A36—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 31,1981
Chester Co. Inter-State
COCHRANVILLE - It
was a full-house at the
Cochranville Fire Hall last
Thursday as District 11
members of the Intel-State
Milk Producers’
Cooperative’s Oxford and
Cochranvilie Locals, met to
honor their 25 and 50 year
members, quality producer,
and to elect officers
Receiving the 50 year
award from Inter-State
Director Horace Prange
were Jesse and Martha Lair
of R 1 Oxford, Chester
County
The third generation
Chester County farmer
explained he is continuing
the dairy operation begun by
his father and grand father
When William A Lair, Sr
started shipping to the
Cooperative, he w&s milking
16 head of Guernsey and
Jersey cows, Jesse recalled
The operation continued
expanding under the
direction of William A Lair,
Jr And the present day
dairy enterprise finds 74
head of milking Holsteins on
the 206 acre farm
The Waltons of
Cochranvilie have been
shipping to Inter-State for a
quarter century
Accepting the 25 year
award on Thursday was son,
Leslie
He told how his father,
Horace A Walton, built the
dairy operation In 1973, he
turned the dairy business
over to his two sons, Bill and
Leslie, retaining ownership
of the farm
The 120 milking grade
Holstein set up goes under
the name of Walton Brothers
these days. The sons farm
400 acres m and around West
Fallowfield Township,
raising mostly corn and hay
for feed
The only Quality Award
presented at the luncheon
honored Robert Growl’s
dairy operation and his top
record in the Inter-State
Honor Roll. For 12 con
,7*
' *******
Yvonne King, Chester County Dairy Princess,
spoke to the Inter-State shippers on dairy
promotion.
secutive months, the Growls’
tests were under 10,000 ppm
count for bacteria and under
500,000 for leucocytes
In the election of officers,
Elvm M Rohrer, Jr was
chosen president of the
Cochranvilie Local Also
serving in that organization
will be Leslie Walton, vice
president, Harry L Troop,
secretary-treasurer, and
Richard L Buckwalter and
William O Parry, Jr,
delegates Alternate
delegates are Stanley
Rothenberger and Earl E
Mast
Officers of the Oxford
Local include C Edward
Lawne, president, J Roger
Moran, vice president,
Hoopes T Yarnall,
secretary-treasurer, and
Ernest M Delp, Harold T
Bryson, and James Pepple,
delegates Alternate
delegates are Charles J
Moore, David L Pierce, and
Jordan M Reyburn, Jr
Robert S Mason was
elected to the Hauling
Committee for District 11
Making a short speech for
milk was Chester County’s
Dairy Princess Yvonne
King
Yvonne is the daughtej/hf
Joe and Cathy King of R 1
Cochranville The 21-year
old student at Goldey-
Beacom College in
Wilmington, Delaware
learned tjje dairy business
on her parents’ 180 farm,
where she helped out with
the chores involved with
their 75 head of milking
Holsteins
Td keep the records op
the cows and help with the
milking,” she said Her
experience in book keeping
will be an asset for the dairy
princess after she receives
her degree in office ad
ministration in 1982.
Said the dairy princess,
“After graduation next year,
I’d like to go into marketing
perhaps with Inter-State.”
King told the group she
■f* Yi *
enjojsiiei icsponsibilitiesas
an ambassador foi dairy
farmers her work began
last May after her
coronation
And, if you don’t know it,
each Inter-State shipper
supports the dairy princess
program,’’ she smiled “It
comes out of your milk
checks each month ”
In addition to their normal
checkoff, the Inter-State
members voted to make an
additional donation to Ms
King’s cause
The members were given
an update on happenings in
the dairy business and m
Inter-State by several
speakers
Horace Prange brought
them up to date on Holly
Milk Cooperative’s plight
“Holly was m the black
only three months last year.
In December, the • plant
processed 40 million pounds,
of milk.
"There was too much milk
to go through Holly, so Inter
State shipped milk to
Wisconsin, costing the
Cooperative over $4 a pound
just for shipping Needless to
say, last year was oui
biggest milk production
year ”
Prange emphasized
surplus milk could be one ol
the Cooperative’s stum
bling blocks” He warned the
milk producers that
although dairy producers
are continuing to ask for 80
percent parity, over
production could raise a
question in legislators’ eyes
If we keep producing
milk, will CCC keep buying
and stockpiling our sur
pluses 7 What they’re
suggestmg now is parity
with a trigger on it” Once
the government stockpile
reaches a certain level, the
parity will drop ”
Prange pomted out the
cost of producing milk still
exceeds the increase in cost
to the consumer
“The cost of milk went up
10 percent in the stores, but
the cost of producing it went
up 12 percent,” he explained.
In closing, Prange
reminded the Co-op mem
bers that Inter-State will be
receiving their U S. Pubhc
Health rating within the next
several weeks
A satisfactory rating is
necess . y in order to con
tinue marketing milk,” he
said, and advised the
producers to be careful
about herd hygiene and barn
cleanliness.
Wrapping up the session
was William B Hastings,
director of Field and
Laboratory Services for
Inter-State
He too voiced his concern
with milk over-production.
“Last year dairy farmers
increased their herd size and
production per cow. Two
billion pounds of milk were
producedwith a value of $270
million That’s a 14 percent
price increase over 1979.
Noting 100 other non-farm
industries only made a 12
percent increase last year,
Hastings said the milk prices
are close to holding with the
inflationary spiral
Hastings was quick to
point out the over-production
of milk by members cost the
Co-op a quarter million
dollars ihis cost, he ex
plained, was absorbed out of
the Co-op’s general fund and
the farmers weren’t
assessed However, the
money in the geneial fund,
he said, comes out of the
locals honor members
Elnora Growl and daughter-in-law accept the Quality Award from Inter-State
director Horace Prange. Elnora, and husband Robert, were on honor roll for
their herd's quality milk for 12 consecutive months. '
Jesse and Martha Laire were congratulated on the family’s 50th year with
Inter-State Milk Producers’ Cooperative. They are the third generation to ship
milk to the Co-op.
commission dollars mem
bers are now’ paying in
Concerning the price of
milk, Hastings had an en
couraging word He
projected the price of milk to
be $l7 for Class 1 by the end
of 1981 His next projection
brought a murmur of sur
prise from the group
Hastings said within the next
10 wears the nnre of milk
Penn State
passes test for
UNIVERSITY PARK
Farmers m Pennsylvania
are finding some electric
voltage and improved fence
designs can teach deer to
avoid crops.
In early field tests, fences
hardly five feet tall show
promise for protecting crops
with less expense and
maintenance than incurred
with conventional fences
built eight feet tall and
considered deer proof.
The tests are being con
ducted by a team of widhfe
researchers at Penn State.
Tests feature an older
design, called the New
Hampshire Figure-Four,
which has been modified
with high-tensile smooth
wire and two rows of posts
A second design has one
low of posts on which high
tensile smooth wires are
will v be up to $BO a hun
dredweight
Summing up, Hastings
stressed 1981 will be the
turning point for milk
producers
‘Over production will
have passed the critical
level The milk glut
threatens federal support
and CCC purchases.
deer
crop
attached at relatively close
spacmgs. This model is
known as the Penn State
Five-Wire developed
especially for these tests by
William L. Palmer.
Both electric fences are
easily jumped by deer but
few animals attempt to do
so. Most farmers who used
these fences one or two
growing seasons report
reduced damage in or
chards, vegetables, small
grains, alfalfa, and tree
nurseries. The testing is
being done at nine sites with
past histones of heavy deer
damage to crops.
In the case of these two
fences, seeing them may not
lead to believing
“I’m often asked why they
seem to be working,” says
Palmer. “We’ve found deer
crawl under or through a
‘Every industry has its
ups and downs the dairy
industry is included But it
you plan for the down tunes,
it makes the move easier.'
In closing, Hastings
recommended Inter-State
members delay plans tor
herd size increases and
avoid unnecessary debt
loads —SM
fence
protection
tence more often than at
tempting to jump it. In our
tests, most deer are repelled
by the shock.
“We are trying to modify
behavior of deer and their
feeding patterns. But we
know it is not always suc
cessful.
“Our results are
promising to date. However,
we want more experience
before we recommend these
fences for general
agricultural uses.”
Funding the project are
the agricultural experiment
station at Penn State and the
Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture The research is
conducted by Palmer,
Robert G Wmgard, and
John L. George, authorities
in the School of Forest
Resources at Penn State.