Pennsylvania Tobacco
Intercourse, PA
Monday, Feb. 17
Total Volume Type 609: 165, 360
lbs.; Avg. Overall: 1.07 per lb.;
Top Grades: 1.18-1.19 per lb.; Out
Grade: - .30-1.02 per lb.
Wednesday, Feb. 19
Total Volume Type 41: 199, 771
lbs.; Avg. Overall: .4J.per lb.; Top
Grades: .50-.75; Bottom Grades;
.20-.4sperlb.
Keister’s Livestock
Middleburg,-Pa.
Tuesday, Feb. 18,1986
Report supplied by auction
CATTLE 301. Choice slaughter
steers 54-58.25, Holsteins 48.00-51,
Good 50.00-55, Holsteins 45.00-48,
Standard 45.00-50, Holsteins 40.00-
45, Utility 42.00-45... Choice
slaughter heifers 51-55.25, Good 45-
50.75, Standard 40.00-45, Utility
35.00- Breaking Utility &
Commercial slaughter cows 36-
40.35, Cutter & Boning Utility 34.50-
38.75, Canner & Low Cutter 30-
34.50, Shells down to 26...Yie1d
Grade No. 1 1200-2135 lbs.
slaughter bulls 46-51.10, one 55.10,
#2 800-1200 lbs. 43.00-46... FEEDER
CATTLE: 350-750 lbs. steers 45.00-
58.50 ; 350-750 lbs. heifers 3248.50;
350-700 lbs. bulls 38.00-55.00.
CALVES 208... Choice vealers
80.00- Good 65.00-80, Standard &
Good 90-110 lbs. 55.00-65, 60-90 lbs.
45.00- ..FARM CALVES:
Holstein Bulls 90-125 lbs. 75.00-
109.00.
•■'■l
1 - v --'' --^v jttvdo3i
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DK656.
Strong start. Strong stand. Great finish.
Spring. So full of promise. You want to do
everything right. Leave as little to chance as pos
sible. That’s why you plant DK 656. From the
day you put this corn hybrid in the
ground, you know you can start
counting the days to a great harvest.
DK 656 is the new tradition that
'DEKALB is a registered brand name Numbers designate varieties As i condition of sale please note statement of limited warranty and remedy on DEKALB PFIZER
GENETICS orders, tags and bags
‘Chemical Phobia’ getting out of hand
A recent article in the Now York
Timos stated that dangerous drugs,
unapproved for use by the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA),
“...are routinely fed to farm
animals.”
Such articles, using selective
facts and assumptions will bear a
direct relationship on the ef
ficiency of future food production,
development of new food products
and higher food costs to the con
sumer.
“Chemical Phoebia is getting out
of hand,” said Dr. Elizabeth
Whalen, Director of The American
Council on Science and Health.
Dr. Whalen stated that the
HOGS 447... US No. 1 220-235 lbs.
barrows and gilts 47.0049, No. 1-2
215-235 lbs. 46.0047, No. 2-3 2-250
lbs. 45.0046, No. 24 190-270 lbs.
41.0045... US No. 1-3 270-600 lbs.
sows 36.0041, No. 2-3 250-500 lbs.
30.00-35.. .Boars 29.50-32.00.
FEEDER PIGS 377... US No. K
20-35 lbs. feeder pigs 25.00-38,35-5(
lbs. 3944.50 - all per head.
SHEEP 15... Choice woolec
slaughter lambs 65.00-70.00, Gooc
50.00-65.00.
: -v V as. 'i
3100 Sycamore Road • DeKalb IL 00115
American food supply is the safest,
most plentiful, varied and inex
pensive in the world. In fact, like
natural food supplies everywhere,
it contains naturally occurring
toxins and cancer-causing agents.
“The human race has long been
consuming naturally occurring
toxins. When one understands the
omnipresence of toxins and car
cinogens in nature’s own food
supply, one can see the absurdity
of panicking over minute levels of
man-made chemicals,” said Dr.
Whalen.
Unfortunately the average
consumer, who is becoming more
and more concerned over health
risks, reacts to food scares. For
example, in 1978, a scientist from
the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology stated that nitrate, a
food preservative in meat
products, was carcinogenic. This
study was later disproven and
discredited, and in 1980 the USDA
publicly acknowledged that the
statements about nitrate use was
not valid. When the nitrate scare
happened, hog futures prices
dropped dramatically. Pork
producers were never com
pensated for these losses.
“out-stood” a lot of “old standards” around here
last fall. It comes up quick as a spring storm. Stands
up all the way to harvest and dries down fast.
Make what choices you have to
this spring. But put your DK 656 in
the ground. And start counting the
days to a great harvest.
The Farmers 9 View
Farmers cannot afford this type
of irresponsibility.
Now, a recent Congressional
study has again stirred up the
debate over the safety of drugs and
feed supplements for livestock and
poultry. And while FDA officials
agree with some of the findings,
Dr. Gerald Guest, of the Center for
Veterinary Medicine of the FDA,
was critical of the report stating,
“This is a sweeping indictment.
It’s (sic) full of gross statements
that just aren’t accurate.”
The report was especially
critical of the unauthorized, and
illegal drugs which they claim are
used indiscriminately by
producers. Such drugs remain in
the animals far beyond the with
drawal periods of approved drugs.
Additionally, the report indicated
that many producers do not abide
by mandated withdrawal periods.
As a result, feed antibiotics, say
critics, create antibiotic-resistant
bacteria that can spread to
humans. Such bacteria in theory,
could make certain antibiotics
ineffective in treating human
disease. They also are alleged to
cause a resistance to selective
bacteria which can cause illnesses
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 22,1986-AI7
in humans.
This is a conclusion and an
assumption which had never been
proven by the scientific com
munity. The University of
California at Berkeley reviewed
the claims in this allegation and
said, “The main lesson from these
findings is that food poisoning can
result from contamination of meat
followed by inadequate cooking.”
Farmers have three major
concerns in the controversy
surrounding the sub-therapeutic
use of antibiotics in animal feed.
First, American producers have
the enviable reputation of
producing the most wholesome
food products at the least cost to
the consumer. We are, therefore,
interested in any issue which will
increase production costs or affect
the quality of our products.
Second, since we are exposed
directly to livestock feed, we are
concerned for our own immediate
health and safety. Third, farmers
are also consumers of red meats
and poultry.
Feed antibiotics are under at
tack, the strongest yet. The con
troversy will not go away. Penn
sylvania Farmers’ Association
policy states: “That use of an
tibiotics, feed additives and hor
mones which are essential to ef
ficient modem day production of
high quality animal products be
continued where necessary
safeguards are employed by
producers to eliminate harmful
residues, and oppose proposals to
ban use of such materials in
livestock and poultry production.”
All farmers need to be aware of
the controversy...and, all farmers
need to make a commitment to
follow practices which will not add
to the controversy.
The Farmers' View is a column that is
compiled by the Public Relations Division
of the Pennsylvania Farmers' Association
IPFA). It expresses the views of PFA's
policy positions on key issues as adopted
by the organization's 23,313 family
members.