A24'Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 11,1989
Maryland
(Continued from Page A 1)
start it and it has to come from the
producer,” he suggested.
A short time after Wilson
spoke, Kansans, along with the
American National Cattlemen’s
Association, Texas and Southwest
Cattle Raisers Association,
National Wool Growers Associa
tion, Corn-Belt Meat Producers
Association, and Illinois Agricul
tural Association, met with meat
packers, and a steering committee
was appointed for the formation of
an organization. In 1920, Swine
producers joined in the cause and
the National Livestock and Meat
Board was officially launched on
March 10, 1922. Locke reported
that there were twelve supporting
organizations in the original coali
tion, and “eleven of the seventeen
directors were producers. This
emphasis on production remains
the philosophy of the meat board
today,” added Locke.
Now thirty organizations form
the coalition with 130 directors
representing various segments of
the industry, including producers,
packers, stockyards, breed associ
ations, cattlewomen, and the
restaurant and food services.
Locke said that check-off dol
lars collected today are used for
“protecting and improving con
sumer demand for beef, pork and
veal, and for promotion and
research projects. With the 1985
Farm Act came a mandate for
“beef promotion and research - it
gave us a chance to show what
could be done,” explained Locke.
The dollar per head check-off
referendum was passed after pre
vious unsuccessful attempts.
The first check-off program in
this country was on a voluntary
basis, Locke recalled. “Producers
were asked for five cents per car
load of livestock.” A carload was
equivalent to 25 head of cattle, or
75 hogs or 75 sheep and lambs. In
1931 it was increased to 25 cents
per carload with an alternate pro
vision offered at 1 cent per head.
“In the early days,” said Locke,
“the directors found more prob
lems than solutions.” Faced with
such adversaries as vegetarians
who circulated rumors claiming
meat caused rheumatism and gout,
and the post-war European market
blaming American meat for an
epidemic of influenza that killed
ten million people world-wide,
FARM CARTS
/& SCRAPERS
Farm Cart $3OO
Cart with Brakes $350
Scraper Only $175
Cart & Scraper
with brakes $520
without brakes $470
Cattlemen
and Californians who believed
they would contract hoof and
mouth disease, the National
Livestock and Meat Board “raised
enough money to be a force in
promoting American meat.”
Locke observed that “a short
coming of modem agriculture is
that we pay little attention to his
tory. Here we are today with prob
lems not a lot unlike what they had
when they began. They talked
about rheumatism and gout. We
talk about calories and cholester
ol.” Locke said “the adversaries
are primarily the same.” Over the
years “there have been many,
many, many changes, particularly
in communications and technolo
Dr. Milton Nelson promotes National Ag
gy,” noted Lpcke. “We’re still
down there in the trenches fight
ing for our share of the market.”
On a closing note, the Chairman
of the National Livestock and
Meat Board encouraged the mem
bers of the Maryland Cattlemen’s
Association to “get enthusiastical
ly involved and be positive. There
are great changes taking place all
about us. If you’re not willing to
change, you’d better give up the
ship.”
In a report by the National Cat
tlemen magazine, total member
ship in the Maryland Cattlemen’s
Association as of March 31, 1988
was 63; Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s
Association, 123. The Pennsylva
nia Cattlemen’s Conference is
scheduled for March 17 and 18 at
the Altoona Sheraton, Route 220
South, Altoona, Pa.
ciation, P.O. Box 125, Ml. Airy,
MD 21771.
* Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s
Association, Inc., P.O. Box 7100,
State College, PA 16803.
Dr. Milton Nelson of the Uni
versity of Maryland is spearhead
ing efforts in the state to comme
morate National Agriculture Day,
March 20. ‘This is a first for
Maryland this year,” noted Nel
son. We’re finally getting in sync
with National aspirations,” by
celebrating on March 20 rather
Leon - was the keynote speaker at the Maryland Cat
tlemen’s annual meeting.
lay.
than another date.
Nelson has distributed 200
posters with the theme- Maryland
with Pride, National Agriculture
Day, Honoring America’s
Producers.
The poster has a color illustra
tion entitled Harvest, by Bart
Forbes.
‘This is a joint project involv
ing the Extension Service, the
Maryland Department of Agricul
ture, and a group called Maryland
Ag Week, Inc.,” explained
Nelson.