VOL. 27 No. 29 Block’s dairy plan ruffles co-ops’ feathers LANCASTER - Although John Block’s dairy support proposal, last week, met with mixed reaction from several national and state farm and dairy groups, the general feeling of agreement was fee U.S. Agriculture Secretary was overstepping his boundaries by asking for total discretion to set support prices. “Approval of such a plan by the Congress would be granting fee Secretary the authority to totally eliminate any effective price support program m response to budget and other pressures Join us for June Dairy Month LANCASTER Attention all dairy enthusiasts, advertisers and amateur photographers! Lan caster Farming is gearing up for June Dairy Month 1982 and we want you to participate. Help us celebrate this important facet of agriculture our state’s Number One industry. Since last year, Pennsylvania has moved up one notch m milk production and now stands at number four, nationwide. Maryland recorded the largest increase in the nation and other sister states are moving forward in production, technology and breeding. Just as the past year was one for celebration, it was one for nationwide concern. With un certainty dotting price supports and government purchases, Lancaster Farming will continue to keep you up to date on all the issues affecting thousands of farm families. Next month’s issues will carry an abundance of dairy features, special reports and DHIAs We will exerted on him,” said Edward McNamara, president of Nor theast Dairy Cooperative Federation. The NEDCO chief, however, noted that Block’s decision to freeze the price support at $l3 10 per hundredweight was welcome news. McNamara, a member of the National Milk Producers’ Federation executive committee said the NMPF favored fee bulk of the multi-point proposal. American Farm Bureau Federation president Robert Delano voiced his approval for the Sey cheese! take you to the farm, introduce you to trend-setting producers, offer sensible advice m management and confront state and national officials with the issues. As we share this great industry with you, we also welcome your ideas. That benevolent bovine or hardworking farmer that you know may have a page waiting for them in next month’s issues of Lancaster Farming. Our Home on the Range section will be brimming with new dairy recipes from our faithful readers. To the first 100 cooks who share their recipes, a special Dairy Month gift will be sent to show our appreciation. Due to the overwhelming response we had in our first Dairy Photo Contest last year, Lancaster Farming will once again be taking a look at prize-winning pictures sent in by our readers. This year, the amateur photographer’s contest features three categories Dairy Farms, a dairy farm in a scenic setting; Dairy Partners, (Turn to Page A2ll Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 15,1982 U.S. Ag Secretary John Block gets taste of farmers’ feelings on proposed dairy plan. majority of Block’s plan. “The administration’s dairy package provides producers an opportunity to get their house in order,” Delano said. But Delano expressed reser vations to giving the secretary such authority, noting that no (Turn to Page A3O) Mo. farmer Peter Myers runs SCS from ground up BY SHEILA MILLER WASHINGTON D.C. - Peter C. Myers, whose tanned face and squint-lined eyes are trademarks of this 51-year-old man’s days in the sun and wind aboard a tractor seat, has weathered the storm of controversy that followed him here after his appointment by Secretary of Agriculture John Block to head the USDA’s Soil Conservation Service. With a seemingly veteran calm and composure, the Missouri farmer fielded questions from a group of newspaper farm editors. Soil stewardship has been a family tradition for Bob and Joyce Wagner of Quarryville Bob is a director with the Lancaster County Conservation District Find Pa. plans $6 million gypsy moth assault BY DEBBIE KOONTZ LANCASTER The 1982 gypsy moth invasion has been launched and Pennsylvania plans a coun terattack with a $6 million, 540,000- acre spraying program assisted through both local and federal governments This year the invasion is ex oected to exceed that of last year by as much as 10 to 15 percent nationwide, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Last year gypsy moths defoliated 11 million acres of trees in the United States up from 5.1 million in 1980. The gypsy moth is the most important defoliating insect of hardwood trees m the eastern United States, according to the USDA. The federal government has spent more money in efforts to control the moth’s damage than it just three weeks after reporting for duty on April 1. His common-sense answers were fresh-off-the farm and were based on a strong con viction to soil and water con servation. Myers, who replaced 64-year-old Norman Berg who had been with SCS for 40 years and served as its administrator since 1979, was the first person to be appointed to the agency’s top post without any prior SCS service. What he might seem to lack in technical training, Myers makes up for m practical experience 27 more about the Wagner’s soil-saving prac tices on page A2B and read about another LCCD director and chairman Aaron Stauffer on page 818. $7.50 par year has spent on any other insect control program in history The gypsy moth is identified as a major pest in all the New England states. New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania There also have been outbreaks ji Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina. Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Santa Barbara County in California, and the Seattle area of Washington According to Maurice Hobaugh, district forester with the PA Department of Environmental Resources, few insect suppression projects nationwide can compare with the complexity of this year’s proposed operation. Statewide, spraying is planned in parts of 43 counties, and is currently being conducted. <Turnto PageA2o) years in farming. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and after a two-year tour of duty in the US. Army, Myers started his farming career m 1955. He currently operates a 1,100-acre corn, seed corn, soybean, milo, wheat, and alfalfa farm at Matthews, Mo. which is in the southeastern, Boot Hill section of the state, near the Mississippi River. The concepts of soil and water conservation are nothing new to (Turn to Page Al 6)
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