Dairyman blames PP&L for loss of herd
BY DONNA TOMMELLEO
WILLIAMSPORT - A
Lycoming County dairy tanner
said be will sue Pennsylvania
Power and Light Company for
more than, |1 million for damages
in cattle and production losses
resulting from severe mastitis that
he claimed was-caused by stray
voltage from PP&L equipment.
As a result, Steven E. Schriner
sold his entire milking herd of 600
cows for beef, last month. Schriner
recently purchased 37 cows to milk
at his father’s farm.
According to Schriner’s lawyer
Mike Casale, Jr., it will be some
tune before the case actually gets
to court. Meanwhile, the
Williamsport dairyman has filed
for bankruptcy _ reorganization,
which enables Mm to pay bills and
prevents creditor lawsuits and
MANAGE YOUR MARKETS.
GET OUT OF DEBT. CALL TRADE TECH.
We have investors that will put money in
your farm operation. You free yourself
from debt, keep your farmland and con
tinue to manage your own operation.
We can also help you manage when to
sell hogs and steers and when to buy,
corn and soybeans to make a profit.
Call to see if you quality. All inquiries held
in strict confidence.
For more information write to
Trade Tech Management, Inc.
1020 Stony Battery Road,
Lancaster, PA 17601
or call (717) 898-0139
TRADE TECH
s MANAGEMENT, INC.
Stir Your Manure Pit With This
Bull-Strong Propeller & Chopping Knife
You now take many hour? to stir the solids into pumpable
slurry when you want to haul manure. Maybe days. And un
fortunately, your present equipment can’t get all the solids out.
If that sounds like your problem, you’ll want to call for a rental
pump from US Farm Systems of Pennsylvania. This pump has a
propeller and chopping knife combination that changes
direction independently of the discharge nozzle. For example,
you can splash the top crust to the right while the propeller
under the surface piishes waves of mixing slurry to the left.
To get more information about how
this rental pump can help you get a
nasty job done this spring write:
US Farm Systems of Pennsylvania
3053 Barren Rd., Oxford, PA 19363
or call 301-398-2948
Farmers' Home Administration
forclosure.
Schriner said he and wife Terry
got an electrical shock while
milking in their double-seven,
computer-operated parlor about
two years ago.
_ The power company was con
sulted, said Schriner. A PP&L
report said at the time the com
pany was not aware of any voltage
levels that would be harmful to
cows. The electrical system was
checked, readings were taken and
additional grounding was put in.
But Schriner said his problem
persisted. He said cows kept
getting shocked, not only in the
parlor but in the barnyard as well
and could not eat or drink from the
stainless steel bunks and troughs.
Shortly before Christmas 1961,
Schriner called PP&L and said the
suspects stray voltage
shook problems continued. Upon
investigating the Schriner farm,
the PP & L report said the com
pany took no readings and told
Schriner the sytem was operating
normally.
However, Schriner said Ms cows,
beset with health problems, began
dying at an alarming rate. In a
two-week period, the 26-year-old
farmer lost 44 cows. In the parin’,
the herd was averaging a little
more than 20 pounds a day.
In January 1962, PP&L again
visited the farm and advised
Schriner to look into purchasing an
isolation transformer.
But Schriner said the advice
came too late.
“Already seventy-five cows had
died. The herd Was ruined,” he
said.
By late January, Steve Schrmer
quit shipping milk. In all, 100 cows
had died and by mid-February the
remainder of the herd was sold for
beef.
ms
6030 Jonestown Rd.
Hamsfauc Pa. 17112
717-545-5931
Interstate 81 Exit 86
Diesel fuel injection and turbo
charger specialists.
Locally owned and operated
with over 25 years in business.
AuthorlzMl Sal* A S*rvle* For:
• American Bosch
• Robert Bosch
• Roosa Master
• Airesearch
ASSOCIATION OF
WEStL SPECIALISTS
W* Also Sorvlco:
• IHC • Caterpillar • Cummins
• General Motors injectors • Allis Chalmers
• Blowers, governors etc. • Bacharach Tools
Daily Shipments by UPS, Parcel Post, or our
representative who is in area regularly.
lie FARM
I I SYSTEMS ~
of Pennsylvania
Your Manure and Feed Equipment Distributor
MILLER
DIESEL INC.
• CAV
• Simms
• RotoMaster
• Schwitzer
L—castar Fanaiag, Saturday, March 27,1N2-A3l
The final PP&L reading at the
Schriner farm on Feb. 4 disclosed
voltages that ranged from .5 to
1.96. According to the report, if a
cow had been connected to the
milking machine under full load
conditions, the readings would
have been 1.42 volts.
According to Penn State Ex
tension agriculture engineer Joe
McCurdy,it does not take much
voltage to create a problem. One
volt often creates an immediate
response in most cows.
If a cow makes contact at two
points, one at neutral voltage and
the other near the true ground
(possible the milking parlor floor),
the result is a flow of current
through her body. The cow creates
a point of contact by touching die
sides of the stall, eating grain from
a metal feeder, or drinking from a'
water bowl, says McCurdy.
A milking machine operator will
seldom feel these voltages because
of his or her body resistance and
the insulating materials of boots
and dry socks.
“Cows are much more sensitive
than human* ” *aid McCurdy.
This publication
is available in microform.
University Microfilms International
300 North Zeeb Road 30 32 Mortimer Street
Dept PR Dept PR
Ann Arbor Mi 48106 London WIN 7RA
USA England
Potato referendum
(Continued from Page AI)
Many grower’s echoed
MacKenzie’s sentiments and said a
cut-back m research could only
hinder the the revitalization of the
Eastern potato.
“With transportation costs all
but prohibitive and the population
of the Northeast being so large, our
position becomes more vital to
all,” said Somerset County grower
William Rmgler. '
“Energy will be conserved, the
public served and the grower can
continue if we develop new
varieties and find new and better
ways to produce and market the
potato,” Rmgler added.
While lack, of federal funds
contributed to the programs
problems, some producers agreed
the “New Federalism,” would be
Every penny helps
In the past six years, Pennsylvania's 300 potato growers have helped
support the state’s potato research program with their penny per hun
dredweight chip-in. Now, threatened by a halt of state and federal funds,
which amount to a 0100,000 annual loss, the growers will vote next month
to raise their assessment to two cents.
David MacKenzie, plant pathologist at Penn State and director of the
research program, presented the following testimony at Tuesday’s
hearing which outlined significant contributions from the research order.
✓ The state’s research marketing order has permitted the develop
ment of the Potato Research Seed Farm located in Centre County on the
Allegheny Plateau. The 100-acre farm is geared toward a longe-range
effort to develop replacement varieties for the state’s potato industry.
The 40 foot by 40 foot barn houses the necessary supplies which has
allowed the research program to cultivate, evaluate and perpetuate one
of the finest collections of potato germplasm available in the world.
.'The Potato Storage Facility, two miles from the Seed Farm, is a
renovated Navy Test Lab located at Black Moshannon State Park. The
environmentally controlled facilities provide excellent long-term storage
of named potato varieties and valuable breeding material that dates back
35 years.
✓The Potato Quality Lab, located at Penn State’s Rock Springs Ex
perimental Station, permits continuing genetic evaluation of new potato
clones for processing and culinary qualities. Clones can be tested for
chipping quality after low-temperature storage, content of dry matter by
specific gravity measurement, boiling characteristics and microwave
use.
They do not have the luxury of
insulated footwear the com
bination of four bare feet on wet.
concrete and low body resistance
allow the stray voltage to create a
response at a very low level
Stray voltage problems may
have existed to some degree for
many years, said McCurdy, but
increased loads on rural
distribution Systems and greater
exposure of dairy herds in milking
parlors and on milking lines in
modem dairy operations cause
new problems and concerns.
Except for young stock, the
Steven Schriner farm is quiet,
these days. Five full silos out of
nine is more than enough to keep
his new herd of 37 cows fed.
Isolation transformers have been
installed at both his farm and his
father’s, where the new herd is
averaging 60 pounds of milk a day.
Both he and wife Terry admitted
that neither one wants to expand
the operation to its previous size,
however Schriner said he expects
to put on another 100 cows in the
next month.
more beneficial m the long run.
“We get more use of our dollars
if closer control can be maintained
on a more local or state scale,”
commented Ray Fnedline, also of
Somerset County.
“If at some future time, ad
ditional funds would be needed for
research and development
additional assessments should be
made,” Fnedline said.
Erie County producer Glenn
Troyer admitted that while
government support of agriculture
research is desirable, the
ballooning federal deficit is not.
“Support of the Pennsylvania
potato industry, at least in part, by
those m the industry is a sensible
approach to better business and
less government dependency,"
Troyer concluded.