A24-L*ncast«r Farming, Saturday, May 4,1985
Eastern and Leprino announce protein premiums
BY WENDY WEHR
WAVERLY, N.Y. - Eastern
Milk Producers Cooperative has
announced the completion of
negotiations with Leprino Foods
Company to pay a quality and
protein bonus to producers ship
ping to Eastern’s Waverly and
Horseheads plants.
Michael H. Donovan, general
manager of Eastern, announced
last week that qualifying Eastern
producers will receive a 10-cent
per hundredweight quality bonus.
Those producers will then be
eligible for a protein bonus,
payable on percentage points
above 3.3 percent protein content
in their milk.
Stating that the premium
program will begin June 1,
Donovan emphasized that it is not
the co-op, but the customer who is
paying the premium. The program
will provide better milk supplies
and greater cheese yields for
Leprino Foods.
The cheese plants in Waverly
and Horseheads are owned by
Eastern Milk Producers and
leased by Leprino Foods. Eastern
sells more than 700 million pounds
of milk a year to Leprino, or more
than one third of all of Eastern
members’ milk.
Eastern’s cooperative relations
manager Anthony G. Schlesier
also noted that non-members’ milk
goes into the plants, but only
Eastern members will be eligible
for the protein premium.
Criteria for the quality bonus
TO
COMPLETE SYSTEMS,
EQUIPMENT, SALES,
INSTALLATION, SERVICE
FOR CATTLE, HOG,
POULTRY AND GRAIN
will include a standard plate count
of 2,500 or less, a negative test for
antibiotics, and a freezing point of
.542 on the cryoscopic test, or
measure of added water.
“All these figures are really
stringent,” says Schlesier about
the milk standards, “and will
substantially upgrade the
quality.”
While quality premium
programs are not new to the major
dairy cooperatives of the three
federal orders in the Northeast,
paying a protein premium is not
common, particularly on the scale
of the announced Leprino/Eastern
plan.
“A lot of co-ops have been
checking solids in milk,” remarks
Extension milk marketing
specialist Tom Jurchak, "and will
divert loads of high protein milk to
buyers who can capitalize on it.”
The extra revenue, he explains, is
turned into profits for the whole co
op, rather than showing up in in
dividual protein producers’ milk
checks, because of the difficulty of
tracing the milk back.
On a small scale, however,
several protein pricing ventures
have succeeded in the Northeast.
One example of this is a small
group of Dairylea cooperative
members who have acquired
premiums for themselves by
supplying loads of high-protein
milk to the Cuba Cheese and
Trading Company in New York
state.
Out in Federal Order 36, Milk
CHORE-TIME
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The Quality Is
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AGRI-
RD 4, East Farmersville Rd., Ephrata, PA 17522
(Lancaster County)
Marketing Inc. has been paying a
protein premium to all its eligible
members since 1983.
The cooperative pays three cents
a point for every percentage point
above 3.2 percent protein, says
John Siglow, manager of support
services for Milk Marketing Inc.,
provided the somatic cell count is
below 500,000. In addition, some
members recently began
marketing to certain plants under
a protein yield formula that allows
them additional premiums.
“We realize that three cents is
minimal,” remarks Siglow, “but
we hope that it sheds some light on
the importance of protein.” The
protein testing, equipment, and
records that MMI has, he adds,
will be helpful in identifying what
should happen in the federal orders
or nationally.
Siglow also says that MMI favors
having an end product pricing
formula built into the federal order
system or implemented nationally.
Representatives of Dairylea and
Lehigh Valley Farmers also say
they are working with the National
Milk Producers Federation and
other cooperatives in the Nor
theast to achieve changes in the
federal order system so that all
farmers would be paid on the basis
of fat and protein.
A component pricing system
will, however, be difficult to devise
in the high Class I usage markets
of the East, says Jurchak.
But it is nice for the handler to
pass part of the gain from in
creased cheese yields from higher
protein back to the producer, he
adds.
In its announcement this week.
Eastern did not reveal how many
cents per point Leprino will be
paying for protein over 3.3.
Schlesier did say, however, that
negotiations are now underway
with other processors to bring
these benefits to as many Eastern
members as possible.
Authorized Chore-Time Distributor
EQUIPMENT,inc.
The Some ... The Prices Are Lower I
CHECK THESE FEATURES-
Eastern’s general manager,
Michael H. Donovan, announced
the quality and protein bonus
program at a dinner last week that
the cooperative hosted in Towanda
for agri-businessmen of the Twin
Dave Reinecker
(Continued from Page A 22)
that “Pepsi doesn’t rely on Coke to
sell it’s product.”
And like most farmers, Dave
views the balance of the year with
guarded optimism. Pork prices
should top out in the low 50-cent
range this summer, for a year-end
average of about 48 to 49 cents. As
for 60-cent hogs, “dream on” he
says.
FARMING IS BUSINESS
But Reinecker refuses to shed
any tears over the current
economic situation. “It’s easy to
get caught up in farming as a way
of life,” he observes, “but farming
is not a right. It’s a business.”
And he firmly believes that
farming is the right business for
the diversified producer. “The
4 ir-wm.
Dave Reinecker feels the small, diversified farmer’s
flexibility will allow him to compete with specialized factory
type operations.
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investment, all metal parts are fully
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another valuable feature you get with
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• CHORE-TIME OFFERS your choice
of 16- or 25-inch diameter hopper open
ings for greater versatility in applica
tion.
SIZES AVAILABLE FROM
2.9 TON to 52 TON - 6’ T & 9’ DIAMETER
Tier area.
Prior to the dinner the guests
were invited to tour the Leprino
cheese manufacturing operation
and Eastern’s new quality control
lab in Waverly, N.Y.
small, diversified producer can
back off in one area. If feeder pigs
go up, I can cut back 25 percent,
but I’m still in the hog business
without having a hog in every nook
and cranny,” he points out. “And if
com is high I can sell it. You’ve got
to be flexible enough to take a
profit when you see it.”
But this pragmatic producer is
quick to point out that he won’t go
down with the ship should all his
options be exhausted.
“Fanning is my life, but it’s not
the only thing I can do. Right now I
feel it’s part of my calling.”
It’s been said that 95 percent of
the working public are unhappy
with their occupations.
“I guess you can say that I’m one
of the lucky five percent,” Dave
grins.
STORE HOURS;
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Sat. 7:30 to 11:30
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