VOL 26 No. 18
Farm Equipment Expo
to open Thursday
HARRISBURG - For the
third consecutive year, the
Pennsylvania Farm Equip
ment Exposition, dubbed
‘Little Farm Show’ by many,
will be opening its doors to the
public and exhibitors this
Thursday
During the past three years,
the Expo has grown and
adopted new ideas for
drawing a crowd Its first year
We welcome new DHIAs
LITITZ - LANCASTER
FARMING is pleased to welcom
all of the members of the Ada-
County Dairy Herd Improvement
Association as new subscribers to
the paper
In addition, we are printing an
Holstein Assn, concludes sale ,
names hall of famers
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
WHITE HAVEN - An elite sale
in the Grand Ballroom of the
Pocono Hershey Resort
highlighted the opening of the 69th
Annual Pennsylvania Holstein
Association which opened here
Wednesday night
In other activities the
Association honored outstanding
membeis as well as condui tin,, is
usual business sessions
Clark Bowen and Harry Firth
were named to the Pennsylvania
Diky reports
Franklin Holstein directors,
Al 7, Golden Guernsey’s 50th, AlB,
Lancaster dairy day, A 22, York
dairy day, C 29; Lancaster DHIA,
E 2; Potter DHIA, E 4, Chester
DHIA, K 7; York DHIA, E 9, Upper
Susquehanna DHIA, El 4,
Somerset DHIA, El 7; Mon
tgomery DHIA, ElB
Regular columns
Editorials, A 10; Farm calendar.
Al 2, Joyce Bupp, CIO; Ida’s
notebook, Cll; Have you heard,
C 26; Sheila’s shorts, Dt>; Farm
talk. Dll; Milk Check. D 24; Ask
the VMD, D 27; Dairy pipeline. E 6
found horse-pulling contests
and a used farm machinery
sale as highlights Last year,
tractor pulls were a successful
addition to the Expo, along
with a swine and draft horse
show and sale and a goat
exhibit
The 1981 Expo still has the
horse pulling contests, and
tractor pulls will be roaring
again in the large arena The
expanded schedule of DHIA
reports from across - Pennsylvania
Readers will see DHIA reports
from Bedford, Centre, Clarion,
Erie, Potter and Somerset
Counties in addition to all of the
familiar DHIA reports we carry
each month
Holstein Hall of Fame during the
Friday morning awards breakfast
Bowen, who hails from Tioga
County, has been a Holstein leader
for many years and developed one
of the first 300,000 pound cows
Both his children and his
grandchildren carry on the
tradition of the family’s well
known registered herd
Firth, a Mercer Countian, has
served on the state executive
committee and as a state director
Firth has trucked more
Holsteins more miles over Penn
News ml features
Pseudorabies outbreak, A 24,
Brecknock zoning, A 26, New soil
test lab, A 29; Safety program,
A3O; Hog, sheep research, B 4; Sod
m>stenes, 87, Fulton Grange,
C 34, Grape training, D 2, Solanco
Young Farmers, D 4, PACMA,
D2l
Women and youth
Lancaster 4-H dairy, A 22;
Quilting fun, C 2; Home on the
Range, C 6; Fastnacht recipe, CB,
Kid’s Komer, Cl 2; 4-H Club news,
Cl 6; Apple recipes, C2O,
Porkettes’ promotion program,
C 22
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 28,1981
draft horses, goats and swine
will be heard in the barns
each having their own show, a
first for the milking goats in
the state And 82 head of
Angus cattle will be sold
Thursday evening, sponsored
by the Pa Angus Assoc
Farmers hoping to catch a
glimpse of some new
prospects m the machinery
field and in supplies will get a
chance to scan over 170
commercial exhibits this year,
featuring local dealers
All-in-all, the Expo will offer
farmers and interested
spectators an end-of-winter
weekend filled with fun, ex
citement, and new ideas So
take a break from the barn
(Turn to PageA2B)
sylvaia’s hilly highways than
perhaps any other hauler He
especially was involved with
getting youth animals to the
numerous state rattle shows
The loads of Pennsylvania s
finest dairy animals shipped to the
annual sale were honored bv
spirited biding
(Turn to Page A 36)
Dairy supports, taxes
will cost farmers money
BY CURT HAULER
HARRISBURG - Both
Washington and Harrisburg were
jumping this week with farm
related activities
In the nation’s capital, hearings
were held Wednesday before the
Senate Subcommittee on
Agricultural Production
Marketing and Stabilization of
Prices on President Ronald
Reagan’s proposals to slash the
milk price support program
Basically, Reagan’s proposal
will eliminate entirely the
scheduled April support increase
Net result will be to cut the
program by about two-thirds, from
roughly $1 7 billion to something in
Inter-State President Robert McSparran, a Lancaster
County dairyman, presents retiring County Agent Max Smith
with a $lOO gift certificate from the Lancaster County Inter-
State Locals during the annual banquet held Thursday at
Hostetler's Dining Hall, Mt. Joy. See story page Al 5.
Ag banker foresees
gloom and doom
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
LANCASTER A dismal farm
economic picture, which is not
expected to improve and will
spread from livestock and poultry
operations to dairying, was
painted by a leading Lancaster
County agricultural banking loan
officer on Thursday
Speaking before a gathering of
Allied Chemical dealers at the
Treadway Inn, Robert Bucher,
vice president of the Agri-Loan
Department of Commonwealth
National Bank, assessed the
present farm economic situation
as one of mostly “gloom and
doom ”
Bucher cited contrasting
financial farm ledgers which are
being reported for 1980
Legislative roundup
the area of $6OO million in the
coming year
The move should save con
sumers about 15 cents per gallon
on purchases of fresb-milk
With few exceptions, the dairy
industry is going along with the
cuts
The National Milk Producers’
Federation in Washington said it
can not disagree with the Reagan
proposal At the Wednesday
hearing, NMPF did not testify in
opposition to the plan, although
that is not the same as approving
it
Under current law, dairy parity
is to be set at 75 to 90 percent of
parity A change four years ago
$7.50 Per Year
“The top 50 percent of dairymen
are still showing a net of $BOO to
$9OO per cow before depreciation,”
Bucher said
“On the other hand, poultry
operations for the past year range
from breaking even to losses of
$1 75 a bird. With the average area
operation of 60,000 birds, you’re
looking at $lOO,OOO losses for the
past year ”
This comparison brought a
comment from one of the dealers
“But a lot of our people are not in
the gifted world of the dairyman,”
he said
Citing the expected cuts in
federal milk subsidies, Bucher
said there are problems on the
horizon for the dairymen, too
(Turn to Page A 37)
jumped the floor to 80 percent of
parity
NMPF is asking a flexible parity
schedule based on milk prices and
supplies.
This position is similar to Farm
Bureau’s, although NMPF wants
to base its parity level on a
projection of production, an
ticipating the situation, while
Farm Bureau is using a sliding
percentage program to be based on
current conditions
Inter-State Milk Producers
Cooperative Economist Paul Hand
said he supports the NMPF
position although it will cost far
mers income.
(Turn to Page A 39)