VOL. 28 No. 17
April 1 is “ID-Day” for Pa. hog producers
BYSUEUAMOUBR
LANCASTER The Lancaster
Stockyards was the scene Tuesday
evening for a meeting, of packers
and livestock market represen
tatives, state veterinarians, and
legislators. What prompted this
serious get-together and four hour
discussion which led to two
resolutions that could dip into hog
producers’ pockets? Swine iden
tification or the lack of it in
hogs heading to Pennsylvania
slaughter plants.
Although required by law since
last May, Pennsylvania’s swine
producers have been slow to in
corporate identification programs
into their management routines.
Even though Jniore than 4,000
producers have requested farm -
identification numbers from the ‘
Pennsylvania Department of
,-Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal
' Industry, many more hog farms in
| the state have not received these
' unique numbers. And, of those
. farms that received numbers,
there are some that continue to
ET calf tops Holstein Sale
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
ERIE An embryo transplant
heifer calf, bred and consigned by
Lester Poust of Muncy, topped the
Pa. State Holstein Convention
ballroom sale Thursday evening at
'the Erie Hilton.
The 48 bead set a new sale high of
$5858 before a standing-room-only
crowd of several hundred in the
Hilton’s elegant ballroom.
Mun-Cre Christopher Medina-
ET sold for $14,500 to Ronald
Speaking to a group of 70 farmers and students Thursday evening at the Lampeter-
Strasburg High' School were: from left, Marc Phillips from Congressman Robert Walker's
office; Amos Funk, Lancaster Ag Preserve Board chairman; Rep. Jere Schuler from
Pennsylvania’s 43rd District; and John Ahlfeld, acting director of the Lancaster Ag
Preserve Board. Their topics were, of course, farmland preservation.
Four Sections
send hogs to market without the
required tag or tattoo.
According to Chief State
Veterinarian Max A. Van fiuskirk
Jr., implementation of the swine
identification regulations were
held in “abeyance until last Oc
tober.” He explained the BAI
decided to take “the soft ap
proach” in encouraging hog
producers to comply. He said the
Department went so far as per
mitting farmers to move
unidentified hogs if the packer or
marketer agreed to provide the
necessary tracebacfc.
“Now, after an unusual number
'of unidentified market' hogs were
restricted last week due to swine
tuberculosis, packers can no
- longer live with the problem. And
“we’ve reached the point where
people are watching to see if we’re
going to do anything about en
forcing these regulations,” ob
served Van Buskirk, adding that
it’s tune to ‘ ‘put up or shut up.”
Packers are pushing to get the
state’s regulations enforced due to
At the Pa* State Convention
Benson and John Aloi of New
Berlin, New York.
The August-bom heifer is sired
by Brown dale Sir Christopher and
from a maternal line of 3
generations of Excellent dams
with high production records and
fat test of 4 percent.
Her dam by Elevation is 2E-93
with a 6-year-old, 365-day lactation
record of 27,457 milk and 1,087 fat.
Grand dam is 3E-92 by Sunnyside
Standout, also with records of
27,000 milk and 1,100 fat and third
Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, February 26,1983
Buyers threaten boycott
the losses they experience each
time an unidentified, diseased bog
is condemned and taken off the
rail. With no traceback markings,
the packers have no way of
determining which producers are
shipping sick hogs and have no
way of protecting themselves from
future losses.
Since the Packers and
Stockyards Act requires that
producers be paid for hogs moved
through marketing stations within
a short time period, most fanners
Mktg. conference attracts 4 states
BY DEBBIE KOONTZ
LANCASTER The decision to
include Delaware and New Jersey
in what was originally the Penn
sylvania-Maryland Roadside
Marketing Conference, proved
succesfui this week at the Host
Farm, here, as over 600 fanners
and merchants gathered Tor the
three-day sessions.
(tom was 3E-92. A maternal sister
by Milu Betty Chief topped Foust’s
September partial dispersal at
$32,000.
Second high animal was Golden
Circle Pete Monica, a September
1381 heifer bred and consigned by
Paul and Sharon Pox of Rockwood.
M. Thomas and Cindy Shaeffer of
Carlisle purchased this winner of
several area summer shows for
|13,600 by Straight Pine Elevation
Pete. She is from 3 generations by
(Turn to Page A 26)
already are paid before the
packers discover * any diseased
animals. Where a packer buys
directly from a farmer, there is
more control over payments and
most packers stipulate payment
based on cut and grade.
“If a packer gets burned once by
a farmer with diseased hogs, they
probably won’t buy there again, or
else they’ll buy subject to passing
inspection,” said Van Buskirk.
“Packers aren’t going to baggie
with farmers over the loss of
Now christened the Mid-Atlantic
Direct Marketing Conference, the
sessions are in their 16th year and
according to Eugene McDowell,
manager of the Retail' Farm
Market Division for the Penn
sylvania Department of
Agriculture, the participants were
“very enthusiastic and taking an
active interest in the programs. ’ ’
The highlight of the conferences
occured Wednesday evening at the
annual banquet when three of
Pennsylvania's marketers were
entered into the Farm Market Hall
of Fame.
Receiving the Pennsylvania
certified retail farm market award
for 1982 was the Weiser family of
Weiser Orchards near York
Springs in Adams County.
The Orchards, in operation for 42
years, are managed by Everet
Weiser and his three sons. Their
850-acre operation includes 500
acres of corn, 200 acres of fruit, 20
acres of vegetables, 140 acres of
barley, 750 head of beef cattle and
500 hogs.
Some determinants which
helped the Weisers win the award
Fed. ag preserve bill
still in committee
LAMPETER - U.S. Rep.
Robert Walker (R-16th) introduced
legislation last month that calls lor
a system of federal incentives for
farmland preservation. This bill,
called the Farmland Preservation
Act of 1983, remains in the House
Agricultural Committee in
Washington, D.C., reported Marc
Phillips, who represented Walker
Thursday evening at a special
meeting on agriculture preser
vation called by the Garden Spot
Future Farmers of America at
Lampeter-Strasburg High School.
Roughly 70 Lancaster County
farmers and FFA students listened
as various speakers presented
views on farmland preservation
efforts in the county, state, and
nation. According to Garden Spot
FFA President Darrel Mills, this
meeting was called during
National FFA Week to demon
strate the concern young people
have about farmland preservation.
$7.50 per year
diseased hogs they’ve already
bought and paid for, but they
aren’t going to buy any more from
that farmer, either. ”
Hogs infected with swine
tuberculosis pose special problems
for packers because federal law
requires the meat from these hogs
to be cooked at high temperatures
for long periods before it can be
used for human consumption
this treatment usually renders the
meat too soft and devaluates it.
(Turn to Page A 29)
were that all fruits and vegetables
sold in their market were grown on
their farm and that the market
area is nicely landscaped and is
kept clean.
The Maynard Rothenberger
family of Lansdale in Montgomery
County won the Hall of Fame Milk
Juggers award for 1982. They
operate a 350-acre dairy farm with
250 head of registered Holstems.
Their mam crops are com and
alfalfa for cattle feed.
All the milk produced by the 125
cows is sold through the jug milk
store they opened in 1971. Milk is
sold in pitcher pack plastic. They
also sell ice cream and some local
baked goods. In the past five years,
they have gotten involved in plant
sales, both vegetable and bedding.
The farm also produces sweet
com, and pumpkins.
The entire Rothenberger family
is involved in farm production,
processing, sales, and record
keeping. The family consists of
Maynard and Betty Rothenberger,
their daughter Donna and her
(Turn to Page A2B)
More than 200 people were invited
to attend.
Phillips noted that Rep. Walkei
is hopeful that hearings on HR 412
will be scheduled in the near
future, although no date has been
set. The Walker aide noted that
there seems to be a lot of interest in
the bill from fellow Congressmen.
HR 412, which Phillips described
as a “sensible approach to far
mland preserva'-ion,” would allow
incentives to be written into the tax
code in the form of an exemption
from capital gains taxes for far
mland owners who agree not to use
or permit their land to be used for
any purpose other than farming.
The capital gams tax exemption
would be available to any owner of
farmland who sells the property
with a deed restriction limiting the
farmland’s future use to
agriculture. This exemption would
be a one-time offer on each farm,
(Turn to Page A3O)