RCMA Annual Meeting (Continued from Page A 1) pockets, we were keeping our operating expenses at a minimum. The cost of running RCMA was approximately 1 cent per hundred weight last year, while dairy farm ers received approximately 26 cents per hundredweight,” he said. Mr. Zuber also highlighted RCMA’s membership growth during the fiscal year. In the 12 months that ended June 30, 1989, RCMA membership increased by 671 independent dairy farmers and eight cooperatives with 763 members. In contrast, only 72 fanners terminated membership. The president, who was unani mously re-elected, acknowledged that the organization faces some challenges during today’s volatile milk market But he listed several reasons to be optimistic about the future of RCMA: “The organization is on sound financial footing. Your Board of Directors has assured the continu ing operationn of RCMA by es tablishing an operations account with funds to keep the organiza tion operating even during times when no premiums are collected. “A newly formed Pricing Com mittee has been monitoring the Is your apple orchard ready for ch * LORSBAN* 4E liquid insecticide increases the efficacy of your oil for those extremely important early-season pest sprays. Whafs more, LORSBAN* 4E+oil: -Controls mite eggs. —ls effective against scale and other early-season pests. —ls the perfect complement to your integrated pest management program. Regardless of the insectlade you choose, ALWAYS READ THE LABEL BEFORE USE AND ALWAYS CAREFULLY FOLLOW ALL LABEL DIRECTIONS AND PRECAUTIONS for sate uee •Trademark of DowElanco market to determine when condi tions are appropriate to re-institute premiums in the Federal Order 2 area. “Our skilled staff is ready to quickly implement the premium collection and distribution process as soon as your Board of Directors decides it is appropriate. “Dialogue is continuing with Class II handlers about the possi bility of instituting an RCMA pre mium on Class II milk,” he said. Executive Director Carmen L. Ross reported on RCMA activities since his arrival in mid-August 1989. In his view, the future of the organization depends upon resolu tion of the issue of premium com petition between Class I and Class II handlers, and maintaining and increasing strength of member ship. “We must convince handlers that it is in their best financial in terest to have RCMA operating as a stabilizing influence in the mar ketplace,” he said. “All handlers must be assured that it is not our intention to gouge them or drive them out of busi ness. It is only our intention to guarantee a fair return to dairy farmers.” he added. for '‘Dairy fanners have a right to know the price they will receive so they can make their business deci sions. They have the right to know that their price will not go below a certain level. This is vitally im portant to them. “A healthy dairy industry is im portant to both handlers and dairy farmers,” he continued. “It doesn’t do any good for a handler to invest millions of dollars in a plant and equipment if there is no milk for him to operate that plant and serve his customers. Also, it doesn’t do a dairy farmer any good to pro duce a lot of milk if there are no plants where he can sell his pro duct. It is in his best interest that handlers stay financially viable and continue operations. “We should not approach the table as adversaries, but really as partners who have a common in HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) The Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program’s Second Annual Meet ing is quickly x LORSBAN*4E and oil ior mite and scale control terest and a common bond,” he added. “Many handlers recognize this and want RCMA to continue to operate and play an active role in the marketplace.” However, he offered a warning to members: “All of these ideas arc meaningless if we do not maintain our strength in member ship. If we remain strong and in crease our membership, then no handler in the Northeast can de stroy us. “But if our members, whether they be independent producers or cooperatives, cither large or small, find it in their best interest, for a Hamm To Speak Dr. At PDPP Annual Meeting approaching. PDPP directors and staff will meet with producers during the General Session, to be held January 3,2:00 p.m. in v‘ * Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 16,1989-A2l the Holiday Jnn in Grantville located along 1-81 north of Harrisburg. To help PDPP directors, staff and short period of time, to either ter minate their membership or place roadblocks in our path, then that action will start a cancer from within. That cancer will grow and cat away at the heart of our organi zation and cause our death. “We cannot allow this to hap pen. RCMA must remain strong. It must increase its strength. We must stand together, and we must work together for the common good of all dairy farmers in the Northeast. “RCMA was successful in the past, and there is no reason RCMA can’t be successful in the future,” Mr. Ross concluded. producers gain a new perspective on the 19905, Dr. Larry Hamm from Michigan State University is scheduled to speak. His address will focus on “1990: The Decade of Dairy Demand”. Larry Hamm is an associate professor and extension special ist in the department of agricultural eco nomics at Michigan State University. He currently is charged with keeping Michi gan producers, proces sors, consumers and policy makers informed about the impact of milk mark eting and policy events shaping the future of the US dairy industry. Larry also teachers a senior course in agricultural cooperation and a gra duate course in agri cultural marketing. Lany was raised on a dairy and potato farm in Lehigh Coun ty, Pennsylvania. His family was active in supporting the 4-H, Pennsylvania Farmers Association, DHIA, Pennsylvania Potato Growers and their loc al church. After gra duating with a B.S. in agricultural econom ics from Penn Stale University, he received his Masters from the University of Wisconsin and Ph.D. from Michigan State University.l Larry writes regular dairy marketing col umns in Michigan Farmer and Farm Journal’s Dairy Today. In the past two years he has traveled and studied the dairy marketing marketing and processing indus try in Canada, West ern Europe, New Zea land and Latvia in the USSR. Dr. Hamm’s extension program ming has received the highest awards of the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service and the American Agricul ture Economic Association.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers