PERIODICALS DIVISION
W 209 PATTEE LIBRARY
PENNSYLVANIA STATE^ONIVERSITY
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VOL 30 No. 1
Is pseudorabies going ‘underground’ in Pa.?
Pennsylvania’s premier livestock event, the Keystone
International Livestock Exposition, is now history. For
News from KILE scattered throughout issue
HARRISBURG - For the 28th
year, Harrisburg’s Farm Show
complex opened its doors to the
Keystone International Livestock
Exposition, welcoming some of
North America’s best quality
livestock from throughout the
Northeast and Midwest.
From last Friday’s sheep
judging, to Wednesday’s Draft
Horse Show, the complex was a
beehive of activity as exhibitors
washed, clipped, brushed and
generally doted over the 3,150 head
of cattle, sheep and swine entered
in this year’s show.
Women in ag
Alma Wenger of R 6 Manheim is all set to celebrate Women
in Agriculture Week, Nov. 11 to 17, as she takes her place on
the tractor. Alma often prepares the fields for planting and
helps out at harvest time too. Look in this week’s B section
photo feature saluting farm women and stories featuring
women who work in agriculture.
Four Sections
But the Keystone must not be
construed as simply an outsized
barnyard beauty contest. In order
existence, KILE must
be a yardstick for the industry. A
yc«ffy-~ tJgfelog of the most
desirable livestock specimens, and
a sensitive barometer to subtle
changes in consumer demand
throughout the country.
And under the watchful eye of its
parent organization, the Pa.
Livestock Association, KILE’s 28-
year record of success and growth
is a graphic example of the show’s
ability to do just that.
Uncaster Farming, Saturday, November 10,1984
coverage of many of the KILE events that took place between
Nov. 2, and Nov. 7, check sections A, B, and D of this issue.
The Keystone’s growth has been
reflected not only in the total
number of entries, but also in the
diversity of competitive events.
Horse fflhbiers found the all-new
Draft Horse Show and Invitational
4-H Horse Show Roundup to be
welcomed additions to the 1984
schedule. And, for the first time,
swine producers were treated to
the Berkshire Fall Classic.
Commonwealth dairy youth
in spotlight at Louisville
LOUISVILLE - While KILE
captures the attention of local
livestock breeders, not to be
overlooked are the Pennsylvania
dairy exhibitors who were making
names for themselves this week
during the North American In
ternationial Livestock Exposition
in Louisville.
Topping the dairy news from
NAILE is the crowning of Carol
Oreisbach, Hamburg, as the
National Jersey Jug Queen.
Making Jersey breed history,
Carol succeeded her sister Patty,
who served as last year’s Jersey
queen.
In other NAILE highlights, the
Pennsylvania delegation had a fine
showing at the All American
Jersey Junior Show, with 7 of the 14
head entered from Pennsylvania
Farm, Power Equipment dealers
gather for annual convention
MT. POCONO - Equipment
dealers from throughout the
Commonwealth are gathering at
Mount Airy Lodge at Mt. Pocono
for the 71st annual convention of
the Pa. Farm and Power Equip
ment Association.
Major sessions of the convention
are scheduled to open tomorrow
(Sunday) and continue through
Tuesday.
A Sunday afternoon panel
discussion from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
will discuss “Why, When and How
In recognition of the importance
of young people to the future of the
livestock industry, many youth
oriented events were scheduled,
including junior and in
tercollegiate livestock judging
contests, a junior sheep shearing
contest and junior show divisions
for beef, sheep and swine. Junior
events were scheduled for Sunday
(Turn to Page A 32)
placing in the top 10 of their class.
Pa. juniors also captured the
production award and the high
pedigree index contest. The Pa.
herd placed sixth out of 17 in the
state herd competition.
Taking National Jersey
Achievement Awards were
Michelle Lusk, production winner,
and Patty Dreisbach,
achievement.
In the Southern National Ayr
shire Junior Show a Pa. exhibitor
showed the junior champion, plus
many of the class winners in the
open and junior Ayrshire com-
petitions came from Pa. and the
surrounding states.
Look for complete NAILE
results and pictures in next week’s
issue of Lancaster Farming.
To Advertise.” Participants in
clude representatives of Lancaster
Farming, Pennsylvania Farmer,
Farmshine, Farmer’s Friend and
Sperry New Holland.
Seminars are scheduled Monday
afternoon under the direction of
Walter Buescher and Grover
Gouker, who is also the dinner
speaker.
The Annual Awards Banquet will
be the final convention event on
Tuesday evening.
$7.50 per Year
Are farmers
trying to hide
the disease?
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
HARRISBURG - Pseudorabies
could be going underground in
Pennsylvania, pork producers told
a meeting called by State
Department of Agriculture of
ficials on Wednesday.
“I hear comments and it’s a
scary situation about producers
going underground to avoid
possible financial losses as long as
possible,” John Henkel, of the Pa.
Pork Producers Council, said.
Three possible underground
activities involving swine
marketing to avoid pseudorabies
detection through slaughter house
blood test surveillance of sows and
boars were cited by some
producers:
-First, hogs might be bounced
from auction to auction to lose
their identity and confuse
traceback in the event they are
found to have the disease when
slaughtered.
-Second, sows being held from
normal marketing channels might
be taken to small butchers and
made into pork roll for the farmer
to market.
-And finally, sows and boars
that would be normally rotated out
of herds to market are just being
held on the farms if the operator
suspects his herd is infected with
PRV.
These underground attempts to
avoid PRV detection, according to
some producers, are helping to
keep the number of quarantined
herds are known to the Bureau of
Animal Industry lower than the
number that really exists.
“It’s cheaper to take a sow or
two out and shoot and bury them
than take the chance of being
found, quarantined and forced to
depopulate,” one producer has
pointed out to Lancaster Farming.
Henkel, as representative of the
Pork Producers Council at Wed
nesday’s meetmg, said that the
underground activities could get
out of hand and just help to spread
the disease.
Possible underground activities
to avoid PRV detection was just
one phase of a complicated session
called Wednesday by the Bureau of
Animal Industry to take a look at
its current program that includes
mandatory depopulation without
indemnification and how the
livestock industry wants to
proceed with the PRV effort.
Approximately half of those
organizations invited to Wed
nesday’s session did not send
representatives, including such
groups as the Cooperative Swine
Breeders, Pa. Dairy Assn., Pa.
Cattlemen’s Assn., Sheep and Wool
Growers, Livestock Auctioneers
Association and others.
While pseudorabies has
primarily affected the swine in-
(Turn to Page A 24)