VOL. 29 No. 19
Keith Eckel
PFA cites
farm plan
priorities
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The
preparation of a new four-year
federal farm program starting in
1985 is one of the key challenges
facing organised agriculture this
year according to Keith Eckel,
president of the Pennsylvania
Fanners’ Association (PFA).
Eckel made the observation
during a breakfast address on
Thursday to over 200 Pennsylvania
farmers and their congressman.
PFA national legislative com
mittees visited their congressman
on Wednesday and Thursday to
discuss important national farm
issues.
Eckel said the new long-term
farm program should be fashioned
to avoid past mistakes and be
flexible enough to adjust to
changing situations.
“We mustn’t lose sight of the fact
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Dr. Michael Radebaugh, of Parkton, Md.. prepares to
vaccinate a farm dog against rabies.
Six Sections
Monitoring
of auction
ads begins
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
HARRISBURG Auction and
public sale advertisements are
now being monitored in Penn
sylvania to see if auctioneers are
complying with a new state law to
include their names and license
numbers in the ads.
The new auctioneer law went
into effect on January 1 and the
new advertising requirement
states;
“It is unlawful for a person to
advertise an auction or sale at
auction without including in the
advertisement or notice of sale the
name and license number of the
auctioneer, auction house or
auction company conducting the
sale.”
A check of the public sale ads in
Seiftfon F of this week’s Lancaster
FMHhig will show some of the ads
in which auctioneers are beginning
to comply with the requirement.
“We have started to monitor
published ads for compliance with
the name and license number
requirement,” explained Dawn
Glowacki, administrative
secretary of the State Board of
Auctioneer Examiners in the Pa.
Department of State.
She further explained that let
ters of warning are being sent to
auctioneers who are not including
names and license numbers in the
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday. March 10.1984
Addressing topics ranging from nutrition to health problems during Lancaster County
Dairy Days were, from left, Darwin Braund, Robert Eberhart, Dr. Robert Whitlock, Dr.
Terry Blanchard, Stephen Spencer and master of ceremonies Nelson Habecker.
Lancaster Dairy Days stress Johne’s
BY LAURA ENGLAND
LANCASTER It is a disease
similar to tuberculosis in man,
only it affects dairy cattle.
It hits the intestinal tract and
makes the absorption of nutrients
difficult if not completely im
possible. Infected cows begin to
lose weight rapidly although their
appetite and eating habits remain
normal.
It is Johne’s disease, and it could
be affecting between five and 20
percent of the adult cows in
Pennsylvania. Because it is dif
ficult to diagnose and treatment is
virtually nonexistent, Johne’s
disease is “a one-way street that
once a cow gets sick she continues
to go,” said Dr. Robert Whitlock, a
professor of veternarian medicine
at New Bolton Center.
“It’s a difficult organism to work
with,” Dr. Whitlock said, “and
after 25 years of research we still
Outbreak of rabies
continues its spread into Pa.
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
YORK An outbreak of rabies
that has spread north through
Virginia and Maryland over the
past two years is expected to surge
into Pennsylvania this year.
Since the beginning of the year,
44 rabies cases have been reported
to the Bureau of Animal Industry,
according to PDA veterinarian Dr.
John Cable. Last year’s total of 151
reported cases were about double
the number from 1982.
Bulk of the rabies cases reported
in Pennsylvania last year centered
in Bedford, Franklin and Fulton
counties. Franklin County had the
highest incidence, with 43 cases,
while Bedford reported 42, and
Fulton tallied 41.
A large percentage of these
cases was found in wild species of
animals, primarily raccoons, but
“It’s a difficult organism to work with,”
Dr. Whitlock said, ’‘and after 25 years
of research we still have a relatively
poor vaccine. Unfortunately, there is no
effective treatment for Johnes disease.”
have a relatively poor vaccine.
Unfortunately, there is no effective
treatment for Johne’s disease.”
Speaking to dairymen attending
Lancaster County Dairy Days held
Monday and Tuesday, Dr.
Whitlock said that Johne’s disease
is similar to tuberculosis (TB) in
man. Johne’s, however, does not
affect people, but it does carry
similar TB traits, he said.
Cows become infected with
“You don’t have to
be bitten by a rabid
animal to contract
the disease,” explains
York Ext. Agent
Tony Dobrosky.
with fairly high numers of bats and
skunks infected as well, and only
an occasional domestic pet or farm
animal.
York County agricultural ex
tension agent Tony Dobroksy has
begun alerting farmers and
owners of domestic pets of the
17.50 per Year
Johne’s when organisms enter the
intestinal tract and invade the
intestinal lining causing infection.
The intestinal walls thicken and
can’t absorb nutrients.
Calves are generally exposed to
the disease, Dr. Whitlock said, and
become infected at an early age
but may develop no clinical signs
for two to eight years. The older
the cow at time of exposure, the
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possible spread of the rabies
problem into York and surroun
ding counties, since the outbreak is
expected to continue expanding
across the state.
Three cases, he hays, have
already been reported this year in
the Dillsburg area of northern
York County.
While the county agent is not
necessarily recommending that
farmers vaccinate whole herds of
livestock, he does suggest that they
might consider the vaccine in
jections for extremely valuable
breeding stock.
“We are really urging farmers to
get their cats and dogs vaccinated
against rabies,” stresses
Dobrosky.
“And we want to remind people
that they don’t have to be bitten by
a rabid animal to contract the
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