A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 3,1986
Penn Mar Acquires
Shamokin Plant
(Continued from Page Al)
were employed by Shamokin
Packing will continue to operate
the plant. “We plan to increase the
work force from 77 to 100 or 125 by
the end of the fiscal year,” Palmer
said. “We have increased the
processing production 100% since
its purchase April 7, and out target
is to increase it 200% by the end of
the year.”
According to Palmer, 154,000
hogs and 4,700 beef animals are
already contracted to be processed
this year. Since the plant will have
a capacity for 7,800 beef animals,
Palmer expects to contract for
3,100 more choice and prime cattle.
“We are adding refrigeration
space and we are also in the
process of purchasing 1250,000
worth of equipment for processing
new products,” Palmer said.
“We’re thrilled that this plant is
operating and growing,” said Paul
(Hap) Schatz, representing
Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski.
“We’re happy for the agriculture
industry- the largest industry in
the 11th Congressional District. I
had been a fulltime farmer for 10
years, and this is one of the better
things I’ve seen happen for the
fanning community which is up
against hard times,” Schatz said.
“Agriculture is a three-way
hitch: production, processing, and
marketing,” according to Eugene
Eisenbise who conceived of the
cooperative project in 1979. There
is “a whole series of 28 different
places where somebody takes a
profit” between the piglet and the
consumer. Each place where value
is added and the product is
changed is a “profit center.” For
example, there is a profit center in
breeding stock, a profit center in
transportation, a profit center in
financing, a profit center in
packaging, and so on. “In every
one of the profit centers,” says
Eisenbise, “the profit is so thin
that what is gradually evolving in
the agriculture industry is an in
tegrated system so that the
producer get the profit at each
stage of the line from production to
consumption.”
There are two ways to integrate _ ..... ...
the system, according to Eisen- Eugene Eisenbise, president of Penn Mar Cooperative Inc
bise. One way is from the top down, (left) stands in front of the company's meatpacking plant in
with big investments. He says that Shamokin, with Richard Bobkoskie, plant manager (center),
F hla ?urdue *r e , examples and Marlin Miller, manager of Profits Division of PFA.
of big companies that are in
tegrating the system from the top
MOMBARDINI
tL. r* i
The Powerhouse Farmers Choice
Is your old engine giving you a headache? Try a LOMBARDINI World’s
Largest Manufacturer of Small Air-Cooled Diesel Engines.
DIESELS
OUR
SPECIALTY
Service After The 501 e... That's list
HOOVER DIESEL SERVICE
2998 W. Newport Rd. Furnace Rd.
Ronks, PA 17572 80x91A,R.D.3
(717) 656-3322 Quarryville, PA 17566
(717) .295-1729 (717) 786-2173
down. Purdue started as a breeder
and has taken charge of other
phases of processing and
marketing, such as advertising.
There is some indication that
Purdue will be taking charge of its
own financing, said Eisenbise, who
noted he saw an ad which appeared
in The Wall Street Journal seeking
accountants and financial experts
for Purdue.
How can a farmer compete with
big industry? The farmer cannot
integrate the system from the top
like big investors. The way the
farmer can take, is to put groups of
producers together to raise
capital. The Penn Mar Cooperative
is such a group. It has taken shape
with the support of the five
marketing divisions of the Penn
sylvania Farmers’ Association:
PACMA; Commodity Futures
Service (CFS); Pennsylvania
Agricultural Producers In
ternational (PAPI); the Profits
Division; and Milestone Brands
Cooperative. These divisions offer
service as facilitators and
catalysts to farmers who want to
organize together for control of
processing and marketing their
own products.
“This is the first step,” says
Eisenbise. “The future depends on
the degree of success of this
MOWERS, BALERS,
CORNPICKERS,
CHOPPERS, ETC.
We have the right size,
weight, shape, price
and engine available.
4toBOH.P.
LOMBARDINI DIESEL USES OR
LESS FUEL THAN GAS ENGINES
LESS DOWNTIME THAN
GAS ENGINES
* Model
11LD625-3
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF:
1 12 month warranty or 4. Price par horsepower
2,000 hours 5. Easy starting
2. Low fuel consumption 6.100% back-up with
3 Low maintenance parts and service
DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED
project.” Serving on the board of
directors of the Penn Mar
Cooperative are Carolyn Rutter,
Dover; Brian Keister, Mif
flinburg; Craig Richard,
Elysburg; Stanley E. Crone,
Danville; Leon Wertz, Danville;
Larry Yarger, Middleburg;
Ronald Harrison; Park Thomas,
Beavertown. Eisenbise is
projecting that other groups of
farmers will form other com
modity cooperatives, for products
such as beef, lamb and veal in
Selinsgrove, and vegetables in
Mifflin County. Farmers are
already meeting to plan such
projects.
Fred Kerr, Director of the
Profits Division of Pennsylvania
Ux Know Tour
S*rv)c*ProbUiru
<3te*cfc
Farmers’ Association, has been
talking with farmers to find out
their ideas. He met with a group of
20 central Pennsylvania
agricultural producers Monday
night to discuss the possibility of
forming a group to study the op
portunity to purchase the Clover
Packing Plant in Selisgrove.
A steering committee will
contact other producers to in
crease the group and to do a
feasibility study on purchasing and
operating that plant.
All these programs have got to
be set up on available weeks,” says
Fred Kerr, director of the Profits
Division of PFA. Royal Palmer,
Marlin Miller and Kerr have been
meeting with potential consumers
to find out what the market is.
They meet with institutions such as
nursing homes, hospitals, and
schools, who mak up 40 to 44% of
the food matket, to determine
what the institutions are looking
for. Kerr says, we “need to plan
effectively the balance' between
production and marketing.”
Alternative production options
are being considered, says Kerr.
He is looking at the production of
sheep and young cattle for veal as
production alternative to beef and
hogs. “It appears that the market
would be strong for lamb, par
ticularly in metropolitan area.
There is also potential for ex
porting lamb to foreign countries,”
he says.
❖ c