VOL 32 No. 6
Faith And Farming Speaker Says Ag Looks Better In 90s ;
Church Needs To Respond To Replanted Farmers Now
Editor’s Note
As reported last week, the
Mennonlte church held a special
seminar in interest of the current
Farmland
Preservation
Breakfast
The second annual holiday
season breakfast buffet, to benefit
the preservation of Lancaster
County farmland, will be served on 1
Sunday, December 14,1986 from 8
A.M. to 1 P.M. at the Family Style
Restaurant, 2323 Lincoln Highway
East, 4*2 miles east of Lancaster.
For only $4.00 per person ($2.00
children ages 3-9), the public may
enjoy a hcartv all-you-can-eat
breakfast of pancakes, eggs,
french toast, sausage, home fries,
pastry, and beverages in an in
formal family-style setting.
The Skiadis family, owners of
the restaurant, have secured
donations of the breakfast foods
from area suppliers. The Skiadis
family is generously donating their
facility and staff time, and all
proceeds of the meal will go to the
Lancaster County Agricultural
Land Preservation Fund.
Make your contribution to
preserving Lancaster County’s
unique farmland resources and
enjoy a hearty meal by attending
the Farmland Preservation
Breakfast!
Higher Prices Predicted t
Tobacco Auction Season Off To Slow Start
BY JACK HUBLEY
Business smoldered but failed to
catch fire this week, as tobacco
growers and buyers came together
for the opening of Lancaster
County’s second auction season.
Last year Pennsylvania growers
marketed 3.5 million pounds of
Auctioneer Mitch Ashby coaxes bids from buyers at Paradise Tobacco Sales on
Thursday. Low tobacco demand and tobacco quality problems resulted in prices well
below last year’s levels.
agricultural, financial and farm
family displacement problem.
Held at the Laurelville Mennonlte
Church Center in western Penn
sylvania, the seminar was titled
Faith and Farming 111. Howard
Brenneman, former President of
the Hesston Corporation, was a
keynote speaker.
In part one of the two-part series,
Brenneman outlines his thoughts
on where agriculture has come
from and why the present crisis
Givler Wraps Up Vo-ag, FFA
Career After Years Of Service
BY SUZANNE KEENE
RONKS When Henry Givter
began teaching vocational
agriculture in 1952, almost all of
his students were planning careers
in pmtaetfcm agriculture.
But as he prepares to retire after
34 years of teaching and advising,
Givler sees vo-ag students heading
in a myriad of directions. Today,
Givler says, many are “not
necessarily preparing to return to
the farm, but to work in related
occupations.”
Searching his memory, Givler
recites a list of well-known Lan
caster County agribusinessmen he
taught and advised in high school,
noting, “I could go on naming
many that are in different
businesses related to ag.”
First as a vocational agriculture
instructor and later as regional
agriculture education advisor,
Type 609 Cigarette tobacco at an
average price of $1.15 a pound
through the newly organized
Pennsylvania Tobacco Auction
headquartered in Intercourse.
Another 1.7 million pounds of Type
41 tobacco averaged 52 cents a
pound.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 13,1986
exists. Next week in part two we’ll
report Brenneman’s ideas on
where agriculture is going and his
answer to some of the needs of the
inevitable displacement of
families off the farm.
Here’s Part I of “The
Renaissance of North American
Agriculture.” Keynote address by
Howard Brenneman.
I have a view of agriculture that
really the crisis is an individual
crisis. The crisis is real. The crisis
Henry Givler
(Turn to Page A2l)
This season finds four auction
houses vying for the county’s 20
million pounds of tobacco. PTA,
the original auction company, is
selling tobacco at its Intercourse
warehouse, as well as at a second
location in Quarryvile. Tobacco is
(Turn to Page A 32)
is there. But the crisis occurred
some time ago. I’m going to try to
explain to you what has heppened
and what is happening and where
we’re at in agriculture. By doing
that I don’t want to infer to
anybody that there are not real
hurts out there in agriculture.
There are tremendous hurts. I
don’t want to infer to anybody that
there is not real human tragedy out
there because there is tremendous
tragedy out there. Certainly I have
had my experience with it too in
Hesston Corporation and many
people we had to lay off and what
we went through. But I also think
there is a great future out there for
agriculture around the world and
tor you people in this room if you’ll
only take a look at it in a little
different way.
Pa. DHIA Leaders Named
UNIVERSITY PARK -
Production leaders for the Penn
sylvania Dairy Herd Improvement
Association were recently released
by state DHIA office.
Leading all herds on test for milk
and protein production was the
Laural Valley Dairy owned by
Brad Smith of Jefferson County.
He averaged 25,939 pounds of milk,
940 pounds of fat and 832 pounds of
protein on 34 tylsteins. This herd
average qualified Smith for the
second place ranking in fat
production.
Melwood Farm from Chester
The newly elected officers of the Pennsylvania State Dairy
of Distinction Organization are (L to R) Sue Reynolds,
executive secretary; Naomi Spahr, treasurer; Everett
Newswanger, president; Daniel Baker, Sr., vice president.
Dairy Distinction Program
Gears Up For Spring Awards
STATE COLLEGE, Pa - The
northeast Dairy of Distinction
program began to gear up here this
week to make the first selections of
Dairy Of Distinction Says This
Is Where Milk Comes From --
See Editorial Page 10A.
beautiful dairy farms across the
state in May of 1987. Stephen
Spencer, Pennsylvania State
University dairy science depart-
Four Sections
Now crisis to me means that it’s
temporary. If we just wait a little
bit, if we just watch a little bit, if
we just do a few things, it’ll pass
by. Because most crises are
temporary in nature. That’s why I
refer to this as the renaissance of
North American agriculture.
Believe me this is not momentary
and it’s not going to go away. This
is what I call the renaissance after
the dark ages. The dark ages of
agriculture to me in North
America were really the 70s. Let
me explain by going back in
history. Then I’m going into the
future of agriculture and try to
explain to you where I’m coming
from. Hopefully we’ll stir up a lot
of debate, a lot of ideas and a lot of
discussion about where we are in
(Turn to Page A 27)
County claimed the second high
herd distinction in milk and
protein. Owned by Melvin Stoltz
fus, the herd traded places with
Smith for the top position in fat
production. Stoltzfus maintained a
herd average of 24,831 pounds of
milk, 973 pounds of fat and 805
pounds of protein on 36 cows during
the 1985-1986 testing year.
The title of third high herd for
milk and protein in the state went
to Shoch Manor Farms. This
Northumberland Holstein herd
averaged 24,454 pounds of milk, 828
(Turn to PageA29)
ment, said that with the districts in
place and people working to put
together committees in each local
unit, we will be able to honor a
group of dairy farmers in time for
the spring promotional programs.
Sue Reynolds, executive
secretary who has been active in
the ongoing Dairy of Distinction
program in New York state, has
been selected to handle the day-to-
(Turn to Page A 25)
$8.50 Per Year