Legislative tour
(Continued from Page A 22)
light” and the bill will “stay
dead.”-
When asked about the budget
hearings, Helfnck assured the
group that he will “try my da ru
dest to get as much money as I can
for agriculture. But, 1 don’t like to
make any promises. When it
comes to the budget, we have to
trade things off and make the best
deal we can.”
Acknowledging the' fact that
agriculture is now the number one
industry in Pennsylvania, Helfnck
stated, “Farmers think they
should have some clout now, and 1
think so too.” -
Moving over to the House side,
ten representatives met with about
50 PFA members in the spacious,
elegant House chambers. Hearing
the legislators’ viewpoints as they
sat in the lawmakers’ seats
Monday afternoon was an unex
pected treat for the farmers whose
numbers outgrew the previously
assigned meeting room.
Leading the session was Lan
caster’s Noah Wenger. He was
joined by fellow Lancaster
legislators -June Honaman (R
-97th), Gibson Armstrong (R
-100th), Nicholas Moelmann (R
-102hd), Marvin Miller (R-96th),
Earl Smith (R-13th), and Richard
Brandt (R-96th). Representing
Chester County, Samuel Morris
(D-155th) and Joseph Pitts (R
-158th) took tune to meet with the
farmers. Even Delaware County’s
Gerald Spitz (R-162nd) was on
hand to hear what the farmers had
to say.
Of major concern to the PFA
delegates and the legislators were
S.B. 1085-1066, the Property Tax ,
bills that wouldamend the Public
School Code of 1949. These are the
bills that provide for the
troversial Business Use and Oc
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The legislators admitted their
concern about the passage of these
bills to the assembled farmers.
Wenger assured the group that he
will try to amend the bills to
eliminate the BUOT or vote
against them smce this tax would
be “devastating” to farmers.
House Agriculture and Urban
Affairs chairman Joseph Gneco
(R-84th) met with farmers m his
office in Room 315 of the Capitol
Building. Addressing S.B. 1085-
1066, he said he looked for the bills
to be amended or returned to
committee.
“I don’t see the bills passing. 1
don’t know of any organization
that’s for the bill the School
Board’s against it, the Chamber is
against it, industry's against it,
and farmers are against it,” he
said.
Focusing his attention on H.B.
1483,- the water legislation in
troduced last year to amend Title
32 of the Pennsylvania Con
solidated Statute, Gneco stated the
bill is designed to protect rural
areas and fanners against the
possibility *of large industry
capturing all the water in an area.
“Water will 'be the biggest
concern over the next 20 years,”
Gneco “Eventually, it
will come down to whoever digs the
deepest well will get all the
water.”
Although he favors the concept,
Gneco said he is against the bill m
its present form. When asked if he
would like to have H.B. 1483 in the
House Ag Committee rather’ than
having to watch it in the House
Conservation Committee, Gneco
expressed “I’d love to have that
bill, but I won’t get it. You can be
sure, though, that all the ag
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on water.”
Forecasting the future of Noah
Wenger’s H.B. 2167 which would
permit cooperative dividend
ceilings to float at two points under
the average treasury bill rate for
the twelve months preceding the
dividend declaration date, Greico
said emphatically, -It will pass.
Eight percent was just not enough
money.” The bill was reported to
the House floor for consideration
after passmg unanimously out of
the ag committee last week.
When asked how his State
Beverage Bill was coming, Greico
laughed and said H.B. 1351 is still
in the Senate ag committee. In
troduced last April, this bill would
designate milk as the official
beverage of Pennsylvania.
“For some reason, this bill has
been opposed in the Senate ag
committee. One Senator is trying
to amend the bill to designate soft
drink as the official drink and
another is threatening to propose
beer,” Greico chuckled. Despite
these childish setbacks, the jovial
legislator expressed optimism that
the bill might become law before
June Dairy Month since the
jokester senator has agreed to
withdraw his amendment and has
said he will not oppose the bill, or
even vote on it.
As the afternoon of lobbying for
agriculture drew to a close, the
farmers invited their legislators to
share an evening meal with them
at the Penn Harris.
In what was described as a
“good, but not a record” turnout,
the PFA -guests and members
listened as President Keith Eckel
boasted agriculture’s' number one
status as an industry in the state
and reminded the legislators that
Pennsylvania is the leading farm
state in the Northeast. He
reiterated PFA’s opposition to a
proposed Business Use and Oc-
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 27,1352-A23
. cupancy tax and the need for
farmland preservation laws.
‘‘Our (PFA) policy calls for a
comprehensive land use plan to be
established in the Com
monwealth,” stated Eckel. “This
plan would enable state and local
governments . to purchase
development rights from fanners
Short-term pork outlook
offers glimmer of hope
DES MOINES, la. - On Mon
day, members of the National Pork
Producers Council predicted the
short term outlook for pork is
bright.
“The combination of several
events happening over the last
week are a very positive sign for
the pork industry,” said John
Saunders, NPPC president.
Foremost on the positive side is
the recent USDA hog and pig
report which showed all hogs and
pigs at 90 percent of a year ago.
Even more optimistic were the
numbers kept for breeding, down
14 percent from last year. Several
market analysts indicate these
numbers could mean steady hog
prices in the mid-ISO per hundred
weight range through the summer.
Also released by USDA was the
cold storage report which showed
that supplies of pork in cold
storage were over 100,000 pounds
lower than last year’s level. Les
Koscbke, director of Mer
chandising for NPPC, said this
indicates good movement of pork
at the retail level and a stable
demand on'the part of the con
sumer.
Another factor that could have
impact on the live hog niarket is
the outbreak of foot and mouth
disease in Denmark. Officials of
the National Pork Producers
Council have called for aggressive
marketing of U.S. pork to fill the
void created by the Danish
quarantine. Denmark currently
controls 30 percent of the export
market with large supplies going
to England and Japan.
“Unfortunate as this outbreak is,
the export void from Denmark mil
have to be filled and high quality
U.S. pork is a good choice for
importing countries,” said
Saunders.
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for them restricting their land to
agricultural or open spaces.
“This solution is not painless. It
will require the public’s support
and money. But when you consider
the alternatives fewer acres of
cropland, more susceptibility to
bad weather, higher food prices
we think it’s worth the cost and we
believe the public agrees.”
In letters to nine major packers,
Orville Sweet, executive vice
president of NPPC, urged more
aggressive promotion of U.S. pork
and pork products on the world
market. Sweet said this is a prime
opportunity for the U.S. pork in
dustry to move into markets that
previously offered little access.
Export development has
received increased attention from
NPPC recently as the economy
forces the industry to expand and
develop new markets for the U.S.
pork supply.
During NPPC’s recent American
Pork Congress convention in In
dianapolis, delegates passed a
resolution calling for NPPC to
copduct a study to determine the
feasibility of a more aggressive
role in the export of pork and to
develop a cooperative relationship
with the Foreign Agriculture
Service of USDA, while supporting
the value added concept by ex
porting pork rather than gram.
Attention was also given to
export expansion during NPPC’s
Legislative Seminar when pork
industry leaders met with
Secretary- of Agriculture John
Block and special trade
representatives. During that
meeting, Saunders said pork
producers were concerned about a
30 percent planned reduction in
exports to Japan m 1962 as a result
of Japan’s use of non-tariff trade
barriers.
Saunders said that with 30
percent of the world’s pork buyers
looking for a new supplier, there is
no reason for the industry and
government not to adopt an
aggressive attitude about the U.S.
pork product.
“This situation is certainly the
glimmer of hope pork producers
have been waiting for,” said
Saunders.
<xCO.