VOL. 30 No. 17
No-tiII means no run-off, says USDA’s Myers
BY JACK HIiBLEY
LANCASTER - The USDA’t
Assistant Secretary foi Natural
Resources and Environment came
to Lancaster's Farm and Home
Center on Tuesday to promote no
till s\ stems, and offer insight into
the administration’s market
oriented approach to Farm Bill ’lto
Speaking to .100 farmers at the
Lancaster County Conservation
District’s fourth annual Con
servation Tillage Conference,
Peter My ers expressed confidence
in the agricultural community's
ability to manage soil and water
I think we can clean up our own
house,” said the formei Soil
( onservation Service chief, ‘but
we're (farmers) only three percent
of the population and some day
we're going to have to answer to
the rest of society." he cautioned
And the surest way to solve the
current soil erosion and nutrient
run-off problems, according to
Myers, is by adopting no-till
systems.
‘ln my opinion, as a farmer, I
think no-till fits into most farming
operations ’ he said
Economically, there’s no doubt m
my mind that when you lose soil
Corestates Financial Corp. economist A. Gilbert Heebner,
talked about the value of the dollar and its impact on
agricultural trade, during a speech to the Hamilton Bank Agri-
Education Seminar this week at the Farm and Home Center.
Missing kids
on milk cartons
Milk cartons featuring photos of
missing children are appearing on
supermarket shelves across the
country The cartons are part of a
nationwide campaign to locate
children who have been criminally
abducted. For more on the milk
cartons, see this week's family
living section on page 816
Five Sections
\ou lose dollars-nght now ”
And in a dry year, you're
noinially going to make a bettei
ci op, he pointed out. speaking
h oin his own experience as a swine
larmer in Missouri
Alluding to the fact that no-till
farming is not the sole answer to
the watei pollution problem,
Myers emphasized that good
herbicide management is crucial
I have very strong concerns
about herbicide management,” he
said, noting that improper use and
disposal of excess chemicals can
have grave consequences for the
environment. In his own state of
Missouri, Myers said, farmers
must first pass a test and obtain a
license before purchasing any
farm chemicals
Pointing out that no-till farming,
definitely cuts the cost of
production," Myers added that, if
he were a young farmer getting
started today his equipment
purchases would include a used
tractor, a sprayer and a new no-till
planter
But even the most efficient
■'‘biTiftin tion methods probably
won't help those farmers carrying
excessive debt loads, said Myer^,
INSIDE this issue
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 2,1985
turning to a discussion of the farm
bill
Brief l.v outlining the cunent
proposal, he said that the ad
ministration hopes to make the
transition to a market-oriented ag
economy within three years To
accomplish this, loan rates would
drop to 75 percent of a com
modity's price based on the
average market value during the
past three years
To ease the impact of lower loan
rates, the administration plans to
reimburse farmers for the dif
ference between the loan rates and
the target price. For the first year
of the program the target price
would equal 100 percent of a
commodity’s value based on the
same three-year average
The target price would drop in
succeeding yet.ls, lowering a
farmer's deficiency p u . nient This
pattern would continue until the
target price reached the loan late,
whereupon farm income would be
tied directly to market demand for
products
‘The concept, 1 tank, is sound, '
said Put
opinion is that the time „ nod is
(Turn to Page A3B)
Strong dollar hurts ag trade,
Core States economist says
BY JAMES H. E\ ERHART
LANCASTER - A brutally
stiong US dollai has helped
keep inflation down but has hint
out ability to export by making om
prices too high, a Coi estates
economist told about 300 farmeis
this week
Thus, important sectors ot oui
i'(ononi), including some
manufacturing industries and
agriculture, have not shared in the
recent prosperity, ' Core States
Executive Vice President A
Gilbert Heebner told the Hamilton
Pa., Md. Holstein
“ Happenings ”
Holstein breeders trom across
Pennsylvania and Maryland
gathered last week for their annual
state conventions.
For complete coverage of the
PHA business meetings, awards
breakfast, and banquet, turn inside
to A2&-29. News of the junior
meetings can be found on 830.
Turn to A 24 for a report on the
Maryland Convention Sale and
state Holstein award winners
Keynote speaker at the Lancaster County Conservation
Tillage Conference on Tuesday was USDA Assistant
Secretary for Natural Hesources and Environment Peter
Myers, who urged farmers to put away their plows in favor of
no-till systems.
Bank Agi i-Education Sutunai at
the Farm and Home (. entei
At the same time that the stiong
cuirency makes our expoiting
puces too high, it make 1 - foreign
goods much less expensive 'thus,
it stimulates low-priced foreign
competition like Canadian pork 01
grain from South Ameiica and
other competitors
As a result, he concluded, In
agi [cultural commodities, where
we normally have a large surplus
ot exports over imports, the sui
plus dwindled from $27 billion in
Two Holstein conventions were held last week - more
inside.
1 7.50 per Year
1981 to about $lB billion in 1984
Despite the adverse effects on
the farm economy, there s no ea\\
way to bring down the value of the
dollai without stimulating m
cleased inflation and highci in
to est tales, he said
Ihe i esult, then, is an increase in
the misery index” for farmers,
w filch, he said, is the ratio of prices
paid tor feed and equipment,
compared to the prices received
for farm products
(Turn to PageA37)