Congressional Inaction Leaves Dairy Farms’ Fate To Market Forces
(Continued from Page Al 7)
crs Federation. The federation,
which represents many of the
nation’s cooperatives in Washing
ton, was at die forefront of lobby
ing efforts for new legislation.
Those efforts ended when the
Senate, in a close vote in late
November, declined to approve a
proposal that would have raised
the federal government’s milk sup
port price a dollar and established a
voluntary supply management
program. A similar bill already had
been shot down in the House of
Representatives.
The inaction leaves the support
price at its current $lO.lO a hun
dredweight level (for milk contain
ing 3.67-percent butterfat) and
plenty of leeway for the M-W price
to decline.
It was the unprecedented M-W
declines of last fall and winter that
drove area milk prices to their low
est levels in more than a decade
and prompted calls for action from
Washington. The federation came
out in support of a package of
changes that included the support
price boost, an increase in the
amount of non-fat solids the gov
ernment requires in fluid milk and
Flexible Payment Schedules
Fixed Competitive Payments
Get
If you’re a Telmark customer who acts now, you can put the “breaks” on this year’s tax bill. Order your equipment with a
signed lease by December 31, and get 100% tax-deductible payments this year. Plus, with an annual payment schedule, you can
benefit from a large tax write-off this year and not make a second payment for as many as 12 full months. .
You’ll have several more good reasons to look forward to a happy new year. You can lock in your order now and take delivery
in 1992. You’ll enjoy fixed, competitive payments and can choose a payment schedule that allows you to skip payments in the
months or season of lowest income. You also can get whatever you want right now without jeopardizing your ability to fully
depreciate other assets bought earlier in the year*
Find out how lease financing can help you get all the year-end breaks you deserve. Contact your local Telmark representative
today, or call 315-449-7964.
•Leuini docs not iriner the mid-<ju»net convention that can (eoptnlte the depndiUon on uels purchued earlier in your tix ynr
Note Ifeunark* leases are available throughout the Northeast, MI, OH, VA, KY, WV and IN Minimum tease 15,000
©1991 Tttmark Inc.
provision for a voluntary diversion
program in which a producer
assessment would provide funds to
pay those dairymen who elected to
cut back their milk production.
By contrast, current dairy poli
cy, approved as part of the 1991
farm bHI, essentially freezes the
support price at the $lO.lO level. It
also has set up a producer assess
ment to cap the government’s cost
of buying surplus dairy products.
Keller said the federation’s
proposals drew strong opposition
from various groups, including the
National Cattlemen’s Association
and the Milk Industry Foundation,
a trade organization for proces
sors. It also was opposed by offi
cials of the Bush administration,
who favor a continuation of cur
rent policy.
Despite the defeat, federation
officials remain hopeful that some
thing can be done in 1992, Keller
said. If. as feared, seasonal price
declines prove worse than usual,
then, as was the case last year,
“there could be a real crisis for
dairy farmers by spring,” she said.
That would once again stir calls for
new legislation by sympathetic
congressmen.
100%
Year-End Tax Planning
Some Guys
All The Breaks
Deductibility
Fraher’s numbers, which reflect
the over-order premium paid to
most Mid-Atlantic area farmers,
are somewhat more optimistic.
Overall, he said, the average Order
4 producer can expect to realize
about 25 cents more per hundred
weight in 1992 than he did in 1991,
when the average price was about
$12.95 for 3.5-percent-fat milk.
“ A lot is going to depend on how
low we go in the spring in terms of
outlook for the industry,” he said.
Currently, economists are
assuming no major change in fed
eral dairy policy in 1992 and a con
tinuation of the over-order pricing
structure that has been created in
the area, although neither situation
is totally locked in concrete.
The $1.05 premium imposed on
Class I milk sales by the Pennsyl
vania Milk Marketing Board
which is the foundation for the
same premium charged by the
Middle Atlantic Cooperative Milk
Marketing Agency remains in
place through June, according to
PMMB spokesman Tom Kugel.
The board has considered talk of
extending or raising the premium
because of the impact of the past
Telmarklnc.
Agri-Lease.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 14, 1991-A23
summer’s drought, but has yet to
take any action, Kugel said.
The same $1 .OS premium is also
solidly in place in New Jersey as a
result of action by the New Jersey
Department of Agriculture.
Although still under legal chal
lenge from several milk dealers in
that state, the department is col
lecting the premium and distribut
ing payments of about 80 cents a
Lean Budget Adopted
The operating and capital bud
gets for fiscal year 1992, which
began on October 1, 1991, were
adopted by the Pennsylvania
DHIA Board at the July 1991
Board meeting. Both budgets are
conservative and reflect a strong
concern by both the Board and
management for the welfare of
members, many of whom are ex
periencing cash problems caused
by low mil prices in 1991.
The operating budget calls for
no increases in staffing in 1992
and assumes, an average enroll
ment of 335,000 cows each
month. Current enrollment stands
at about 339,000 cows, up from a
DISTRICI7TERRITORY
MANAGERS
DELAWARE
David Lytle
Northern DE
(215) 255-0569
Andrew McLean
Southern DE
(301) 827-5052
MARYLAND
David Lytle
Northeastern MD
(215) 255-0569
Andrew McLean
Eastern MD
(301) 827-5052
Scott Weissmann
Western MD
(301)696-1646
NEW JERSEY
David Lytle
Southern NJ
(215) 255-0569
Lisa Francisco
(201) 948-3956 James Grove
Eastern WV
PENNSYLVANIA (703) 828 ' 2272
Ken Darlington Wayne Morgan
South Central PA Southern WV
(717) 541 -0558 (304) 645-7062
Larry Douthit Scott Weissmann
North Central PA Northeastern WV
(716) 925-8262 (301) 696-1646
OUR SALES DISTRICTS
ARE SET UP TO GIVE YOU
PROMPT SERVICE
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ON THE REPRESENTATIVE
SERVING YOUR AREA, CONTACT
TELMARK INC.
CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPT.
P.O. BOX 4943
SYRACUSE. NY 13221
315-449-7964
Telmarklnc.
hundredweight to New Jersey
dairymen, said Carol Shipp, a
spokesman for the department.
The only gap in this pricing
structure exists in New York,
where the failure to uphold a state
imposed premium under the
Rogers-AUen Act has left indivi
dual dairymen and cooperatives to
bargain directly with handlers for
more money.
low of 334,000 cows in August
Overall income is projected to be
$4,659 million and expenses are
expected to total $4,855 million
yielding a negative margin of
-$196,000. Cash reserves will be
used to cover the shortfall.
Previously planned capital ex
penditures for ’92 were eliminated
in all possible areas resulting in a
budget of $168,000 allocated as
follows: $134,000 for installment
payments for the new data pro
cessing system, $16,000 for a re
placement sample pickup truck,
$B,OOO for new milk meters and a
contingency of $lO,OOO for emer
gency needs.
Lisa Francisco
Eastern PA
(201) 948-3956
Mike Fullam
Central PA
(717) 966-9202
Wayne Holley
North Central PA
(716) 728-3323
Judy Llgo
Northwestern PA
(814) 786-7429
David Lytle
Southeastern PA
(215) 255-0569
Paul Shipper
Southwestern PA
(412) 349-5371
Charlotte Zebley
Northeastern PA
(717) 836-1366
WEST VIRGINIA
Prepare For
1992
Art Show
YORK (York
Co.) It’s not too ear
ly for amatuer and pro
fessional artists, photo
graphers, woodcarvers
and sculpterers to start
thinking about the fifth
annual “Nature and
Wildlife Art Festival”
set for June 21, at Indian
Steps Museum, Airville.
The festival is
designed to proved
artists with (he oppor
tunity to exhibit and sell
work. Only items per
sonally created may be
displayed and offered
for sale and all work
should pertain to the
program’s theme of
nature and wildlife.
The event is co
sponsored by the Con
servation Society of
York County and the
Pennsylvania Power &
Light Co., at Holtwood.
For more information,
or applications for
space, call
(717)764-4318, or write
to June Moyer, 2366
Maple Road, York,
17404.