VOL. 31 No. 13
Herd buyout details explained to dairymen
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
YORK Dairy farmers have
the month of February in which to
decide their fate for the next five
years.
That’s the period of bid signup
for the herd buyout program
aimed at eventually eliminating an
estimated 12 billion pounds of
surplus milk production.
During March, the ball will be in
USDA’s court, as bids are
reviewed and either accepted or
rejected. And by April, every dairy
Dairymen Division manager John Collins talks to ag leaders
about the new herd buyout plan Wednesday in York.
Suspect Schuylkill broiler flock
may have avian flu
BY JACK HUBLEY
STATE COLLEGE The avian
flu virus continued its offensive
this week, resulting in the
depopulation of 12,000 broiler
roasters in the Needmore area of
Fulton County on Tuesday.
Thus far this month, the current
spate of influenza has been
responsible for the death or
depopulation of some 83,000
broilers and turkeys in Snyder and
Fulton Counties.
Still more potential bad news
arrived at Penn State’s diagnostic
laboratory on Jan. 21, the same
day that the Fulton County flock
was destroyed. According to Penn
State poultry disease expert Dr.
David Kradel, the birds submitted
were from an 11,000-bird flock -of
layers in Schuylkill County.
Kradel said the flock owner first
noticed a “snick” (a noise
characteristic of birds suffering
from respiratory ailments) in the
flock on Jan. 16. “We are con
tinuing tests on that flock, and
we’re treating it as a suspicious
flock at this time,” Kradel said,
emphasizing that, as of Thursday
evening, the presence of HSN2
virus had not been confirmed.
“Even if it is avian influenza, it
could be something other than
farmer will be involved, con
tributing 40 cents per hun
dredweight to pay for the program.
With USDA’s initial provisions
on the buyout just off the presses,
representatives of the
Atlantic Dairymen, Inc. met*
Wednesday evening at the York 4-
H Center with area ag agency and
financial personnel for a question
answer-discussion session on the
program regulations.
■ Key points reviewed by Division
Manager John Collins included a
reminder that the bidding will be
H5N2,” Kradel pointed out.
Kradel explained that the so
called AGID test currently being
used to assess potential avian flu
cases in Pennsylvania, is capable
only of confirming the presence of
some form of influenza virus or
virus antibody. The samples are
then submitted to USDA’s National
Veterinary Services Lab in Ames,
lowa, for determination of the
disease’s serotype, or strain.
Kradel indicated that the
Schuylkill County flock could be
infected with a strain of swine
influenza, since swine are being
raised near the poultry flock.
Although this type of infection
would not produce “significant
disease” in poultry, it would
trigger the production of flu an
tibodies which would then be
picked up in the testing process.
The possibility of avian influenza
surfacing in this flock is of special
concern to flu investigators, who
are unable to find a plausible
explanation for its origin.
“We had a common denominator
until this flock in Schuylkill
County,” said Dr. Earl Newpher, a
Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture veterinarian at PDA’s
recently established avian flu field
office in Shamokin Dam.
Lancaster Forming, Saturday, January 25,1986
on one year’s production only, with
payments stretched over five
years, beginning the day a herd is
sold.
Since the one-year base period
must be the lesser of two
production periods, participants in
the earlier 15-month diversion
program will be hit. Percentages
of production signed up in the
diversion cannot be included
only the actual production shipped
during the lesser of the two base
periods listed in the accompanying
regulations.
Nor is the buyout retroactive in
any way. It applies only to active
producers at the time of bidding.
Every dairy animal on a farm
whose bid is accepted will have to
be sold, including bulls, 4-H
animals and registered breeding
stock.
If the composition of the herd is
not reasonably consistent from
Jan. 1,1985 to Jan. 1,1986, and to
the date of bid, a dairyman must
document why the herd com
position has changed. For in
stance, a bidder suddenly
changing from a herd of high
producing registered cattle to
lower producing grade cattle
should start lining up evidence to
document the reasons for the
change.
Dairymen will be signing up not
just the herd, but the facility as
well. For five years, the milk
production facility must lay idle
from producing milk. While the
Newpher’s common
denominator in the cause of avian
flu in both Snyder and Fulton
Counties was the interstate hauling,
of live poultry to wholesale
markets in New York City. Poor
sanitation practices have been
linked to infections in three broiler
flocks and one turkey flock in
Snyder County, as well as the flock
of broiler-roasters in Fulton
County. “It’s just like somebody
left a trail of confetti,” said •
Newpher.
Though all infected farms are
currently under quarantine, no
area quarantines or restrictions on
the movement of birds have been
invoked at this time, according to
PDA spokesman Bob Bunty.
The Department of Agriculture
is calling for strict bio-security
measures to protect the state’s
$450 million poultry industry.
Crates, vehicles and other poultry
related equipment should be
cleaned and disinfected after each
contact with birds, and wooden or
fiber crates should be replaced
with impervious materials.
Inquiries concerning avian in
fluenza may be directed to the
department’s Bureau of Animal
Industry in Harrisburg.
facility could theoretically be used
to house beef, hogs, sheep or other
food-producing animals, it cannot
be leased, rented, or sold for milk
production use.
USDA provides some
herd buyout details
WASHINGTON - Important
details of the dairy herd buy-out
program of the 1985 Farm Bill
were announced by Secretary of
Agriculture John R. Block in
order to give dairy producers
additional time to begin
analyzing the program.
Under the farm bill-the Food
Security Act of 1985-a par
ticipating dairy producer would
terminate milk production and
sell for slaughter or export all
dairy cattle (cows, heifers, and
calves) in which the producer
has an interest, the Secretary
emphasized. The new act
requires the Secretary to im
plement a milk production
termination program by April
1,1986.
“Although similar in some
aspects, many provisions of the
regulations being developed for
this program will be quite
different from the earlier milk
diversion program,” Secretary
Block said.
The Secretary said dairy
producers interested in par
ticipating in the program will
submit a cwt-for-milk bid based
on their base period milk
marketings. If the bid is ac
cepted, the producer will be
required to stay out of dairying
for five years and not use or
allow the use of his facilities for
milk production for the same
time period.
Farm Show goat results
Goats are always a favorite at the farm show, no kidding.
For the results of the goat show see page A 22.
17.50 per Year
Acceptance of a bid for herd
buyout effectively puts a sort of
“deed restriction” for five years,
on the farm’s usage.
(Turn to Page A 29)
To be eligible to bid, a
producer at the time the bid is
submitted must be actively
engaged in the production and
commercial marketing of milk.
Secretary Block stressed that
any change in the composition
of the dairy herd of a producer
may affect eligibility for the
program. He also emphasized
that additional program
determinations and im
plementing regulations will be
announced at a later date.
Block explained that as
background for a bid, producers
will be required to submit
evidence of the size and com
position of their dairy herds
(cows, heifers and calves) as of
January 1,1985; and January 1,
1986, and on the date that the bid
is submitted.
The producer must submit
monthly records of his milk
marketings from July 1984
through December 1985. A
producer’s base period will be
the lowest of the milk
marketings for the 12-month
period beginning July 1984 or
January 1985, Secretary Block
continued.
A producer may enter bids for
one or more of the following
time periods: April 1, 1986 -
August 31, 1986; September 1,
1986 - January 28, 1987; or
March 1,1987 - August 31,1987.
(Turn to Page ASS)