A24-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 8, 1990
EVA MARTIN
Maryland Correspondent
SAN DIEGO, CA. The 74th
annual Young Cooperators Lead
ership Conference was held at the
Dairy Summit of the National
Milk Producers Federation last
week in San Diego.
Elmer Paper, YC Leadership
Committee Chairman and a direc
tor from Swiss Valley Dairies,
welcomed the more than 150
Young Cooperators from all over
the country. “This is the land of
opportunity,” he said, “to make
new dairy friends, to see the pro
cess of dairy policy development
in the making, to share farm know
how and to have fun.”
NMPF Chief Executive Officer,
Jim Barr, challenged the YC’s to
learn cooperative principles, “so
when we get another hite at the
farm bill apple, we’ll be ready”.
When NMPF President, Tom
Camcrlo welcomed the young
producers, he said, “I see the
future of the dairy industry in this
room”. He told the YC’s, “leader
ship must pass from generation to
generation in order to survive.”
The need to become as involved
and prepared as possible for these
leadership positions is why the
YC program of the NMPF is so
important.
“There’s always opportunity in
tough limes,” Camerlo said, “I
think we are facing some real
opportunities in the coming cou
ple of years. You are the elite, the
cream of the crop. It will be up to
you to lead this dairy industry
through the 1990 s and beyond.”
Nine couples and a single
dairywoman were selected by
their peers at the YC caucuses to
comprise the 1991 National YC
Advisory Council. They will help
plan the YC program for the 751 h
Dairy Summit to be held in Orlan
da, Florida in 1991. David and
Robbin Martin, Manheim, Pa.,
representing Atlantic Dairy
Cooperative; Roxanne Gabel,
Newport, Pa., representing East
ern Milk Producers, and Ralph
and Terrie Shank, Hagerstown,
Md., representing MD and VA
Milk Producers Cooperative were
among those chosen.
Former Secretary
Of Agriculture
Keynote Speaker
Bob Bergland, CEO of the
National Rural Electric Coop.
Assn., was the keynote speaker for
the YC Showcase Luncheon. The
luncheon was held at the San
Diego Convention Center adja
cent to the hotel. The Convention
Center is an architectural wonder
with its unique roof and nautical
ceiling design a Teflon-coated
permanent tent-like structure that
resembles sails.
Senator Patrick Leahy,
chairman of Senate Com
mittee on Agriculture.
National Young Cooperators Hold Dairy Summit
Elected to the young cooperator advisory committee at the NMPF convention were
(back) left to right, Roxanne Gabel, Newport, and Ralph and Terrie Shank, Hager
stown, Md. In front, are David and Robbin Martin, Manheim.
Changing times and changing
values have changed attitudes
about cooperatives. Bergland
related his earliest recollections of
the importance of cooperation to
his family in northern Minnesota.
In 1936, his father was instrumen
tal in a co-op to get forty families
to pay $5.00 each to bring electric
ity the five miles to their rural
community. He told of his
mother’s “tears of joy” the day
electricity arrived, changing their
lives forever a chance to break
the bonds of poverty.
“The role of cooperatives in our
society is quite clear,” he said.
“We have to develop good service
to maintain support from a mem
bership that doesn’t remember the
day the co-op was organized and
who hasn’t operated his or her
business in a community without a
co-op being there.”
Bergland warned the assembled
dairy co-op leaders of the inherent
dangers of disunity. “If dairy fam
ilies, like electric families, like
any other segment of society,
choose to “disorganize”, I can tell
you the consequences will be too
awful to contemplate!”
Markets are run by fad, by fear,
by war. Markets are as unsettled
and dangerous as the world itself.
The effectiveness of cooperatives
is in the ability to think together
by developing consenses policy
and then carrying the message to
your lawmakers.
Cooperatives are affected,
touched and driven by things we
can not control. You’re out num
bered under the law of large num
bers, but in a democracy, that
doesn’t mean that you are lost.
The majority rules, but isn’t
always right.
You’re not going to buy from
someone you don’t like, or has
mistreated you or your spouse.
“Cooperatives must provide
exceptional service and must be
involved in political action in
order to survive the world’s
changes,” stated Bergland, former
Secretary of Agriculture to the
Carter Administration. “I don’t
believe you have to put yourself
under the control of anybody. I
think you can control your own
destiny if you will. That’s where
the role of cooperatives comes in,”
concluded Bergland.
Another speaker at the Summit
was U.S. Senator Patrick J. Leahy.
Leahy is Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Agriculture, Nutri
tion and Forestry where he has a
vital role in legislative matters
affecting dairy farmers.
“The fundamental decision the
dairy industry must decide is
whether it wants stability or
growth as Congress wrestles with
future dairy policy- we can not
have both,” Leahy said. “Do you
want controls on production,
someone telling you how much
milk to produce, but with price
stability?” he asked. “Or do you
want to decide on your own how
many cows you will milk and have
price instability?”
If you choose stability, there is
a cost. It would keep the current
number of farmers in business, but
you probably will not be able to
grow. You will no longer be look
ing to improve your efficiency or
modernize.
If you choose growth, how
much is it worth? The recent rise
and fall of dairy prices in response
to supply and demand have prove
n that markets work. But, when a
market works, there is uncertainty
Leahy admitted, pointing to the
fact of the past year record high
and low prices for milk.
Senator Leahy made it clear to
the audience that the dairy indus
try is at a crossroads as the
demands of the federal budget
deficit dictate the government can
no longer afford to run an effec
tive dairy price support program.
“We are in a budget crisis- the
United States is running in the red
to the tune of 250 billion or more
per year. We’ve just come through
ten years of buying prosperity,”
the Vermont Senator stated.
Everything is on credit cards for
someone else to pay. “It is now
due!”
Leahy discussed the 1990 Farm
Bill at length, noting that Con
gress was able to stop the Admi
nistration’s price cutting policy
and avert its efforts to keep some
sort of supply management prog
ram out of the legislation. A sup
port price floor of $lO.lO is con
tained in the five year bill as is a
mandate that the Administration
develop some sort of supply man
agement program. The Senator
stressed that in the final analysis,
though many in the industry may
disagree, dairy farmers were for
tunate that the Farm Bill did not
contain any further price cuts.
When the Budget Summit
began, the Democrats proposed a
cut of 7 billion in agriculture
spending. The Administration
asked for 24 billion in cuts. In the
end, a 13.6 billion reduction in
agriculture spending was
required-a 24% cut.
Leahy says, “When we set
about the very difficult budget
task, we kept one principle in
mind, every commodity should
share the burden”.
Com, wheat, cotton, rice, sorg
hum, barley, oats, all took a hit
through triple base. A producer
who received payments on 100
acres this year will only receive
payments on 85 acres next year, a
15% reduction. In addition,
changes for the 1994 and 1995
crops of wheat and feed grains
will take almost a billion dollars
out of those commodities.
Sugar, peanuts and tobacco will
put market service fees or assess
ments on the table to help to
reduce the deficit.
Dairy is expected to put up five
cents per hundred weight this year
and 1114 cents per hundred
weight for 1992-1995. This
should generate 700 million over
the next five years.
With the $lO.lO freeze, the cost
of the dairy program over the next
five years is likely to be about $4
billion-almost $1.9 billion more
than a continuation of the 1985
farm bill would have cost.
The Senate Ag Committee
Chairman also commented that, in
his opinion, the General Agree
ment of Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
will not progress very far because
the European Community will not
change its bargaining position.
That position is bad for U.S. Agri
culture, including dairy, he said.
Emphasizing the view of many of
the speakers at the NMPF meet
ing, Leahy observed that no agree
ment is better than a bad agree
ment and promised that he will
oppose any attempt to sacrifice
Section 22 import protection with
out the U.S. receiving something
of equal value in return.
The Senator concluded his
remarks by challenging the U.S.
dairy industry to take an active
role in determining their destiny,
not only for the short run, but also
for the future. ‘The ball is in your
court. I cannot urge you enough to
accept this challenge. Only you
can answer the question about sta
bility or growth.”
Senator Charles Slenholm,
Chairman of the House Agricul
ture Subcommittee on Livestock,
Dairy and Poultry to address
(NMPF) on “Dairy Policy in the
1990’5.”
“Grow or decay, there is no
such thing as stability in any
industry”, Stenholm began. He
urged the dairy leaders to choose
an option that would promote the
growth of the industry to serve the
needs of our domestic and world
market for dairy products. Agri
culture is the foundation of our
country.
“I, assuredly, do not like every
thing in the 1990 Farm Bill dairy
title and would have written sever
al provisions differently, and per
haps better,” Stenholm com
mented. “But, in the end, I view it
as a respectable work product that
balances many sensitive, often
divergent interests, and that does
chart a course for the future.”
The new farm bill is about the
future, and the future means
change. “The 1990 Farm Bill
should help American farmers
adjust to a rapidly changing world,
and make those changes work to
their advantage,” he said. The bill
contains key provisions which
should help the industry set a
course through the hazards and
shifting influences that have
emerged. These include:
* The federal budget process
and the continuingjieed to reduce
the cost of farm programs, includ
ing dairy. A major accomplish
ment was establishing a new
budget baseline for the dairy
program.
* The GATT negotiations and
the emerging realization that
regardless of what happens with
GATT, the international market
place will play an increasing role
in the profitability of U.S. dairy
farmers. (Previously at the meet
ing, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Reps.
Kida de la Garza and Harold
Volkmer commented that “no
GATT agreement is better than an
agreement that’s bad for agricul
ture.” Stenholm differed by say
ing, “No agreement will be bad for
agriculture.”)
* Changing consumer attitudes
about the food they eat and com
petition from other food products.
One aspect of the bill remains
unresolved-the type of supply
(Turn to Pag* A 39)
Senator Charles Stenholm,
chairman, House Agriculture
Subcommittee on Livestock,
Dairy and Poultry.