10L.251t0.14 MipnesotaConfressman James L ObersUrumailed hi& latest dairy strategy thls week during the annual »ershey. Obbrstarsaidheplarii to-have his bill, which wbuldgear government payments to production quotas, ready for in troduction later this month. S.W. Pa. dairy co-op bankrupt HARRISBURG - A south western Pennsylvania dairy milk marketing cooperative is closing the chapters of its business story on a less than note. United Dairy Farmers, a Pittsburgh-based cooperative, declared bankruptcy last October and recently sold its 49 stores to Schneider’s Dairy for |146,000. According to Attorney Joseph Bernstein who was appointed by a Bay pollution spurs manure study BY DEBBIE KOONTZ LANCASTER Because poultry manure has been pin pointed as “one of the main culprits” responsible for the ever increasing pollution problem in the Chesapeake Bay, various representatives from the Penn sylvania Poultry Federation and the Pa. Department of Agriculture are currently studying alternate methods for handling the manure problem. Chief among these ideas is to market the manure so poultry producers can profit from the time expended to handle it, thereby keeping its especially rich nutrient content away from the vital Susquehanna River, one of the Bay’s main tributaries. As any good environmentalist knows, nutrients are advantageous to a stream, but an overload can cause problems. This is what the Chesapeake Bay Study Com mission has determined has happened to the Bay. And ac cording ' to John Hoffman, executive’ director of the Pa. Poultry -'Federatlfm, they have Four Sections federal bankruptcy judge to serve as trustee for the UDF assets, the sale of these 49 stores “stopped the drain” on UDF ibembers, em ployees, and shareholders, both financially and emotionally. Bernstein noted teat the debts of tbe milk co-op have not been satisfied by the sale of the stores. He noted teat be hopes to sell a portion ofUDF’s remaining assets, white include a dairy plant and “tremendous data” to support their claim. “The Susquehanna River runs through a lot of very productive farmland here in Pennsylvania, and tee Commission thinks we are overfertilizing,” Hoffman ex plained. “One of their focal points is poultry manure. So, we (poultry producers) are looked at as one of tee main culprits of causing this pollution. “The group is looking at the situation from - the perspective ’What can we do to make the manure a marketable product?’ ” he said. Hoffman noted that the Federation first looked at the potential of shipping the manure to the Bedford County area for com growers, but quickly -decided against this idea when statistics showed the venture would not be cost effective beyond a distance of 50 miles. The mushroom industry also proved futile due to their decreasing purchases of fertilizers as a result of Chinese-imports. The group is currently scouting Uacastor Farntog, SatanUy, Fibnary 5,1983 Oberstar unveib new dairy bill BY SHEILA MILLER HERSHEY - There’ll be another dairy bill introduced into Congress late this month that will attempt to tackle the surplus milk situation and the controversy centering around federal milk support programs and U.S. Dept, of Agriculture assessments. The ' bill’s prime sponsor, Congressman James L. Oberstar (D-Mn.), talked about his dairy program ideas with farmers and the press during the annual meeting of the Pennsylania Fanners’ Union Tuesday evening. Acknowledging that Penn sylvania Fanners’ Union was celebrating its first birthday as a chartered organization within the fold of the National Farmers’ Union, Oberstar stated that his new bill, which is in the for- mulation stageat the present time but should be ready for bearings in March, will be similar to a bill be introduced in the 97th Congress last year. He expressed his hopes that this bill will have the support of .family-sized dairy - fanners throughout the UJS. His bill last year was. supported by Farmers’ Union and others and failed to he passed for lack of one vote. Basically, Oberstar said his tall will call for: store built on 12 acres of land, along with five other stores and the land on which they were built, to generate the cash proceeds to satisfy the creditors. “I hope to deliver the cor poration back to the shareholders in six months time still owning a building subject to heavy mor tgage so equity can be developed over the years,” said Bernstein. (Turn to Page A 36) the possibilty of supplying the manure to vegetable growers in the New Jersey area. According to Hoffman, this is where the problem stands after two meetings. Other meetings will be scheduled after a conclusion has been drawn concerning the vegetable grower’s interest in purchasing the manure. LF. offers I9BS lira SummasY At PFU Annual Meetl a 70 percent of parity support level on the price of milk, no less than $13.10 per hundredweight; milk production goals to be set on a yearly basis by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture at a level which will be determined as necessary to keep production from going to excessive levels, but no less than 10 percent of base; spsrcdttctionr "'-"*- Truckers’ strike helps hog sales, hurts milk pickups LANCASTER - The in dependent trucker’s strike has non-striking trade drivers sitting on the edges of their seats this week as they roll their big rigs along Pennsylvania’s highways. Reports have varied concerning violence and harassment in parts of the state. There have been no major problems in the southeastern portion of the state with agricultural transporters, but such is not the case in other regions of Pennsylvania. Here in the southeast, some good may be coming out of the in dependent tracker's strike. Ac cording to Lloyd Hoover, manager of the swine division of Walter LANCASTER For those dairy producers looking for ways to stay Current with today’s ever-changing industry, the January 1983 Sire Summary, page D2O, provides an abundance of useful genetic data. The Active Al Summary, compiled every six months by the United States Depart ment of Agriculture and the Dairy Herd Improvement Association, now includes milk component summaries for protein and solid-not-fat for those bulls with component repeatability of more than 40 percent. Lancaster Farming is happy to present 7 pages of genetic-packed information for our dairy producers’ use in sire selection. ** 1982 to be established as the production base for dairy farmers (the actual production rather than an average production over a period of years). New dairy far mers would have a production base assigned to them, as determined by local agricultural stabilization and conservation committees. (Turn to Page A 33) (Turn to Pace A 36) Dunlap, Lancaster, there were more local hogs bought by packers at the stockyards this week. He stated that the striking truckers have restricted the flow of Midwest livestock to the East. “There’s been a lot of strike pressure along the route between Indiana and here," observed Hoover, “and that’s where most of our hogs come from. Some of the truckers who made that run had some trouble and they’re not anxious to make another trip." PennAg Industries Association’s David R. Brubaker reported some calls from members with problems resulting from the truckers’ strike, (Turn to Page A 36) $7.50 per year
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