OL. 31 No. 14
INSIDE this week’s
Lancaster Farming
Stray voltage solution?
Stray voltage is a concerrHorman/ tKlnMarmers. For an
account of one dairyman’s attemptoMMMie the problem,
turn to page A 22.
v . ....
Alfalfa Growers Awards
The Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council honored
some of the state's top alfalfa growers on Jan. 24. See a wrap
up of the Alfalfa Growers program on page C 2.
Fruitsahd vegetables meeting
The state’s fruit and vegetable growers convened in
Hershey this weefc. Coverage of the Pennsylvania Vegetable
Conference and Tfade Show can be found on pages AlB and
A 34.
Five Sections
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,1986
Lyng expected to continue
market-oriented policies
BY JAMES H. EVERHART
PRESCOTT President
Reagan’s new Secretary of
Agriculture will continue the
market-oriented policies of his
predecessor, a top-level USDA
official told a Lebanon County
gathering Wednesday.
“He has an excellent un
derstanding of the department and
its programs,” USDA’s Raymond
Lett said of Richard Lyng, the man
Reagan has designated as the
successor to retiring Secretary
John Block.
Lett announced the appointment
to the crowd of 500 at the Lebanon
Valley National Bank Luncheon
Seminar at virtually the same time
Reagan was standing before the
news media to introduce Lyng.
“Dick Lyng is totally committed
to moving in the same direction
that Jack Block took us,” added
MAMMA unveils new ad campaign
BY JAMES H. EVERHART
TOWSON, MD Why do many
health-conscious consumers limit
or even eliminate their con
sumption of milk?
The apparent answer, the result
of the negative publicity of the
19705, is that they’re scared off by
a gross misconception about the
amount of fat in dairy products in
general.
A study conducted by the Ad
vertising and Promotion Agency of
the Middle Atlantic Milk
Marketing Area (MAMMA), in
fact, showed that the average
consumer overestimates milk’s fat
content by as miich as ten times.
In the study, women estimated
the fat content of milk at 36 per
cent, while men said 26 percent,
despite the fact that most milk
available for home use is about 3.5
percent fat.
MAMMA is launching an ad
vertising campaign to puncture
that myth and win back some of
those fitness enthusiasts who have
been frightened away by adverse,
and inaccurate publicity.
MAMMA’S hopes are riding on
an exciting “less than 4%fat”
campaign unveiled by its ad
vertising agency, W.B. Doner and
Co. of Baltimore, Tuesday at an
advisory board meeting at
Marriot’s Hunt Valley Inn.
Doner’s vice president-account
supervisor, Ray Gaeng, noted that
even though consumers continue to
associate a great many healthy
benefits with milk consumption
like nutritional value and calcium
and protein content they ap
parently are discouraged from
milk consumption, as whole milk
sales have continued their decline.
MAMMA has decided to meet
this trend headon, with an am
bitious attempt to burn in the true
fat content of milk.
The campaign is not only
designed to increase milk con-
Lett. “I think you will be pleased to
have a USDA secretary who is so
knowledgeable and knows so much
about the problems of
agriculture.”
Lyng, he noted, held high-level
posts in USDA under former
Secretaries Earl Butz and Clifford
Hardin. That experience in
government will serve him well as
he advances the Administration’s
ag policy in official circles, said
Lett.
“He’ll fit right in with what is
going on in Washington,” added
Lett.
In announcing the appointment,
Reagan admitted, “We have a
farm problem.” But Lyng, he said,
“will help get farming more into
the market economy” with the
help of the 1985 Farm Bill passed
little more than a month ago.
“I have every confidence the
Dairy Marketing
sumptionrlTiT also aimed at in
creasing the share of whole milk
consumed a reaction to the
growth of lowfat milk sales at the
expense of whole milk, Gaeng said.
According to independent
statistics, lowfat milk sales, per
capita, increased 74 percent in the
ten years ending in 1984, while
whole milk declined 30 percent.
The agency presented three
Avian flu claims 4th county
•BY JACK HUBLEY
HARRISBURG A fourth county
officially fell victim to the latest
avian influenza outbreak this week
with the confirmation of an in
fected flock in Northumberland
County on Thursday.
According to state Department
of Agriculture spokesman Bob
Bunty, a flock of 18,000 broilers
near Snydertown had been under
quarantine for about a week before
confirmation came through'from
the National VeterinaryJ>&yices
LabojYrtoryurArnee, Iowa; Bunty
said* the flock wopld be
depopulated as soon as possible.
The Schuylkill flock
suspected ofiharbOHng the HSN2
virus ’(as reported Itilast'.'week’s
Lancaster Farmiii(|) also tested
positive for the disease. Located
near foie town of Pitman, the
10,700-Wd laypr flofk is slated for
depopulation teddy. *£■ * ?
Although iftost dF’the current
outbreak has biwn attributed to the
interstate movement of birds using
unsanitized cages and equipment,
officials are Still • j ulialslero offer a
plausible explanation for the single
outbreak in Schuylkill County.
fiwngteoaa State
FEB 7 1988
farmers are going to have a sound
and solid friend in Secretary of
Agriculture Dick Lyng,” Reagan
concluded.
Lyng, who is expected to receive
Senate confirmation with little
difficulty, said, “I am honored and
pleased to be given the privilege of
serving on the president’s cabinet.
I look forward to the challenges of
being secretary of agriculture
during these difficult times.”
In addition to his earlier USDA
posts, Lyng was Director of the
California State Department of
Agriculture while Reagan was
governor of the state. He also
counseled Reagan on agricultural
issues during the 1980 election.
Congressional reaction to Lyng’s
nomination was generally
favorable, with many legislators
taking notfc of his ties to the
(Turn to Page A2O)
cfeatiVe concepts, —shotfnas
television commercials but
adaptable for radio and billboard,
designed to convey the advertising
message.
The spots include a sports
sequence, using familiar sports
personalities like Cal Ripken, Mike
Schmidt and John Thompson, who
have appeared in MAMMA
(Turn to Page A2O)
Also this week, a fourth Snyder
County flock was confirmed.
Located near Winfield, the flock
contained 105,000 layers and 16,000
pullets. Depopulation began on
Wednesday and was completed on
Friday.
Thus far the presence of the
HSN2 virus has been confirmed at
four locations in Snyder County,
and one location in Fulton,
Schuylkill and Northumberland
Counties.
In related developments, Tim
Allwein of- the Pennsylvania
Poultry Federation reported that
an avian, influenza industry
committee Was formed dn Mon
day, “to work closely withlhe state
on the quick eradication- of avian
influenza.”
Jim Skinner of Empire Kosher
Poultry, Inc., is Serving as
chairman., of the** 21-member
committee, comprised of poultry
producers and* companies
operating in the Snyder County
area. One of the committee’s
duties, according to Allwein, will
be to provide the necessary
manpower for depopulating in
fected flocks.
17.50 per Year