VOL 35 NO. 13
Beef Economist Predicts Good, Not Magnificent Year For Industry
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
“I think 1990 is going to be a
good year, but notice I didn’t say
magnificent year,” said H. Louis
Moore, Penn State extension eco
nomist, to about ISO cattle farmers
at the Cattle Feeders Day on Tues
day at the Farm and Home Center.
Moore told the fanners that
while we’ll be “lucky” to avoid a
recession in 1990, beef fanners
Bovine
TB Stopped
VERNON ACHENBACH, JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
A state Department of Agriculture
official said he is even more cer
tain than before that bovine tuber
culosis has been- stopped in
Pennsylvania.
Dr. Max Van Buskirk, director
of the Bureau of Animal Industry,
recently said he has seen no sujpi
cious results at the end of a second
round of testing for bovine tuber
culosis that ended this week. How
ever, Buskirk warned that it will
still be several months, and
another round of testing, before
Pennsylvania can resume its status
as a bovine TB-free area.
Early January, Boyd Wolff,
state agriculture secretary,
announced that a first round of
testing of 10,698 dairy cattle
showed no positive reactions, out
side of the 121 that did test positive
and were killed.
The nearly 11,000 cattle were
tested because they were consid
ered at risk of having the disease
because of possible exposure to a
Dauphin County herd of infected
animals that no longer exists.
There is no effective treatment for
bovine tuberculosis, which is con
tagious to man.
The disease was discovered last
August and resulted in the destruc
tion of 109 cattle from one herd
and 12 other cows that had either
been bought from the herd or had
been exposed to the infected
animals.
Wolff said, “we feel confiden
t... all animals that contracted
the disease have been located and
were removed.”
Van Buskirk said the disease is
apparently no longer a threat in
Pennsylvania, but federal regula
tions require a third round of test
ing of animals that may have been
exposed to the infected animals.
“There are no new indications of
any problems,” Van Buskirk said.
“There are no problem herds at the
present time. We think that’s true
now (that there is no bovine TB
here) however, these tests are the
routine tests required to lay any
question to rest and (have) our
bovine TB-frec status restored by
the U.S. Department of Agricul
ture (USDA). It is kind of a routine
mop-up, now,” he said.
Rve Sections
should be optimistic about selling
their cattle in 1990. Total meat
production will be up about 18 per
cent, and beef will make up 37 per
cent of all meat consumed.
Moore’s “fearless forecast”
places a 77.0 cents per pound price
on fat cattle for the first quarter of
1990, and 73.0 cents per pound for
the third quarter.
“The ‘captive’ markets, such as
Art GiaNelter (left) presents the York Farm Family of the
Year Award to Wayne and Athena Beshore.
At the 1990 Keystone Cornucopia are (I to r): Rocco Pugliese, president; Edward Helfrick,
senate chairman, ag committee; Patrick Stapleton, minority chairman, senate ag committee;
Lt. Gov. Mark Singel; Kenneth Brandt, minority chairman, house ag committee and Boyd
Wolff, state ag secretary.
Cornucopia, The Social Event Of The Season
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) To remind state legisla
tors about the importance of farm
ing and agribusiness in Pennsylva
nia, the Pennsylvania State Coun
cil of Farm Organizations invited
these lawmakers to dinner. This
happened Monday evening at the
1990 Keystone Cornucopia served
at the Marriott where everything
onthes3S plate was grown or pro
duced in Pennsylvania.
Lt. Governor Mark Singel said
the cornucopia has become the
social event of the season. “You
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 3,1990
turkey and chicken, will increase
through the 1990 s as they’ve done
consistently in the 1980 s,” he said.
Poultry products make up 36 per
cent of all meat consumed in this
country. While beef production
should increase about 6 percent,
beef will continue to grab a smaller
share of the total market
Total beef imports should equal
2.2 billion pounds in 1990. about?
are the movers and the shakers in
the ag industry,” Singel said. “It
would be presumptuous to claim
the success of the Casey admi
nistration all for ourselves. Those
related to agriculture, both Demo
crats and Republicans have work
ed in bipartisan efforts to make
Pennsylvania the premier state for
agriculture.
“We have created new jobs, bet
ter education and worked against
drugs. And while we are cooperat
ing to make Pennsylvania better,
we are not done yet,” Singel said.
Singel said farmers seem to be
able to “weather the weather,” but
percent of the total beef supply.
However, beef and pork will con
tinue to have a smaller share of the
total market.
Exports growing slowly
Exports are growing slowly at
600 million pounds in 1990.
“Note that is in millions of
pounds, not billions, such as the
import market,” Moore said.
Ag Leaders Honored
By York Chamber
BY JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
YORK (York Co.) A New
Cumberland farm family and
Loganville meat retailers have
been recognized by the York Area
Chamber of Commerce for out
standing contributions to
agriculture.
The E. Wayne Beshore family
received the farm family award
and Godfrey Brothers Meats was
honored for distinguished service
during the third annual agriculture
recognition banquet January 25 at
Wisehaven Hall Co-sponsors for
the ag salute were die Extension
Service and York Area Chamber
of Commerce.
to lose a farm is something diffe
rent To help this situation, Singel
said the administration had mobil
ized the Ag Land Preservation
efforts.
Other efforts on behalf of agri
culture were listed as the new
working relationship between
Penn State University and PDA to
make better use of pesticides,
efforts to increase domestic and
export sales of Pennsylvania pro
ducts, funding for fairs and the
newly announced $2.6 million
contract to put a new roof on the
farm show buildings.
“We are in it together, and if we
509 Per Copy
‘ ‘lmports will continue to be much
greater than exports."
Moore said that supplies of
pork, broilers, and turkey will not
decrease. Feed prices have not
decreased much since the 1988
drought, and grain growers will
still feel the pinch. Cattle are being
brought to feed lots earlier (about 3
percent more than a year ago) and
(Turn to Pago A 25)
E. Wayne Beshore family
Wayne and Athena Hayes
Beshore began dairying in the late
1940 s on the farm of his parents,
Elmer and Florence Beshore. On
their first year of herd lest, the
Beshores’ ten head averaged
7,160 pounds of milk and 252 of
butterfat.
The New Cumberland farm’s
167 acres are cropped to grains,
forages and straw for the regis
tered Holstein herd. Showing is a
family tradition of more than three
decades, beginning when the
Beshores’ eldest son, Marvin,'
joined the 4-H program with his
first project heifer calf.
(Turn to P«B» *32)
Penn Del’s Glenna
Now Excellent 96
REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio
The 1989 Unanimous All-
American Aged Guernsey Cow
and Unanimous Junior All-
American Aged Cow is now
appraised 96 points.
Penn Del Vicuvius Glenna is
the second cow in the breed to
receive this score. Grand champ
ion of all three national shows and
the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair
this year, “Glenna” has accumu
lated five All-American titles for
her owner, Emily Branstetter of
Edmonton, Kentucky.
A Penn Del Hornet Vesuvisu
daughter, she completed a
365-day lacation of 25,770
pounds of milk, 1,203 pounds of
butterfat and 906 pounds of pro
tein at four years and two months.
(Turn to Pag* A4B)
continue, there is no limit to what
we can do,” Singel concluded.
“Agriculture will continue to be
the number one industry in the
state.”
State Ag Secretary Boyd Wolff
said over the last few years we
have accomplished many things
and built a foundation for our
children. “And we pledge to keep
it going into the next century,”
Wolff said.
Food baskets were prepared
from donated items to represent
the bounty of Pennsylvania’s agri-
(Turn to Pag* A 24)