Faming, SatMnUy,ilarcli 12,1953
IMPCO District 5 honors Shertzer, elects officers
BY DEBBIE KOONTZ
WILLOWjSTREET - More than
130 dairy producers gathered for
the annual Inter-State Milk
Producers’ Cooperative District 5
meeting, Monday, at Willow Valley
Family Restaurant, here.
James Honan, secretary of
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Wilmer L. Shertzer, center, and his wive Esther, were
honored with this plaque for five years consecutive par
ticipation in Inter-State’s Cost of Production study.
Presenting the award to the R 2 Columbia couple is District 5
director Wade Groff.
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Elected to serve on the West Lampeter Local were, from left, Kenneth Garber, Willow
Street, president: James D. Shertzer, Lancaster, delegate; John H. Howard, Willow
Street, delegate; and John M. Harnish, Lancaster, secretary-treasurer. Not present for
the photo was Arthur L. Breneman, vice president.
“Inter-State: Dynamic at 65”
LANCASTER - Usually
when a 65th birthday is
celebrated, visions of
retirement and a life of ease
come to mind.
While this may be the case for
many individuals, it couldn’t be
further from the truth for an
expanding business such as the
Inter-State Milk Producers’
Cooperative who describe their
operation as ‘ ‘Dynamic at 65. ”
With headquarters in
Southampton, Pa., IMPCO
caters to 3,200 farmers in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Maryland, Delaware, Virginia
and West Virginia.
According to the Cooperative,
in its 65-year history, Inter-
State has progressed from a
bargaining agent for members
to a cooperative with two
subsidiaries providing “needed
services to farmer-owners. ’ ’
Although membership has
declined from its peak of 20,000
members to 3,200, the volume of
milk marketed has increased
from about 381 million pounds
to 2.43 billion pounds. This
latter figure is the recorded
weight for fiscal 1982.
IMPCO and past general manager
for 19 years, urged the participants
to get involved in promotion,
describing it as a way “to help
ourselves,” out of the current milk
surplus situation.
A highlight of the afternoon
(Turn to Page A2l)
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In their recently-printed
celebration booklet, Inter-State
reports that finances were tight
for turn-ot-the-century dairy
farmers. "For a number of
years prior to World War 1,
farmers received only four
cents a quart for milk.. .and the
average dairy cow only
produced a profit of 30 cents.”
A group of Grange dairy
farmers in Chester County
organized the Inter-State Milk
Producers’ Association in early
1917. The first meeting was held
on March 15,1917.”
. At this tune, milk was
shipped into Philadelphia and
sold at auction. No farmer had
assurance that he was paid
correctly for his milk either
on volume or butterfat. IMPCO
began to tackle the problem.
By their fifth anniversary,
IMPCO reported 15,000
members. According to the
Cooperative, the average price
paid that year, in the 50-mile
zone, was $2.23 per hun
dredweight for 3.5 percent test.
In the years that followed,
Inter-State producers were
forced to suffer several price
le new executive slate for the Millersville Local, District 5, will be filled by, from left,
Melvin Shertzer, R 1 Millersville, hauling committee member; Glenn R. Binkley, R 2
Columbia, delegate; Nelson H. Hershey, Mountville, delegate; and David Charles R 2
Lancaster, secretary-treasurer; J. Clayton Charles, president, and Nelson Habecker,
vice president, were not present for the photo.
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fluctuations with drastic
changes occunng during the
Great Depression and the ad
vent of World War 11.
IMPCO, as with other
cooperatives, suffered from the
intrusion of oleo on the market
in the early ‘4os. Other battles
followed as industry leaders
pushed for dairy farmer sup
ported advertising and milk
pricing, urged the transition
from cans to bulk tanks in the
late 'sos, and faced the changes
occunng in competitive
cooperatives.
in the late ‘7os, surplus milk
pressures inspired Inter-State
and Maryland Cooperative Milk
Producers to build a butter
powder balancing plant. The
result? The birth of Holly Milk
Cooperative in Mt. Holly
Springs, Pa. This $ll million
plant was capable of processing
an average 1.5 million pounds of
milk a day.
Today, IMPCO is the largest
cooperative serving dairy
farmers in Pennsylvania.
Robert B. McSparran became
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The Witmer Local of District 5 will be represented by
Harvey E. Heller, Lancaster, secretary-treasurer and
delegate; and John Landis, Leola, president and delegate. J.
Robert Esbenshade, vice president, was not present.
their ninth president in 1980 and took over his positon in 1982.
Paul Hand, general manager, DK
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