E2-IMCMtor Faming, Saturday, Fabraary 7,1917
BY EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
Editor’s Note: Prior to the
Chester County RCMA meeting In
Parks burg last week we caught
np with Harold Eby, the
spokesman for the effort to sign
independent milk producers into a
milk marketing cooperative. This
cooperative is designed for
bargaining power to inforce over
order pricing through an 11-state
area. Pennsylvania is one of the
last areas to be reached with this
membership drive, and we asked
Eby how the program was
progressing and what additional
points are pertinent at this time.
Our questions and his answers
follow.
Q. Harold, we’ve been reporting
now for some time about the events
and the progress of RCMA, how far
along are you by now, especially in
Pennsylvania?
A. The independent producers that
have signed up for membership in
RCMA are now being put on
computer. Hopefully by mid-
February we will be able to
identify the individual producers
and know their location. Regions
are put together over the 11-state
area, and there will be about 18 to
20. The regions are put together
based cm the prospects for the
program as best as we can identify
them. Each region must have 300
independent producers. The
regions likely will encompass
between 300 and 600 independent
producers. By early March we will
g),s, mesmsaiß smog
2388 Old Leacock Rd., Gordonville, PA 17529
- TRAILERS MADE TO YOUR
SPECIFICATIONS
- WELDING - STEEL, STAINLESS STEEL, and
ALUMINUM
- PRECISION MACHINE WORK
- CUSTOM FABRICATION
- CUSTOM BUILT WOOD and COAL STOVES
- CUSTOM BUILT HIGH PRESSURE WASHERS
- WELDING SUPPLIES, HIGH-TENSILE H
- FENCING and HARDWARE
- KENDALL OILS tfAit/lfiil ??
& LUBRICANTS IVCIiauM S
- ALL SIZES BOOTS & SHOES
SNgjj UPSSwht
RCMA Updated
send out notices to these farmers
who have joined the cooperative.
They will then get together for
organizational meetings and to
elect a representative from their
district to the RCMA board when it
comes into play.
In New York state they have
over 80 percent of the independent
producers signed up. In Penn
sylvania of the 3,200 independent
producers needed 80 percent would
be 2,500. Presently we have 400 to
500 members in Pennsylvania. But
the interest is beginning to build as
more and more people hear about
it. The farm press has been very
valuable in getting people to know
about the program.
Q. We have had a drop in the
support price in January. While we
do have some premiums being
paid because of the scarcity of
milk right now, many people
believe that surpluses will return
in the not too distant future. Prices
may even be below order. Would
you care to comment on this?
A. When we look at the drop in
January of the support price, it
was two cents per pound of butter.
The Chicago market dropped 18
cents a pound of butter. Where the
production levels are low enough to
hold the price over the support
level, I’m not in a position to say.
But the drop in price has had an
adverse affect on the blend price.
We can look for this drop to con
tinue and by the flush period of
May and June many economists
say, and I agree with them, that we
will likely get less for our milk than
At Chester
a year ago.
One of the ideas we need to
consider is that if we can just hold
the price rather than let it drop, we
have accomplished something for
farmers with RCMA. But we need
to band together to do it.
Q. Some farmers are reluctant to
do anything to harm the handler
especially if they are small han
dlers and have been with this
handler for a long time. How do
you answer this legitimate reserve
from fanners?
A. Yes this is a question that
oftens comes up and we sometimes
hear that we don’t need RCMA,
that we can go to our milk handler
for premium. In my opinion the
last two years have been the best,
most lucrative of the last 10 years
for milk handlers. Now if there was
any willingness to pay a premium,
we should have seen it, and we
didn’t. It’s only since RCMA has
begun to surface that we started to
hear anything about handlers
paying their producers premium.
Handlers are businessmen in
business to make a profit. And we
certainly don’t hate them for that.
But farmers also are businessmen,
and they should have their share.
Over the last three years they
haven’t been getting it. Looking at
this year’s prices projected, we
will receive about what we did in
1979, and we’re paying 1967 prices.
Q. Some farmers are reluctant to
join a cooperative. In fact they are
reluctant to join anything I sup
pose. What about the idea of the
real need of the cooperative effort
YOU TEST THEIR FORAGE -
Water with high levels of nitrate, sulfate,
and bacteria can affect your herds
HEALTH AND PRODUCTION
WE SPECIALIZE IN WATER TREATMENT ON DAIRY FARMS.
Our water conditioning methods reduce those robbing nitrates,
sulfates, and bacteria to proper levels resulting in a healthier herd
with improved milk production and higher butterfat.
IRE,
Contact us for a test of your herd’s water supply and information on
our proven installations.
MARTIN WATER CONDITIONING
County Meeting
to get over-order pricing?
A. We need to emphasize that the
only way we can do this job is to
put together a cooperative. Some
don’t like cooperatives. If there is
another way, I haven’t heard about
it yet. RCMA doesn’t want to hurt
the handler. Whether the handler
can take the extra price over-order
out of the present profit or if you
must get it out of the retail market,
I don’t know. I do know that since
Farmland got into the New York
city market effective two weeks
ago the price in New York city has
dropped 40 cents per gallon. That
equates out to $4 per hundred.
Q. That sounds like a large drop
that must come from somewhere.
Apparently at this point from the
handler’s profit. Could you com
ment a bit more on that Farmland
situation?
A. Well, previously Farmland
had been denied access to the New
York market. But that has since
been overturned, and just recently
Farmland has negotiated for entry
into the market there. It has
become really competitive now
because last fall Dairylea sold
their a Woodside plant to Tuscan
Dairies. Then Johanna bought
Tuscan that put both of them into
the New York city market.
Johanna bought Lehigh Valley’s
Schuylkill Haven plant. All of these
were then bought by Labatts, a
brewery out of Canada. So now you
have Labatts owning Lehigh
Valley, Tuscan, Johanna and
WHY NOT THEIR WATER
IR WATER SUPPLY • INCREASE YOUR PROFIT
T YQi
740 EAST LINCOLN AVE. 548 NEW HOLLAND AVE.
MYERSTOWN, PA 17067 UNCASTER, PA 17602
PHONE 717-866-7555 PHONE 717-393-3612
Early Morning & Evening Call 717/345-8795
Dairylea and of course in com
petition with Farmland in the New
York city market. That gives them
a sizable chunk of the market
under one head.
Q. Another concern farmers
would need to have is the
diminishing number of handlers
for their milk. Would you say that
that would tie in with the need for
RCMA?
A. Yes, we are looking at
reduced handlers. One handler
now has four operations under his
control. We are continuing to see
that kind of situation. And if far
mers don’t get together and
organize and recognize their
bargaining power, I don’t where
they are going to be at.
Q. You have said RCMA can
even help the handlers. Would you
explain this?
A. Well even the small handlers
may be helped if their producers
are members of RCMA. To get an
increase in price at the retail level,
the handler must go to the milk
control board and justify an in
crease in cost. If a handler’s
memebers belong to RCMA, the
handler can blame the need for an
increase for milk prices on the
increased price they must pay to
farmer RCMA members. If these
producers are not members of
RCMA, the handler may have a
harder time proving the need for
price increase based on an in
crease in his costs.