050016192240 roM
periodicals division
W 209 PAI'TEF LIBRARY
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
1tN Ti.- it; f>aHK PA 168-^2
VOL. 30 No. SO
Milk output up 11%; trend termed ‘scary’
BY JAMES H. EVERHART
WASHINGTON - U.S. milk
production in September was up 11
percent over year-earlier levels,
recording a seventh consecutive
monthly increase, USDA officials
said.
The worsening situation is
further clouded by the fact that the
production pattern has changed
markedly this year, dropping off
much more slowly in the summer
and fall than in previous years.
That change, noted Penn State
extension service economist Jack
Kirkland, is “scary.”
Production in September was
11 960 billion pounds, up from the
10 777 billion recorded in Sep
tember 1984.
Cow numbers continued their
steadv increase, jumping 51,000
from month-earlier levels, to 11.154
million Last year, the herd totaled
onh 10 825 million.
Production per cow remained on
the rise as well, jumping 7 percent,
to 1,072 pounds, an increase of 76
pounds over last year’s figures.
Houmung with a 1 1 percent rise ■
ii. Mdiih, the monthly increases
h.nc accelerated steadily."
widening the gap between this
jeai s lotais and tnose ot 1984
Mdi ch was the last month in the 15-
month diversion progiam
In Pennsylvania and New York,
milk production climbed seven
percent, while Maryland recorded
a 15-percent increase in Sep
tember.
Much larger increases were
noted in the other states that are
among the nation’s top milk :
producers, according to USDA
figures Minnesota led the majors ’
with a 17 percent increase over I
1984 totals, while Wisconsin *
reported a 13-percent hike and 1
California, a 10-precent increase. I
State receives 2nd federal grant
for Chesapeake Bay cleanup
BY JACK HL’BLEY
LANCASTER Pennsylvania s
Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort
received a $2,175 million boost on
State DER Secretary Nicholas Oeßenedictis (right)
received a check for $2,175 million from ERA'S James Seif on
Wednesday for continuation of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup
effort
Four Sections
Among the other states,
Florida’s dairymen ' increased
their production by 14 percent,
while Michigan and Ohio both
recorded nine-percent increases.
One USDA official speculated
that some producers have been
holding onto cows that would
normally be culled, awaiting the
outcome of the Farm Bill debate
(see story, this page! in
Washington.
He added that, with the value of
100 pounds of concentrated rations
running 85 cents below last year’s
levels, ‘ there’s no reason why they
shouldn’t hang on ”
September figures were about
800 million pounds below the
record-high production m Maj
However, in the three previous
years, output had dropped an
average of 1.4 billion pounds from
May to September.
Over the years, there’s been a
distinct monthly pattern in milk
production,” Kirkland noted.
"This year, we’ve broken that
„ pattern, and that’s
Bams in consumption
Drought about by advertising or
promotional patterns, he noted,
are being dwarfed by the
production increases. And thus
producers can expect prices to
drop even lower in coming months.
When asked about Kirkland’s
observations on the changing
production pattern, Inter-State
Milk Producers’ economist James
Fraher noted that “we have seen
some funny things in there.”
“We had a couple of months
where there was a break in the
pattern,” added Fraher. “And it
doesn’t take much, if it’s un
corrected, to get a real increase in
production,"
Wednesday, when the U S En-
vironmental Protection Agency s
James Seif presented a check to
state Department of En
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 19,1985
Increases in cow numbers, and in production per cow, drove the nation's milk
production up 11 percent over year-earlier figures in September.
Senate to begin Farm Bill talks
BY JAMES H. EVERHART
WASHINGTON The U S
.Senate is scheduled to begin
i onsideration of the Farm Bill next
week, Congressional officials said
Concluding its work on the
federal deficit package this week,
the Senate is expected to devote its
lull attention to 1985 agricultural
policy legislation over the next two
weeks.
The upper chambei will begin
with legislation drafted by its
Agriculture Committee 'I he
Reagan Administration is finding
the Senate bill much easiei to live
with t-han a House-baiked version
vironmental Resources secretary
Nicholas Deßenedictis for the 1985-
86 project year
This will double, in one year,
the size of the Chesapeake Bay
Program,' said Deßenedictis,
pointing out that last year’s ( 1984-
85) federal allocation amounted to
$1 million.
The presentation took place in
conjunction with a meeting
sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay
Citizens Advisory Committee at
Lancaster County's Central Park
The group is a broad-based con
sortium of 20 lay persons from
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia
and the District of Columbia who
act in an advisory capacity to the
Chesapeake Bay Executive
Council.
Federal contributions to the
initiative must be matched dollar
for-dollar by the state, making
Pennsylvania's total contribution
for 1985-86 more than $4 million.
The funds are distributed to the
(Turn to Page A 27)
passed last week
The dairy title in the Senate bill
includes none of the provisions that
the Administration finds so ob
jectionable in the House bill
Specifically, it does not authorize
a diversion program, relying in
stead on pricing mechanisms to
c ontrol milk surpluses
Administration officials m the
past have said the Senate proposal
is very close to what the Ad
ministration wanted m a dairv
title, and will be much moie
acceptable than the proposed
House legislation 'lhe Ad
ministration has said it will not
accept a daily diversion progiam
m the final legislation
I he’.Senate Committees dam
title would
• Set the support pi ice at $ll 6(1 a
hundredweight when the bill goes
mtoeffec t
• Authorize the Secretary of
\gnculture to reduce support
prices 50 cents a year, beginning
Jan 1,198 T, if purchases are ex
pected to exceed five billion
pounds of milk a yeai
• Require a $1 00 a hun
dredweight price reduction, it
purchases are expected to exceed
10 billion pounds
• Give the Secretary authority to
increase support payments 50
c ents a hundredweight, if surplus
purchases drop to two billion
pounds or less
•Order the Secretaiy to com
plete a study of C lass 1, dif
ferentials. giving special attention
to c hanges m c ost of tran
sportation
Ihe Houses dairy title, veiy
sinulai to the National Milk
lioduceis federation daily
unity proposal, gives the
.Secretaiy authonU to institute a
diversion program d government
pui chases exceed live billion
pounds equivalent and would
11 quire a diveision pian it pui-
$7.50 per Year
chases reached seven billion
pounds
As with the 15-month diversion
program that expired April 1,
producers would be paid $lO a
hundredweight to reduce their
marketings, and would sign a two
year contract. The Secretary
would also have the authority to
accept bids at other payment rates
under a 100-percent buyout plan
Each year, the Secretary would
be required to compute a
preliminary support price, based
on changes in cost ot production
compared to a base year USDA
would then be permitted to reduce
that support figure 2 h percent foi
every one billion pounds of milk
surplus purchases over tour
billion The maximum annual
i eduction would be 7 8 pel cent
For the current marketing year,
the formula would produce a
support level of about $ll 74 a
hundredweight
The House s dairy title also
establishes new differentials m .1.1
marketing orders, in an attempt to
provide adequate supplies in the
Southeast
The Reagan Admimsti ation has
objected to the House's proposal,
citing its reliance on cost-ot
production, rathei than on
marketing indicators USDA's
original draft of the Farm Bill
c ailed for sharp reductions in dairy
price supports over the next few
vears, and attempted to make all
pricing systems sensitive to
marketplace realities
The major differences in the
legislation, especially on dairy
provisions, would indicate that the
Congress will have a lot of work to
do in conference, after the Senate
approves its bill
The legislators are working on a
46-day extension of the 1981 farm
legislation, which expired Oct 1
The extension gives Congress until
No\. 14 to replace the legislation oi
pass another extension