•V , ' ✓ X/A •X ' ~, - On The Record Dick Barth PA DHIA General Mgr. A lot was printed in this column last year about the reorganization of DHIA in Pennsylvania: why it was being done, what problems would be solved by it, when it would be completed, etc. Now that 1990 is behind us it seems useful to report the progress made last year on this issue. At the start of 1990 there were four counties that had merged with the state association: Camer on, Elk, Clearfield and Bucks. On Jan. 1,1990, Union County merg ed followed by Jefferson on April Ist and four counties, Mercer, Wyoming, Northampton and Clar ion a month later on May Ist. On July Ist, four more counties merg ed: Lackawanna, Cambria, Mont gomery and Venango. The single largest group of county organizations merged on December 31st. That group was It Works! Purina Research and Local On-Farm Usage Shows That Purina 8 Brand Dairy Freshener Pack Works. We’ve Seen The Following Results On Fresh Cows: * Milk Increase... because of live yeast cultures and added niacin. • Reduced Incidence of Ketosis... with added Niacin. • Better Appetite., vitamin package and yeast increase appetite. • Improved Breeding... by reducing stress and supplying extra vitamins. 6 S. Vintage Rd. Rt.B2 Paradise. PA 17562 Unionviile, PA 18375 (717) 442-4183 (215) 347-2377 (717) 768-3301 * Ragistarad tradamarfc of Ralston Purina Company :"> fv ' \ v" ,A' - J ,?'/>*< made up of Juniata, Snyder, Way ne, Mifflin, Indiana, McKean, Northumberland, Sullivan and York counties. One more county association, Lycoming, was col lecting votes and will probably merge soon. That will bring the to tal to 24 counties, including Ly coming, that have merged with Pennsylvania DHIA. Those 24 represent about 20 percent of both the herds and cows enrolled in DHIA in the stale, and about 25 percent of all DHIA supervisors. The process of reorganizing is demanding for DHIA elected leaders and staff. To start off with, each county association presents a merger resolution and merger agreement to the local members to vote on. Preparing and discussing the resolution and agreement can take six trips by staff, or some times more, to attend meetings of the county board and members. Call Us Today kssMuis I PURINA CHOWS | . In order for the merger to go forward, a simple majority, or 51 percent, of all the members in a county association must vote yes to merge. And collecting that many votes can be a difficult task. Just ask the Berks Co. directors. They offered a merger resolution to their members twice last year and failed to get enough votes to carry a decision either way. The members who voted were in favor of merging by a 2 to 1 margin, but the total fell just a few votes short of a simple majority. - The directors and members of the 24 counties who have led the way on reorganization deserve credit. They were willing to lake risks and help us learn about this process as we went along. And thanks to their help, we have a smoother merger process for those coming along later. We still have 34 local associa tions to merge by October 1,1992. That’s more than one a month, al most two, between now and then. And that’s a lot of work and tra vel. If your county hasn’t started to make merger plans yet, you should think seriously about get ting it under way so there will be no last minute crunch next year. If you need someone to talk to about it, call me, or Jim Garrity at 800-344-8378. We’ll be glad to .talk with you. Pennsylvania l>air> T" Impruuimnl Absolution's Average Farm Feed Costs For Handy Reference To help farmers across the state to have handy reference of com modity input costs in their feeding operations for DHIA record sheets or to develop livestock feed cost data, here’s this week’s average costs of various ingredients as compiled from regional reports across the state of Pennsylvania. Remember these are averages so you will need to adjust your figures up or down according to your loca tion and the quality of your crop. We Unverf< gentle That rru and othi cropper availabi Unverfei grain bo; lb find call today 1-800-322-6301 VEGETABLE GROWERS WANTED Large Pa. Vegetable Packing House Looking For Pepper & Cucumber Growers. Will Be Holding Meeting For New And Existing Growers 10:00 A.M. Friday, March 1, 1991 At Hilltop Farm Inc. RD #3 Box 186, Violet Rd. Mifflinburg, PA 17844 Speakers; Mike Orzeleck - Penn State Univ. Doyle Grenoble - Penn State Univ. Local County Ext. Agents This Meeting Good For Pesticide License Points. Lunch Will Be Provided For More Information Call (717) 966-9700 Gary Boyer Paul Zimmerman Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 9, 1991 FOCUS Call 1-800 DHI'TEST for service or information Com, No. 2y - 2.51 BU, CWT. Wheat, No. 2 - 2.64 BU CWT. Barley, No. 3 - 2.04 BU CWT. Oats, No. 2-1.45 BU CWT. Soybeans, No. 1 - 5.48 BU CWT. New Ear Com-62.33 BU. CWT. Alfalfa Hay - 100.00 BU, CWT. Mixed Hay - 87.50 BU CWT. Timothy Hay - 80.00 BU, CWT. 419-532-3121 • FAX 419-532-2468 Tfelex 265026