VOL 29 No. 52 What a difference a year makes BY DICK ANGLESTEIN INTERCOURSE -What a difference a year makes. At last year’s Lancaster County Poultry Association banquet, AI was just dawning. Then, poultry association members apprehensively listened as Dr. Max Van Buskirk Jr., of PDA, gave them their first real introduction to the disease that was yet to strike most of their flocks. Milk haulers air gripes about deliveries to LeHi BY ROBIN PHILLIPS Staff Correspondent GRANTVILLE - LeHi VaUey Milk Haulers met recently to discuss problems and suggest changes in the delivering and unloading of milk at the various plants in this area. The dissatisfaction that has been growing for quite some time with the unloading process, and with the management at the plants was aired at the meeting. Held at the Holiday Inn, Grant ville, on Oct. 11, the session in cluded milk haulers from nor thern, central, and eastern Penn sylvania, as well as Maryland. The policies set by LeHi Valley Farmers and Atlantic Processing, Milk toast at Dairymen Middle Atlantic Division meeting is offered by, from the left, State Comptroller Louis Goldstein, Md. State Dairy Princess Tara Woodfield, and division president Fred Butler. Four Sections On Thursday, some 300 members of the association gathered for this year’s banquet amidst an entirely different atmosphere. AI was behind them. Last year, they were facing an unknown - the depths of which noone really could fathom. This week, the unknown had not only been faced but essentially overcome. And, the 50th anniversary banquet amounted to a real Golden One for the association. “We’re 95 to 98 percent back,” Jay Irwin, county extension director, reported. “And all in less than a year when everyone was saying it would take at least three years.” “It was your strength of character, courage and concern that you showed for the whole poultry industry.” Many personal tributes were also made to the association boards members and others, such as Dr.'Robert Eckroad, of New Bolton Center Jn a brief business meetuig, the association elected some directors and a couple of replacement appointments. Named to the board were Marlin Inc. came under the most discussion. Because of the con tinual growth of these two organizations, larger volumes of mUk have to be hauled over longer distances and to several locations. In spite of this growth, no changes have been made at any of the plants to handle the larger volumes of milk, in addition to the increased traffic and longer waiting times. The larger volumes of spring water, orange juice, and cream also add to the problems and congestion at these plants, haulers explained: there was discussion on rewriting the rate structure for (Turn to Page A 35) Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 3,1984 R. Hershey, president; Timothy Hoober, R 3 New Holland; Galen Martin, R 2 Mount Joy; and Wilmer Yost, Lancaster. Clair Eberly, East Earl, was named to the board to replace Vicky Wass-Steinhauer, who has resigned. Jay Esbenshade was appointed treasurer, replacing Stanley Musselman, who is stepping down after seven years. He was presented a clock for his years of service to the association. Gwen Yoder, County Poultry Queen, gave a report of her ac tivities and plans for promotions in the future. Also present at the banquet was Margaret Herr, alternate queen. Andy Hansen, who headed up the AI Task Force, summed up the two main lessons of AI. First, the value of local and state trade organizations. And, the need for continued bio security. Pa. okays $56,000 milk research study BY WENDY WEHR HARRISBURG - To get the most mileage out of the dairyman’s milk advertising dollar, the Pa. Dairy Promotion Advisory Board has set aside money to discover people’s at titudes about milk. At a meeting on Wednesday in Harrisburg, the board members allocated funds for local promotion efforts as well as statewide advertising, but set aside the largest sum for dairy marketing research. After a presentation by Kate Prescott and Stan Muschweck, representatives of HBM/Creamer, Inc., board members voted to earmark $56,000 for research into people’s attitudes toward milk and dairy products. . Knowing people’s current at titudes about a product when developing advertising is useful, and as an example of this Prescott cited the research and advertising undertaken for the potato growers industry. She explained that research conducted by Dr. Jerry Olson, an Dairymen, Inc. looks ‘inward’ BY JOYCE BUPP Staff Correspondent HUNT VALLEY, Md. - Less cost and more money sums up the aim of the immediate future at Dairymen, Inc., according to top level management reports heard last Saturday by members of the cooperative’s Middle Atlantic division. Several hundred dairy fanners and guests turned out for the an nual division meeting held at the Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn, to hear reports on the corporate financial and philosophical outlook. The Middle Atlantic division, based in Baltimore, is part of the 8,000-plus membership of Dairymen, Inc., with corporate headquarters in Louisville, Ky. Calling 1984 a year of Maybe it’s symbolic of the Golden Anniversary Banquet of the Lancaster Poultry Association this week following Avian influenza. Also recovering are Poultry Queen Gwen Yoder, who injured her arm, shown signing cast of Extension Director Jay Irwin, who crushed his heel in ladder mishap during recent poultry tour. expert in marketing and consumer psychology at Penn State, revealed that most people’s perceptions of potatoes as fattening was keeping potato consumption at a very low level. Once advertising was directed at this misconception about the product, potato sales shot up. Part of the $56,000 set aside for the dairy research will be used to hire Dr. Olson to delve mtQ people’s attitudes about milk. Results of the research may reveal what should be targeted in dairy “challenges,” division manager John Collins cited a lost of over order premiums, the diversion program assessment and loss of members to other organizations as major problems that combined to eat away at member incomes. “In the past, Dairymen has been the leader in changes in the dairy industry. This has cost Dairymen members more than non members,” was Collins assessment. “Dairymen has changed its philosophy - to look after our membership instead of the total dairy industry when members are paying the bill,” he added. In keeping with rigid corporate belt-tightening, producers were briefed on an upcoming move of the division office, from its present */.t>uper Yeoi products advertising. In action on the local promotion funding applications, the promotion board voted to fund 31 county proposals at levels ranging from a low of $52 for a cow coloring contest in Armstrong County, to a high of $7OO to Mercer County for programs ranging from a radio trivia contest to school promotions. At the conclusion of discussion about local funding, the committee had allocated only about $9,000 of the $20,000 set aside for the local programs. In a review of the local funding applications last week, a sub committee established guidelines to not fund requests for capital investments, such as cow costumes or mobile sales units, print, radio, and television ad (Turn to Page A3B) Baltimore site, to a combined office with the division warehouse in Eldersburg, Maryland. Employee cutbacks, along with a consolidation of accounting procedures at regional offices in Greensboro, N.C. will cut present Middle Atlantic office staff numbers by half. “It’s working,” says Collins of the dairy diversion program, noting the turndown of production, beginning in February, after 53 months of steadily climbing national milk output. While overall national production is down 2.7 percent, consumption has doubled by that amount, resulting in a 44 percent cut in government pur chases of surplus dairy products. With record numbers - of (Turn to Page A 35)