VOL 31 No. 15 Five Sections
Herd buyout signups in Northeast to total 3,000?
BY MARTHA J. GEHRINGER
SMOKETOWN An Agway
dairy expert told a group of
Lancaster County dairymen this
week that he expects more than
3,000 dairy farmers in the Nor
theast to sign up for the recently
enacted whole herd buyout
program.
Dr. Lew S. Mix, Director, Farm
Management Research and
Development, speaking to the
Agway Dairy Meeting here, told
the group his reading of the just
announced program regulations
indicates “1986 will not be a good
year for dairymen.
“The annual dropout rate will
probably increase -from two to
three percent to four to five per
cent,” Mix told the group. “Lower
milk prices and higher expenses
will decrease net farm cash flow.”
Mix answered questions about
the new USDA regulations on the
herd buyout program from the 300
dairymen in attendance.
The regs were provided to state
and federal officials in meetings
across the country earlier in the
week. County extension agents
across the country were expected
to receive their copies of the
regulations by week’s end.
Producers should not base their
bid decisions on this preliminary
information, Mix said, but should
wait until final details are
available from county extension
agents.
As of Monday, he said, the
PDA imposes restrictions on poultry , egg movement
BY JACK HUBLEY
HARRISBURG After more
than a month of fighting a running
battle with avian influenza, the
Department of Agriculture has
invoked restrictions on the
movement of eggs and poultry.
In a quarantine order issued
Wednesday, Secretary of
Agriculture Richard Grubb said
that the regulations would include
the following:
* A ban on transportation to and
sales of poultry at Pennsylvania
livestock auctions.
•A ban on transportation of live
poultry to poultry shows, fairs and
exhibitions.
‘Strict sanitary measures on
trucks, coops, cages, crates and
other poultry equipment moving to
or from farms.
•Isolation of premises with
suspected or confirmed cases of
avian influenza.
•Measures governing release from
Avian Flu Monitor
With avian influenza once again surfacing in the Northeast,
Lancaster Farming recognizes the need for thorough,
comprehensive coverage. For your convenience, we've in
stituted the Avian Flu Monitor, a weekly update on the
disease as it affects Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
Monitor information not included on the front page or
elsewhere in Section A will be located on the Livestock page
m Section D.
following are the guidelines of how
the program will be administered.
The official bid signup period is
February 10 through March 7. The
Extension Service will conduct a
PYFA names Outstanding Young Farmers
The Pennsylvania Young Farmers Association honored two farm couples with Out
standing Young Farmer Awards during their annual convention in Grantville this week.
Harry and Ella Mae Wasson, left, of Centre Hall, won in the Over 30 category, while
Jeffrey Hillegass, right, and his wife, Nancy, (not pictured) of Berlin, were the Under 30
winners. Turn to page A 37 for more on the winners.
special quarantine order to insure
that infected and exposed birds are
depopulated, premises cleaned
and disinfected and held vacant for
30 days.
•Restrictions on movement of
poultry into interstate commerce.
•Expansion of the already ex
tensive Pennsylvania monitoring
and surveillance program
throughout the state to detect the
presence of avian influenza.
•Restrictions on the importation of
live poultry and eggs into Penn
sylvania by states where avian flu
currently exists.
A detailed explanation of the
regulations, which took effect Feb.
5, can be found on page A 39.
New cases of the HSN2 virus
have continued to crop up since the
first infected flock was uncovered
in Snyder County on Dec. 30. The
latest infection involves a 9,600-
bird layer flock located in Nor
thumberland County near the town
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 8,1986
series of educational meetings
early in the signup period to assist
producers with calculating their
break-even points.
Producers will submit a hun
of Northumberland. The flock was
confirmed on Wednesday and will
be depopulated as soon as possible,
according to Department of
Agriculture spokesmen.
Testifying before the U.S.
Senate Subcommittee on
Agriculture and Related Agencies
this week, State Secretary of
Agriculture Richard Grubb stated
that the problem may be bigger
than individual states can handle..
Despite present budgetary
restraints, said Grubb, “financial
What’s the ag impact of Gramm-Rudman?
BY JAMES H. EVERHART
WASHINGTON - The shock
waves of Gratnm-Rudman
reverberate along the Potomac, as
federal agencies scramble to cope
with the budget-cutting legislation
that seems destined to impose a
new set of realities on the nation’s
government.
Preliminary plans indicate the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
will be forced to reduce its spen
ding by $1.3 billion in fiscal year
1986, which ends Sept. 30.
Most of the cuts will come in
commodity support programs, a
USDA official told a Congressional
committee last week.
“About $824 million of the
reduction is to be made in crop
year 1986 support programs under
the new Farm Bill,” USDA Budget
Officer Stephen B. Dewhurst told
dredweight for milk price based on
their own break even point and
desired returns. Dr. Mix estimates
“As many as 1800 Northeastern
herds will sign up for 1986 and
assistance to affected states,
through reallocation of existing
resources, may be necessary
should this outbreak spread, in
order to protect our national
poultry market. It is clear that we
are dealing with a serious problem
that transcends any one individual
state.”
Thus far the current flu infection
has resulted in the depopulation of
nearly 250,000 broilers, layers and
turkeys at eight locations in
Snyder, Fulton, Schuylkill and
the House Agriculture Committee.
Crop support programs will bear
much of the budget-cutting burden
because almost half of USDA’s
1986 spending allocation is exempt
from Gramm-Rudman, Dewhurst
said. Exempt programs include
Food Stamps, Child Nutrition and
the Women, Infants Children
program.
Many details of the cost-cutting
measures have not been resolved,
Dewhurst told the committee,
though the legislation clearly in
dicates that necessary reductions
must be applied equally on a pro
rata basis to all of the depart
ment’s programs.
One approach under con
sideration is a plan to keep all of
the department’s support prices at
currently authorized levels, and
implement cuts by reducm S uie
57.50 per Year
another 1550 herds in 1987.
The producer must submit
monthly records of his milk
marketings from July, 1984
through December, 1985. The base
period a producer uses will be the
lesser of the milk marketings for
either 12-month period from July 1,
1984 to June 30, 1985, or January 1,
1985 to December 31,1985.
There will be three bid periods
during this program. A producer
may enter bids for one or more of
the periods which run from April 1,
1986 to August 31, 1986, September
1, 1986 to February 28, 1987, and
March 1,1987 to August 31,1987.
The lowest bids for each period
will be accepted first. The new
(Turn to Page A 22)
Tell us your view
on herd buyout
Will the whole herd buyout
plan work 9 Will there be a lot of
cheating 7 How will it effect
milk production figures 7
I/ancaster Farming would
like to give its readers a chance
to respond to those questions
We’ve compiled a survey
questionnaire which appears
today on page A 23.
To participate, simply fill out
and return before Feb. 17.
Results will be published in our
Feb 22 edition
Northumberland counties.
Other states suffering from
outbreaks include Massachusetts,
New Jersey apd New York.
In an effort to checkmate the
disease’s possible move to
Delmarva’s extensive broiler
industry, the Delmarva Poultry
Industry, Inc. has elected to
depopulate 200,000 birds after it
was learned that the flocks had
b6en exposed to poultry hauling
trucks that had come in contact
(Turn to Page A3B)
actual payments 4.3 percent in
accordance with Gramm-Rudman.
Such a plan would reduce dairy
price supports by 25 to 50 cents per
hundredweight, and cut crop
support prices by a similar per
centage.
Even more severe cuts will have
to be anticipated in coming years,
as Gramm-Rudman carves larger
amounts out of the federal budget.
Programs mentioned for heavy
cutbacks or outright elimination in
coming years include the
Agricultural Extension Service,
soil and water conservation
programs, Farm Credit loans and
rural development grants. In
addition, the administration is
expected to attempt to institute
user fees to finance meat and
poultry inspections.