Tn ill T/iiii^^HV^^Bi^H^KJ^Bi^^^HkJWMHPCßHt VOL 33 NO. 43 Rising Over-Order Premiums Give Lift To Dairy Farmers BY KARL BERGER Special Correspondent The Pennsylvania Milk Market ing Board has given an enormous lift to dairy farmers’ fortunes in the Mid-Atlantic area with its deci sion, announced Aug. 10, to raise Sarah Likes Pigs Editor’s Note: This little girl likes pigs. Here’s what she has to say about the one she holds in the photo: My name is Sarah Boyd. I am seven-years-old. I live at Ephrata. 1 am writing about the little pig I am holding in the photo. Her name is Sadie. I love her. She is cuic. She has a pink nose and little black spots on hcr skin. Her mom is a blue back named Rcva. Her dad is a Hamp boar. My uncle’s Rick and Bob Strauss raise the pigs at my grandpa's and grandma’s farm. My brother Gerald shows some of the pigs at local fairs for his 4-H project. I like helping him walk and brush 1 the pigs. In two years, I hope to show pigs in 4-H. Drought Bill Provisions Given WASHINGTON. D.C.— Presi dent Reagan recently signed drought relief legislation that will have a majpncffccl on agriculture in the months to come. This bill is the largest disaster relief pdekage ever approved by Congress and carries a $3.9 billion price tag which could go higher. Costs were based on July Ist crop loss esti mates. These have since been exceeded by the latest crop survey. The com crop estimate dropped from 5.2 billion bu. in July to 4.48 bil. bu. in August-37 percent Part of an international exchange to promote good will and the discussion of world farming Issues, two Zimbabwean farming couples visited Pennsylvania recently. From left, Marian Brenneman of Mount Joy; Mary Ann Hamilton; Hammy Hamilton; Oliver Newton; Sarah Newton; and Naomi Spahr of Litltz. See page D 9 for the story. Five Sections by 51.05 a hundredweight the minimum price that handlers must pay for milk processed for fluid use, according to industry officials. The decision will boost farm income in Pennsylvania, of course. below 1987’s crop. Soybeans dropped from 1.65 bil bu. to 1.47 bil. bu -down 23 percent from last year. Even so the government may actually be saving money because the anticipated deficiency pay ments for a normal crop would be S 6 bil. higher for fiscal 1989 and 12 bil. more in 1990. Here is a summary of the drought relief laws major provisions. 1. Relief will go to producers who lose at least 35% of their crop (Turn to Page A 37) Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 3, 1988 But the benefits also will ripple in several ways to producers in neighboring states. The extra $1.05, in effect a kind of Class 1 differential lacked onto the monthly prices PMMB deter mines for its six marketing areas across the slate, will be in effect from at least Sept. 1 through Feb. 28, 1989. The board will meet before the end of this period to decide whether or not to extend the differential, according to spokes man Dennis Curtin. The action raises prices above the minimum levels set by the nationwide federal order system, by which PMMB typically sets its prices. In September, for instance, die PMMB Class I price for Area 1, which encompasses the Phi ladelphia market, will be $14.60, Curtin said. This represents a $1.23 increase from the August price, a combination of the 51.05 increase and an 18-ccntnsc in fed eral order prices. One way in which the PMME action will be felt outside Pennsyl- Corn Growers Enroll 21,730 Acres BERKS COUNTY Berks County fanners enrolled 21,730 base acres of com in the 1988 feed grain acreage reduction program, according to Donald E. Lutz, chairman of the Agricultural Sta bilization and Conservation Com mittcc. The enrollment represents 51 percent of the county’s eligible com acreage base. The program authorized farmers to plant and harvest 80 percent of their feed gram acreage base, removing 20 percent of the crop land from production as required by program regulations. Lutz said farmers could voluntarily divert an additional 10 percent of their com crop for payment. (Turn to Page Al 9) 50$ Per Copy vania is in its impact on existing over-order bargaining agencies. The leaders of the Middle Atlan tic Cooperative Milk Marketing Agency (which represents the interests of members of Atlantic Dairy Cooperative, Maryland and Virginia Cooperative Milk Pro ducers Association and the Middle Atlantic Division of Dairymen Inc., the thre'* miinr rnnnerallVCS in Federal Order 4) have set their September premium at the $1.05 level, the highest in the 13-month history of the agency. Maryland and Virginia consultant Jim Click said the PMMB decision helped MACMMA to raise its premium, which stands at 85 cents for the lat ter part of August. The Regional Cooperative Marketing Agency, which bar gains for over-order prices in fed eral order 1 and 2, also will boost 4-H Keeps Youth From Becoming A Couch Potato This summer Stacey spent several days each week work ing as a volunteer tour guide at Wheatland, the former resi dence of James Buchanan. BY LISA RISSER LANCASTER It is dillicult to imagine someone as energetic and exuberant as Stacey Goss as a “couch potato”, yet that’s exactly the fate she described for herself but for the grace of 4-H. The active 4-H’cr will become even busier as she settles into her new responsibilities as Lancaster County’s 1989 Outstanding 4-H’cr. Stacey will represent 4-H at various events and explain the organization to the public Stacey assumed her new duties $lO.OO Per Year its September premium, according to executive director Ed Anna. He said the PMMB decision was a fac tor in the decision of RCMA’s directors to seek 75 cents next month, up 20 cents from the bar gaining level in August. This, 100, is likely to be the highest effective premium that RCMA has imposed since resuming its bargaining efforts last September. The rising premiums reflect concern about the deepening impact of the drought on area pro ducers. Leaders of Atlantic Dairy Cooperative and several statewide farm groups were among those requesting an increase in farm prices at an emergency PMMB hearing July 27. Even the Pennsyl vania Association of Milk Dealers supported the board’s decision. In their testimony, members of (Turn to Page A 37) at the dose of the county 4-H Achievement Nighi last week from Amy Jo Strasbaugh, this year’s Outstanding 4-H’cr. “I want to gel more people involved in 4-H,” said Stacey. “I feel it is a very important and worthwhile organization; it offers so many opportunities to make your life better.” Becoming the Outstanding 4-H’er is a goal Stacey has held for a long time, perhaps dating back to the years when her older sisters (Turn to Page A 34)
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