BY LINDA WILLIAMS Bedford Co. Correspondent ALTOONA (Blair Co.) What do, freedom in Europe, car diovascular concerns, the weather, genetics, and the 1990 Farm Bill all have in common? According to Ewing Row, man aging editor of Hoard’s Dairyman, and speaker for the Alfalfa Grow ers Program Meeting and Ban quet, they are the five items that will affect dairying in the next five years. The program/banquet was held on Wednesday. Dec. 20, at the Sheraton in Altoona. Row brought an ending to an afternoon filled with information on alfalfa, often called, “The queen of the forage crops.” This event was held in celebra tion of the ISth and last year of the Alfalfa Growers Program in the Commonwealth. While Row had been asked to speak on “What’s Going to Hap pen to Dairying During the Next Five Years,” he said he preferred to predict just one year at a time. The five items most affecting milk checks in the next year Will be: weather, general agreements on tariffs and trade, how well dairymen present a united front in Washington for the 1990 Farm Bill, technology, and how well the industry deals with excess fat. “We have little control over the weather,” Row admitted, “In this state, I know that you experienced a year of severe drought followed ' by a year of monsoon rains. You really can’t do anything about the weather, but how you manage in 5% 0W ON EVERYTHING INCLUDING CASE LOT PRICING 1/2 PRICE TABLE PLUS RED TAG SPECIALS FREE COFFEE, MILK & DONUTS Row Lists Items That Affect Dairying response to what Mother Nature brings is what determines profit and loss. "Agriculture is front and center in the Uruguay Round,” Row pointed out, “U.S. negotiators are interested in exporting feed and food grains, oil seed crops, lum ber, beef and a host of other agri cultural and natural resource pro ducts. The U.S. has a comparative advantage in these materials and many hope agriculture can lessen the balance of trade deficit which has plagued the U.S. for some time. “It is my guess that, the Euro pean community and Japan, two of our most important trading partners, will not opt for free trade in agriculture. Both have powerful farm lobbies which greatly influ ence their policies.” Row says that Secretary of Agriculture Clayton Yeutter is one who believes the U.S. dairy indus try can become an important sup plier of dairy products on world markets. There is a tremendous shortage of nonfat dry milk In the world. The Soviet Union recently has shown an interest in our butter stocks. Hoards Dairyman advocates quotas. “The reason is simple,” Row said. “If the supply of milk goes up 1 percent, it takes a drop in the farm price of 3 to 4 percent to sell that added supply on the market By the same token, if the supply of milk drops 1 percent the price goes up 3 to 4 percent. Therefore, with lower supplies, dairy farmers make more money than previously because the price REGISTER FOR THE GRAND PRIZE FORD PEDAL TRACTOR (Donated by The Ertl Toy Company) ALSO MANY OTHER DOOR PRIZES MANUFACTURERS REPRESENTATIVE ON HAND DAILY Forage And Grassland Council Meeting CASH AND CARRY response more than makes up for the smaller supply marketed.” Row rather glumly predicted that, “With only from 130,000 to 140,000 commercial dairy farmers in the country, they had better hang together or hang separately in economic ruin.” He indicated that Upper Mid west dairy farmers and their cooperative leaders are calling for changes in the federal milk mark eting order system to give them less of a price disadvantage. Hot topics at Wisconsin meetings include Class I differentials, down allocation and reconstituted milk pricing. On the subject of technology, Row said: “Where would our great industry be without the tech nology presently in place: DHI testing and computerization of records, artificial insemination, embryo storage and transfer, sophisticated ration balancing and the tremendous advances in dis ease control. No industry, no indi vidual business, can ignore tech nology whether there is a surplus or a shortage of a particular pro duct. The dairy industry is no different.” Row indicated that Hoard’s Dairyman has long believed that bovine somatotropin (BST) has the potential to be a useful tool, lowering dairymen’s costs by increasing the efficiency of today’s high producing dairy cows. The decisions to use BST or any other technology which has been proven safe and effective should be an economic one, not one made in state or national legislatures. He added that the FDA had ruled long ago that the production from BST treated cows is safe for consumers. “However, consumer acceptance is the real issue.” As a point of acceptance Row indicated that the technology used to produce BST is the same as that used to produce insulin for diabetics. ‘The value of butterfat is on the decline,” Row commented, “due to cholesterol, calories and cardio vascular concerns. On January 1, the value of fat will drop in value (8.7) percent) while the worth of nonfat in milk may remain the same or may rise, depending on what the Secretary of Agriculture decides.” Jersey Breeders Review Decade’s Changes REYNOLDSBURG. OH “The Jersey breed has been through an eventful, challenging, but most rewarding decade,” reports Maurice Core, Executive Secretary of The American Jersey Cattle Club. “During ther ’Bos we saw a dairy termination program that look approximately one million dairy Cows out of production, reducing dairy cow numbers to 10.1 million - the lowest number in over 100 years. There were also nine years of surplus production. Now we are in a shortage situation described by some as the most critical since World War 11, result ing in the highest producer milk STORE HOURS: TUES-THUR 7:30-5:00 FRI 7:30-9:00 SAT 7:30-12:00 LOCATED JUST WEST OF EPHRATA SOUTH OFF RT 322 ALONG WOOD CORNER RD Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 23,1909-A23 ‘The handwriting is on the wall, milk fat will continue to lose in value.” To review the five points which will affect the dairy industry in 1990, Row noted, “the weather, general agreement on tariffs and trade, unity, technology and milk fat wiU all affect your dairy indus try. Four of the five are controll able. If the toughest one, unity, is licked, there is no telling how good being a dairy farmer can be. The industry can be in charge of its own destiny instead of depend ing on decisions by politicians in Washington. (Coverage of the Alfalfa Growers Program is scheduled to be continued next week.) prices in history. During the ’Bos, the AJCC registered approximately 558,300 Jerseys, a 32% increase over the previous ten year total. More sig nificantly, 55,200 Jerseys are on the official Dairy Herd Improve ment Registry (DHIR) and Total Performance Evaluation (TPE) programs at the end of 1989. This is a 229% increase in participation in these official testing programs compared to 1975. For more information contact; The American Jersey Cattle Club, Kurt Lyon, Director of Informa tion. Phone (614) 861-3636.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers