- .1 PEHNSYLVa.V* „,
VOL 29 No. 20
Under review
3 digester
proposals
received
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
HARRISBURG - Only three
proposals have been received by
the Governor’s Energy Council in a
cost-sharing fund project to study
the feasibility of farmers joining
together in a cooperative methane
digester system to generate power
from manure.
Friday, March 9, was the
deadline for farmers, farm groups,
agribusiness or alternative energy
firms to submit proposals to the
Council.
“The proposals are now under
review by a panel,’’ said Linda J.
DeLiberty, program coordinator.
It is expected that decisions will
be made shortly.
The Council had hoped for more
proposals, particularly since more
than 100 requests had been
received for copies of the
regulations concerning submitting
proposals.
While declining any specific
information since the proposals
are under review, the Council did
report that all three submitted
proposals involve proposed
projects in the Lancaster County
area of the southeastern part of the
state.
Under the Council cost-sharing
program, the state would provide
80 percent of the cost of a
feasibility study, up to a maximum
of $lO,OOO. The funds, totaling
(Turn to Page A 36)
Jack Hubley named
to Lancaster Farming staff
LANCASTER Joining the staff
of Lancaster Farming as an
associate editor this week is Jack
Hubley, a Lititz resident and
graduate of Warwick High School.
Graduating from Lebanon
Valley College in 1973 with a
Liberal Arts degree, Hubley began
exercising an interest in writing
during "his senior college year,
selling his first magazine article in
April of 1974.
Since that time he has written for
numerous outdoor periodicals on
both the national and regional
levels.
A member of the Pennsylvania
Outdoor Writer’s Association,
Hubley is currently the outdoor
columnist and feature writer for
the Lancaster Sunday News.
Also recently, he has served as a
part-time agribusiness writer for
Lancaster Farming.
A lifelong resident of Lititz,
Hubley is the son of John A. and
Dorothy G. Hubley. He currently
resides at 707 E. Millport Rd., with
his wife, Christina, a teacher, and
two-year-old daughter, Amber
Elizabeth.
<; OlVlS lu
« 1 Ll sf»« ON I VE« V T ‘
Five Sections
Elected to head the Pa. Guernsey Breeders Association for 1984 are, seated from left,
vice president Bill Cannon, president Albert Hack, secretary/treasurer Elsie Wolff and
National director Janet Harding; standing from left, directors Wilmer Campbell, Donald
Brown, Harry Wright, John E. Marchezak, Richard 0. Smith, Ginger Myers, Robert
Smith, Rodney Stuff and Charles R. Smith.
BY LAURA ENGLAND
DANVILLE - Albert Hack,
Pennsylvania Guernsey Breeders
president, said he wished his
association’s report could be
brighter, but the fact remains that
a decrease in herd numbers was
noted in 1983, and the fiscal year
ran into the red ink.
Hack, addressing the 53rd an
nual meeting of the Association
held March 9 and 10 in Danville,
Jack Hubley
In his spare tune, Hubley enjoys
hunting, fishing, weight lifting, and
nature photography, which he has
displayed in local photography
shows and in slide presentations
for various organizations.
With Laura England assuming
dairy responsibilities, Hubley will
be handling a variety of assign
ments, with an emphasis on
livestock reporting.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March ? 7,1984
Guernsey Breeders discuss
sale of Lancaster pavilion
said herd numbers have dropped
from 96 in 1979 to 84 last year. He
added that changes have been
made to cut costs but “we’re still
running into red ink.”
These changes include cuts in
travel expenses and the number of
employees. Employees are also
working out of their homes,
business manager Lee Yost said,
and this has helped.
i don’t mean to paint a black
picture on our association,” Yost
said. “We do have money. The
association isn’t broke, but it’s a
question of the directors putting
the assets into the best use. ’ ’
It is th’s question of where to
place the assets in terms of use and
importance that has brought
mixed emotions among the
Guernsey breeders
One asset is the Guernsey
Pavilion, located east on Route 30
in Lancaster. The association has
E. Lancaster nutrient studies expand
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
TERRE HILL - A detailed
study of manure and fertilizer
nutrients in the soils of Eastern
Lancaster County by Penn State
soil scientists will be expanded
during the coming year.
Focus of the studies are the
amounts of nitrogen and
phosphorus being applied to the
land and where they are going.
Heading up the studies - now in
their second year - is Dale E.
Baker, professor of soil chemistry
and coordinator of Chesapeake
Bay projects at Penn State. Also
taking part from Penn State are
soil scientists Richard H. Fox and
LesE Lanyon.
Working closely with the soil
scientists are Donald M. Robinson
and Robert H. Anderson, adult
been offered $BOO,OOO for the
building. This amount, along with
$150,000 offered for the Cham
bersburg office, would bring a total
$950,000 into the association which
would go towards operating ex
penses and breed programs.
The question is, should the
Guernsey Pavilion be sold?
Association member William
Cannon, who has been studying the
issue, says yes. "The selling of the
Guernsey Pavilion would be a
salvation to our breed and our
association,” he said.
The building is in an ideal
location for the sale, Cannon said.
He also added that one board
member said “we need the income
more than the building.”
Cannon suggested that if the
building is sold, the association
could possibly use the Penn Stat* 1
(Turn to Page A2O)
farmer instructors in the Eastern
Lancaster School District.
At the core of the studies will be
a detailed tracing of manure and
fertilizer nutrients, particularly.
-How much is applied and is
started with at the beginning of the
growing season
-How much becomes available
to the plants as they grow and is
used up.
-How much is left over after
harvest and where it can go over
the winter.
Concern over the excess
nutrients that may be in the soil
beyond what the corn or other
plants need is two-fold - the
nitrates and phosphorus can find
their way into underground water
supplies and farmers’ wells or into
streams and down the
RECEIVED
MAR 2 11984
Lehieh Valley
Successful
year cited
by co-op
BY LAURA ENGLAND
LANCASTER Another year of
financial success was reported by
Lehigh Valley Farmers treasurer
Robert Gehman as the cooperative
increased both its milk sales and
membership during 1983.
Speaking at Lehigh’s annual
meeting held Tuesday at the Host
Farm, Lancaster, Gehman said
the cooperative marketed 841
million pounds of milk last year
valued at $117,280,000. The sales
generated a net margin of
$2,215,000 which will be ditributed
to members.
Gehman said $841,000 of the net
margin will be distributed as
certificates of equity. Quality
notices of allocations, totalling
$1,099,000 and cash dividends of
$275,000 constitute the remaining
net margin.
Lehigh Valley Farmers, under a
15-year long term contract, ships
all its milk to Atlantic Processing
Inc. (API), a dairy cooperative
federation. Lehigh supplies 65
percent of APl’s milk with
producers in Pennsylvania, New
York, New Jersey and Maryland.
Although the principle supplier
for API, Lehigh needs more
members to meet the cooperatives
needs, membership chairman Max
Sumser said.
“API needs more milk,” Sumser
said, “and we need 350 new
members to meet its needs. We
have the will and resources to do
this.”
Membership did increase over
last year by 15 percent, Sumser
said. The number of members
jumped from 1,139 producers in
1983 to 1,309 in 1984 for a total 170
new members.
Looking for additional members
in 1984, Sumser said Lehigh has
initiated a membership drive
(Turn to Page A2l)
Susquehanna River to the
Chesapeake Bay.
Baker and other participants in
the studies met with Eastern
Lancaster County farmers who are
cooperating in the studies at a
session in the Union Grove
Alternative School on Wednesday
night.
During the coming year studies
are being expanded to more farm
locations and becoming more
detailed as additional federal
monies are being allocated for
projects involved in the cleanup of
the Chesapeake Bay
Test sites will be expanded to 30
farms this year, compared to 22
last year. In addition to soil sample
testing, plant tissue testing will be
done to determine how the plant is
(Turn to Page A 32)
17.50 per Year