A42Lancaater Farming, Saturday, April 7,1990 KARL BERGER Special Correspondent HAGERSTOWN, MD. “Another good year of progress and growth for your association.” Officials of Maryland and Vir ginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association have used that phrase so often in the last few years it must be permanently lodged in the computer files of die typesetters who prepare the organization’s annual report President Russell Wachter, a Keymar, MD., farmer, used it once again while describing 1989 operations to members attending last week’s annual meeting of the dairy cooperative in Hagerstown, Md. He cited profitable perfor mances by the cooperative’s equipment fluid milk and manu facturing divisions as key ele ments in a year that saw record milk sales and equity payments to members. Wachter and Bob Vaughn, the cooperative’s general manager, outlined these and other accom plishments in characteristically low-key fashion to about 400 Maryland and Virginia producers attending the brief business ses sion at the half-day annual meeting. In fact, the highlight of the rou- WORRIED? CAN’T SLEEP AT NIGHT? Wondering How You Are Going To Buy That Kubota Tractor You So Desperately Need This Spring? NO PROBLEM!!! 2.5% FINANCING AVAILABLE THRU KUBOTA CREDIT Visit Us At Nlcarry Equipment And W« Will Hslp You Flgurs Out Which Equipment You Need To Got Your Work Don* On Tlmo...And The Best Payment Plan To Fit Your Budget! USED KUBOTA TRACTORS Demo F2OOO Kubota L 305 L 4150 86100 E, 14 HP NICARRY EQUIPMENT CO. RD #2, Box 2008, Raiding, Pi. 19605 215-926-2441 fiBH Located: 4 Mllea North of Reading On Rt. 61 - 3 Mllea South of Leeaport ElJlrell Houre: Mon. thru Fri. 8 to 5; Sat. 8 to 3 BSJHBI Maryland, tine session was an appearance by Cynthia Kereluk, the attractive host of a nationally syndicated exercise show who has been hired by the Middle Atlantic Milk Marketing Association to promote milk locally. And in the only note even remotely controversial, sounded by Vaughn in response to a ques tion from the floor, the general manager reiterated Maryland and Virginia’s official opposition to the use of bovine somatotropin. He said the opposition, which dates from a member resolution approved in 1987, is based on eco nomic rather than health consider ations. The cooperative, he said, would have no problem with the experimental hormone product if it can be proven that its use will not reduce milk sales. “As far as BST is concerned, we’ll have to go with what the consumer says,” Vaughn added. In 1989, the cooperative sold 1.926 billion pounds of milk, up 5 million pounds from the 1988 tot al, according to association fig ures. Dollar sales of raw milk, pro cessed goods and other items tot aled a record $348.5 million, an 11-percent increase. Included in this total was a 5.5-percent increase in Equipment Division ft Virginia Milk Co-op sales, to a record $4.75 million. During the year, the coopera tive completed the sale of its for mer office property in Arlington, VA., realizing a $6.6 million gain, Vaughn noted. This amount was distributed to members as cash payments in October. The cooperative also allocated its net margin for the year - $7.5 million -- to the members’ equity account. The bulk of this will be paid out during 1990. Moreover, profits from processing operations amounting to 22 cents a hundred weight once again were distri buted as a “13th milk check.” Vaughn, detailing the coopera tive’s financial performance, said various key indicators remain “at comfortable levels.” The coopera tive reduced its long-term debt from $2.7 million to $1.5 million during the year. The membership roster at the end of the year totalled 1,325 active producers, a decline of 48 from the 1988 year-end total. Roughly one-third of these are located in Pennsylvania, accord ing to Jim Reeder, the organiza tion’s director of member and public relations. The rest live in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Reeder, in brief remarks at the POLY-TUF NURSERY FEEDERS 2 Hole 1 Side $19.99 4 Hole 1 $59.99 6 Hole 1 Side $69.99 5 Hole Double Side $79.99