E2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 2,1983 NFO head says ag needs dramatic changes BY HAROLD SHELLY PLUMSTEADVILLE - An overflow crowd of almost 250 people packed the Plumsteadville Fire House last Saturday night for the 17th annual dinner-meeting of the Bucks County Chapter of the National Farmers Organization. The group consisted of members, guests and local agri-businessmen, who gathered to hear national representatives of the N.F.O. speak on problems in agriculture. National Delegate Richard Hoffman, a dairy fanner from Delanson, N.Y., told the gathering that if the U.S. Department of Agriculture is successful with its proposed milk tax, 15 percent of the dairy farmers in Bucks County JbeOrgmoim move NFO National President DeVon Woodland addresses overflow crowd at I7th annual Bucks County dinner. Wool Pool meets BUCKINGHAM - The annual meeting of the Bucks-Montgomery Wool Pool was held recently at the Tyro Hall Grange. The 35-year-old cooperative is a non-profit organization, which pools wool grown by farmers in Bucks, Montgomery and Chester Counties. The wool is sold at the Penn State sale in April. Buyers who are familiar with the type and quality of wool produced by the various pools throughout the state submit sealed bids for wool they are in terested in buying. The actual physical shipment of 1 -<*v- Mk I <3 Lambs are collected at Middletown Grange Fairgrounds for third annual Bucks- Montgomery Co-op Pool. Lambs are graded and weighed for Easter holiday market will be out of business by this time next year. He said that the N.F.O. has in stituted a law suit to get a per manent injunction against the tax which will deduct 50 cents per hundredweight from the farmer’s milk check effective April 16, and another possible 50 cents later. “The cheap food policy of the Federal Government is going to hurt the producer, Hoffman said. “If the USDA is successful with the milk tax, then beef, grain and hogs will surely follow.” He finished his remarks by saying that the farmer is being penalized for producing an abundance of food and fiber. “This is the only country in. the the wool takes place on the first Tuesday in June in Doylestown. All the producers bring their wool which is graded by graders from Penn State. Eighty-five persons of the 185- member co-op attended the meeting. The Board of Directors consists of President, Warren Landis, Montgomery; Jane Cox, Vice President, Bucks; Rod Gilbert, Secretary, Bucks/ Fred Haentze, Treasurer, Montgomery; William Rockafellow, Bucks; Homer Schwenk, Montgomery; Phil Rodell, Bucks; and Dean Morey, Montgomery .-H.S. S'" 5 v r f *>v V \ Attending 17th annual NFO dinner meeting at Plumsteadville Fire House are. from the left, Dawn Yerkes, Bucks County dairy princess; Rosemary Garges, William Garges, Bucks County NFO president; and DeVon Woodland, National NFO president. world where you can eat all you “The surplus is not the farmers’ saying that compared to the rest of want, three times a day,” he said. fault,” he said. the economy, the true figure for Lindsay Leiser, Regional “The government buys as much the cost of production for the Representative of the N.F.0., said product as is offered, and it makes dairyman is >21.00 per hun that the surplus in dairy products good economic sense for the plants dredweight that has led to the proposed milk tax was brought on by the butter, cheese and powdered milk plants selling to the Federal Government. > • v *■ i f Directors of the Bucks-Montgomery Wool Pool include, from the left, Rod Gilbert, secretary; Jane Cox, vice president; Warren Landis, president; Bill Rockafellow and Homer Schwenk. ajfcpfr l *, i Ft- » mmm* to sell to it. The government guarantees a market, a profit and a check.” Leiser closed his remarks by •- .-m Easter lamb pool held - WRIGHTSTOWN - The Bucks- Montgomery Wool Co-op held its third annual lamb pool at the Middletown Grange Fairgrounds last Sunday. . pm The event was coordinated by Mike Fournier, Bucks County Extension Agent, who said that 24 lots of lambs totalling 205 animals were shipped to Catelh’s m Richboro. The lot sizes ranged from one to 30 lambs, with 30 being the maximum number accepted from one producer. Fournier said the packer will accept a maximum of 300 lambs. The weight range is restricted to a minimum of 25 pounds and a maximum of 55 pounds. The lambs were one month to three months old and will be readied for the Easter Holiday market. The majority of the producers > - ' v ' • vf'Z JUS ” «* » ■%Jk <?*r The featured speaker of the evening was DeVon Woodland, National President of the N.F.0., (Turn to Page E 4) who participated were small operators who would normally ship only five to eight lambs per year. The animals were delivered to the Fairgrounds in pick-up trucks, family cars, station wagons, and even a VW bus. The lambs were graded into three categories as they were unloaded. “Thick,” “average” and “thin” were each designated by a different colored chalk stripe on the lamb’s back. The prices paid would be set on the average of prices at the Lan caster Market on the day after the lamb Pool. Iliis pooling of the animals would ensure the producer getting the benefit of the Lancaster Market without the expense of transportation. The Co-op gets a one percent commission for grading and weighing.
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