828-Umcastw Farming, Saturday, January 9, 1988
HARRISBURG Today’s
cooperative member-owner often
uses the cooperative without
understanding why the organiza
tion exists, what benefits of use
accrue to the member-owner or
how it differs from other business
forms.
Keynote speakers at two Pen
nsylvania Association of Farmer
Cooperatives (PAFC) regional
meetings emphasized the need to
create greater owner awareness of
cooperative purpose and goals.
Dr. Randall Torgerson, admini
strator of the Agricultural
Cooperative Service, USDA, told
Kanten To
Forum On Agriculture
DES MOINES Minnesota
Assistant Commissioner of Agri
culture Anne Kanten will serve as
Moderator for the 1988 Presiden
tial Forum on Agriculture and Rur
al Life.
The Forum will be held in
Ames, lowa, on Saturday, January
23.1988, at 1:00 p.m., at C.Y. Ste
phens Auditorium on the lowa
State University campus.
Five Democratic candidates
have confirmed their participation
in the Forum, co-sponsored by the
lowa Farm Unity Coalition, the
League of Rural Voters and Prair
iefire Rural Action. Republican
candidates were also invited to
attend a separate Forum, but none
chose to do so.
Confirmed participants include:
Governor Bruce Babbitt, Gover
nor Mike Dukakis, Representative
Richard Gephardt, The Rev. Jesse
Jackson, and Senator Paul Simon.
Kanten is a native of Goldfield,
lowa, and has farmed most of her
life in Minnesota. She has served
as Assistant Commissioner of
Agriculture since January, 1983,
and has been active in the Farmer-
Labor Association, the American
1987 Grade Loan Rates Issued
For Dark Air-Cured And
Fire-Cured Tobacco
WASHINGTON, D.C. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Commodity Credit Corporation
today issued grade loan rates for
Virginia fire-cured, type 21 and
Virginia sun-cured, type 37
tobaccos.
The schedule for Virginia fire
cured tobacco is based on the aver
age support level of $1,196 per
pound, compared with a price sup
port level of $1.200 per pound for
the 1986 crop. The grade loan rates
will range from 65 cents to $2.00
per pound. Tobacco graded NIL,
NID, NIGL, NIGD, N 2 (substan
dard nondescript), “W” (doubtful
keeping order), “No-G” (no
grade), “U” (unsound), or scrap
will not be accepted.
Tobacco grading XSL, XSF,
XSD, XSM, XSM-2, XSG and
XSG-2, if marketed in an untied
form, will be supported at a rate
which is 10 cents per pound lower
than the rate that is applicable to
tobacco of such grades marketed in
tied form. No other grades \yill be
supported in untied form. Tobacco
marked with the special factor
“SF’ (semi-fired) will have a price
support rate 20 percent below the'
Understand The Cooperatives Purpose
about 30 cooperative directors,
employees and young farmers that
to succeed in today’s business cli
mate, cooperatives must answer
two questions: (1) why were we
organized in the first place, and (2)
is there any reasons we should
continue?
Speaking at the PAFC Southeast
Region meeting, Torgerson said
the 1980 s have been tough eco
nomically, both for cooperatives
and their farmer owners. The result
has been an enhanced bottom line
consciousness among cooperative
boards and management. He sug
gests that the focus shift to the bot-
Moderate
Agriculture Movement, and the
National Farmers Organization.
Kanten is nationally recognized as
a leading spokesperson for family
farm agriculture, and recently
returned from an agricultural poli
cy trip to Brazil.
“The 1988 Forum will be draw
ing farm and rural people from
across the nation,” said Joanne
Dvorak, Co-chair of the lowa
Farm Unity Coalition. “The
continuing crisis in agriculture is
one of the most critical domestic
problems we face, and has affected
the entire country. We feel that, as
in 1984, this Forum will help vot
ers make their final decisions on
who they intend to support.”
Candidates at the Forum will be
questioned by a distinguished
panel of farm and media represen
tatives. Questions to the candi
dates will be developed by farmers
and farm organizations throughout
the nation.
Contributing organizational
sponsors of the Forum include the
American Agriculture Movement,
Inc.; the Churches Committee for
Voter Registration/Education;
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
rate otherwise applicable to the
grade of tobacco.
The schedule for Virginia sun
cured tobacco is based on the aver
age support rate of $1,056 per
pound; the 1986 support level was
$ 1.060 per pound. Grade loan rates
will range from 67 cents to 52.00
per pound.
The 1987 grade loan rates
reflect minor adjustments from the
1986 rates due to changes in the
level of price support and shifts in
the historical average grade
distribution.
Sun-cured tobacco graded NIL,
N2L, NIR, N2R, NIG, N2G, “U”
(unsound), “No-G” (no grade),
“W” (doubtful keeping order), or
scrap will not be accepted for price
support.
Only the original producer is
eligible for price support under the
program. The tobacco association,
through which price support is
made available to producers, will
deduct one cent per pound from
support rates paid to producers to
help cover overhead costs of the
association.
Contact: Bruce Merkle (202)
'447-6787.
tom lines of the member-owners:
can the cooperative improve the
member’s bottom line through
economies related to that owner’s
business?
In addition, the late 1980 s have
been marked by major changes in
asset ownership. With Laßatt’s
increasing market share in the
Northeast, Borden’s in the South
east and Dean’s Foods in Chicago,
cooperatives must acknowledge
change. “And they must view
change as wisdom and courage to
face the future, not as a concession
to failure,” he continued.
residential
(all Primary Sponsors); The Feder
ation of Southern Cooperatives
(Supporting Sponsor); The Land
Stewardship Project; and the
National Fanners Union (Contri
buting Sponsors).
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VERSA BUCKET
itta.
ilonal Manager - Frank Walters
DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE!
mac Mcelroy
Brownsiown, PA
BRUCE SHAFFER
Acme, PA
RICHARD KOONTZ
Bedford, PA
' j City
PH: 814-847-2402 (
A.I.A. Industries, li
P.O. Box 473 Schaefferstown, Pa. 17088
One of the most noble efforts
along this line is RCMA, the Reg
ional Cooperative Marketing
Association, Torgerson said. “If it
doesn’t succeed, then it means that
farmers as a whole in this section
of the country still don’t have their
act together.”
These economic changes should
force cooperatives to take a more
macro approach to long-range
planning, Torgerson emphasized.
Cooperatives should examine the
opportunity for economics of scale
with one another and find ways to
exploit economics of size through
the cooperative system.
“Organizations like PAFC pro
vide a forum for cooperative dia
log,” Torgerson said. They also
provide the opportunity for
cooperative education and training
programs that can articulate the
philosophy of cooperation.
The keynote speaker at the
PAFC Northern Region meeting
also stressed the need for member
owner awareness and understand
ing. Robert Damm, Pennsylvania
Dairy Herd Improvement Associa
tion, challenged his audience to
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demonstrate by example how
cooperatives can serve owner
needs.
Understanding is the key to
member-owner patronage and sup
port, Damm said. In addition, own
er commitment is a function of
investment. The younger genera
tion cooperative owner often asks
“how”, not “why”. Thus it is
imperative to communicate why
the organization exists, he said.
At each meeting, PAFC execu
tive director Kathy Gill presented a
report of the past year’s activities
along with an outline for 1988. She
advised members that PAFC will
schedule its young farmer and
youth educational programs in
conjunction with the National
Institute on Cooperative Educa
tion, set July 26-29 in Rochester,
NY.
The Pennsylvania Association
of Fanner Cooperatives is a trade
association representing about 40
rural and agricultural cooperatives
doing business in Pennsylvania.
Organized in 1933, PAFC’s prim
ary purpose is cooperative
education.
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