A permanent director will be appointed at a later date,’’ Hallowell said. After serving as Farm Show director since May of 1979, Coffman will assume the position of ad ministrative assistant to Congressman James Coyne of the Bth district, Bucks County. “Hugh has done an ex cellent job of reorganizing Farm Show management and promoting many facilities which are available to the public at the Farm Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 13,1980 Garden Spot Sale was Floyd M. Nolt, New Holland, with 23 head, 12 cows and 11 heifers. Altogether, 147 head, in cluding 11 bulls, were listed in the catalog. Among other top leading sellers in the sales: Andfar Astronaut Boun tiful, VG-87, with a 365-day production record of 15,087 (Turn to Page A 39) DfflA sees butterfat record set BY CURT HAULER SMOKETOWN - A county record of 771 pounds but terfat established by the 44.6 cows m the Nelson H. Wenger herd was heralded at the annual meeting of the Lancaster County Dairy Show complex,” Hallowell said. “His tenure has seen an increase in the usage and value of the complex. While it is a disappointment to lose an administrator like Coff man, I am pleased for him in taking on additional responsibilities as top aide to Congressman Coyne.” Concerning his year and a half as Farm Show director Coffman remarked, “The experience has been en joyable and unique. My only regret is that I vyon’t be working for Penrose Hallowell anymore. c (Turn to Page A3B) Governor visits county* its 8 IfW J~s n 1 / 3s t jr SIMMS JtlM* il /O BY DEBBIE KOONTZ MILLERSVILLE - “Signing this bill will mark another step forward in the agricultural community to preserving the family farm,” Gov Dick Thorn burgh said Wednesday as he signed House Bill 1176 in a ceremony at the farm of Amos Funk, R 1 Millersville. This legislation changes At Pa. Egg Council Feathers ruffled over spent hens BY DICK ANGLESTEIN LANCASTER - Spent hens and specifically how they may be marketed cooperatively in file Com monwealth in the future was a topic of lively discussion at a meeting of the Penn sylvania Egg Council on Wednesday at the Host Corral. What was listed on the agenda as a discussion of “Improving Spent Hen Marketing” turned into a sometimes lively exchange between PACMA officials of the Pennsylvania Farmers’ Association, which has been selling the hens through the FACTS marketing affiliate organization in Massachusetts, and the Fowl Red Rose annual meeting Herd Improvement Association held Tuesday afternoon. The R 6 Manheim herd of home-bred Registered Holstems had a 4.1 percent test on 18,599 pounds milk. Details on Wenger’s management program can be found on page B-2. Top herd for milk was owned by Benuel Z. Lapp, R 2 New Holland. Lapp’s 65 cows produced 20,435 pounds milk on three tunes a day milking. The Lapp herd of Registered Holstems averaged 713 pounds but terfat. Seventeen percent of the herd consists of pur chased cows. Also producing over 20,000 pounds was the Paul H. Martin herd of Registered Holstems. His 50 milkers made 20,049 pounds milk and finished second in the overall butterf at production list with 734 pounds production. Martin farms at R 1 Ephrata. In the colored breeds. the inheritance tax laws to encourage the continued use of farmland for agricultural purposes. It provides that farmlands and forestlands be taxed at use value rather than the market value for inheritance purposes, thus making it easier for farmers to pass their family farms from one generation to the next without prohibitive Sales Services, American Agricultural Marketing Association, American Farm Bureau Federation. At the core of current attention apparently is an attempt by tlx Farm Bureau group to sign up. Penn sylvania into its expanding national marketing program for spent hens. Jim Wolf, Egg Council president, told members following the often cryptic PACMA and Farm Bureau presentations that he per sonally had been approached to enroll his operation at Stewartstown into the national program. Other topics covered at the (Turn to Page A 29) several repeat per formances were recorded for the top herd average in the Red Rose Association. Top Ayrshire Ksrd is owned by Harold Shelly, R 2 Manheim. His herd of 23 cows produced an average of 15,318 pounds milk and 621 pounds butterfat. Leading the Brown Swiss records was the herd of Richard G. Wenger, R 2 Manheim. His 77 cow herd averaged 13,300 pounds milk and 546 pounds butterfat. In this Issue SECTION A: Editorials, 10; Berks calf sale, 22; Perry herd tops 800 fat, 24; Adams DHIA meeting, 26; Penn Agnho! co-op, 27; Clean and Green tax strings, 30; Wilbur Houser talks testing, 32. SECTION B; Top Lancaster dairy herd, 2; Adams barn fire, 5; Deer harvest up, 6; Silage meeting, 7; Agronomy research, 8. SECTION C; Homestead notes, 2; Home on the range, 6; Joyce Bupp, 12; Berks DHIA meeting, IS; Cum berland DMA, 17; Schuylkill DHIA, 20; North American show, 24; Save hogs from TGE, 28; Poultry outlook, 30. SECTION D: Bradford DHIA, 2; Mechanical broiler harvest, 10; Estate planning, 16; 1981 gram program, 18; Winery wins 11 medals, 20; Charolais show, 21. $7.50 Per Year inheritance tax. “In Pennsylvania, the pressures of urban sprawl, inflation, and taxation have been pushing families off the farm,” Thornburgh said. “To reverse this trend, we have enacted a number of farm preservation initiatives. “Members of family farm operations are often forced to sell their land for development because they cannot afford to pay the inheritance tax,” Thorn burgh said earlier in the week. “By valuing property for tax purposes at its far ming use instead of its usually higher market value, we are making it more feasible financially to continue these family farm operations.” To be eligible under this legislation, land must have been in agricultural use for three years before the owner’s death and remain that way for seven years afterward. And, according to the Department of Agriculture, the farmland must be at least ten acres m size or have a yearly an ticipated gross income of $2OOO from farming Forestlands must be at least ten continuous acres in size. Also participating in the ceremonies were Secretary of Agriculture Penrose Hallowell, State (Turn to Page A 23) K.D. and Else Linde, R 1 Oxford, again had the top Guernsey herd in the County. A record of 13,566 pounds milk and 652 pounds fat put their herd of 66 cows at the top of the Golden Guernsey DHIA list. Paul H. and Marvin Herr, R 1 Holtwood, turned in the best production figures for Jerseys. Their 45 cow herd produced 12,453 pounds milk and 597 pounds fat. (Turn to Page Al 7)