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