Farm Forum
(Continued from Pag* A 10)
we need more assessments just to
get 12.60 milk for 1992?
Now, if this two-tier or HR
2837 passes, the cattlemen will be
in our pockets for 3 Ic/cwl for beef
price support, (Which would
come out to about $1500.00/year
for a farmer shipping 500,000 lbs
times 4 years would be about
$6,000 over the life of this bill), 5c
assessment for running the prog
ram, and the good Lord only
knows how much of a deduction
to help defray costs of the WIC
and child nutrition programs- if
the cost of milk goes up!! All the
dairy farmer does is funnel money
from his temporary increase to
other peoples’ pockets.
Add to all those deductions that
congress could fit into a bill the
probable requirement that farmers
will be forced into the govern
ment’s crop programs; sodbuster,
swampbuster, crop reporting, etc.,
and you have a no win situation
for all dairy farmers. The milk
market isn’t setting prices for rea
sons I outlined above and every
farmer that milks cows will be
forced to pay for more non-farm
programs. Do com farmers pay for
ATTENTION
FARMERS
MINERAL
PROGRAMS!
If you are
how Purina and Hess Mills
s’s and possibly
milk production
can save you
increase
give us a
numbers
6 S. Vintage Rd.
Paradise, PA 17562
(717)442-4183
Mi (717)768-3301
higher com flake prices to WIC
recipients? Do wheat farmers pay
for higher bread prices to schools
and child nutrition programs? Do
Peanut farmers and grape growers
pay assessments to schools and
the USDA because Peanut butter
and Jelly prices rose over the last
year? No, not on your life. To sell
our souls for 12.60 milk and a two
tier system now will only drag us
down deduction by deduction!
It is quite ironic that with the
collapse of the Soviet system, our
federal legislators want to export
our farm technology to that coun
try. The Soviets should stay away
from any of our domestic dairy
programs, which are becoming
more and more destructive to the
very farmers the government is
trying to help. Republican Sen.
Lugar of Indiana called Thursday
for the elimination of the market
ing order program, saying IT
caused- the surplus. Now it really
escapes me as how Federal Order
2 or Federal Order 4 creates a milk
surplus! USDA Secretary Madi
gan says he doesn’t understand
how the Federal Order system
works, and maybe its usefulness is
past.
ON
interested
your
call at any of the
listed below;
TM - Registered trademark of Purina Mills.
kssMus
| PURINA CHDWSJ
Rt.B2
Unionville, PA 18375
(215)347-2377
* Registered trademark of Ralston Purina Company
Unfortunately, dumping milk is
not the answer. Dumped milk
becomes “industrial waste”
according to PA DER and I would
hate to have someone know where
MY milkhouse waste goes!! The
dairy farmer is misunderstood
enough and having the media pick
up on tankers dumping milk
throws gasoline on the fire and
gives our adversaries more
ammunition against us.
Diversions could be the solu
tion, but the logistics of setting up
a farmer-controlled parallel sys
tem of processing and distribution
are presently insurmountable.
To succeed you must be able to
withdraw milk from the dealer or
manufacturer until their pipelines
dry up and it must be over a large
enough area that milk can’t be
trucked in. If 95% of the farmers
go along, you would have the
added advantage of the dealer/
handler only processing 5% of
normal supplies for about the
same costs as processing 100%.
The more unreimbursed costs for
the processor, the better the far
mer’s situation. The coops would
be hurt by failing to live up to then
contracts, but they will be more
hurt in the long run if there are no
farmer-members left
You then with good
coverage give your milk
seeing
in
consumer at cost; (90c/gallon).
When the first hand-written sign
appears in the supermarket dairy
case that customers are limited to
1 gallon or such, the farmer will
have won. Minicams, skycams,
satellite cams will quickly spread
the word that milk is rationed and
consumers will become concerned
about something (milk) they have
never given much thought And
really, that is all we as farmers are
asking for, is give us some consid
eration to our situation.
Frank Bertrand
Towanda
Editor:
We as dairy farmers all know
something has to be done about
the price of milk. There is a lot of
talk around, but no real positive
action. The government has con
trol and is in no hurry to help. We
use the word help loosely. One
group wants to dump milk. What
good would come of this? Short
term, if any and very self destruc
tive. Others are out there making
high demands that sound great
Best a farmer with any knowledge
of the market knows they are not
realistic.
Do we have to wait for the gov
ernment? No! Do we have to
dump milk? No! What do we do to
get the price of milk up? It’s very
simple and best of all the time is
press
to the
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RD #2 Box 28 Pleasant Valley Rd., Ephrata, PA 17522
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 7, 1991-A23
right. With the drought condition
and the shortage of forages, let’s
all just cut back three percent
That is just 30 pounds of every
1000 pounds we ship. Feed less
feed, feed more milk for a longer
time to calves and cull cows.
These actions will save money,
make money, and do the industry
long-term good. We can put the
control in our hands, set back and
watch the price of milk go up. We
wouldn’t have to pay assessments
or pay the cattleman association
off to do it either.
We all know the strength we
would have if we unite. We can no
longer wait for someone else to
make the first move. No matter
how few or how many cows you
have that three percent united
would make us financially stron
ger. If you like putting up signs,
put one up that says “We Cut
Back” or better yet just do it.
Editor:
Thank you for the Dairy of Dis
tinction farm photograph. Dairy
farming is difficult this year and a
pretty view of our home and busi
ness is a pleasure to have.
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Montrose
Olive C. Thomson
Wyalusing
(Turn to Pago A 24)