fOL. 38 NO. 20
Pennsylvania Officials:
DHIA Set For Future
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
MONROEVILLE (Allegheny
Co.) —With an up-beat tenor, offi
cials of the Pennsylvania DHIA
look the opportunity at the annual
meeting late last week to say the
state organization was moving
ahead with new and flexible prog
rams to meet every dairy farmer’s
need and selective desire. And with
the newly approved national by
laws that eliminate geographical
boundaries. President Frank Omcr
said the board of directors took “a
real hard look to get in position for
the competitive arena DHIA seems
to be taking on.
“We need to pul the past behind
and look to the future,” Omcr said.
“We need to improve the organiza
tion, make things better for the
members, look at the opportunities
in each situation instead of dwell
ing on what we are losing.
“Sometimes we look at the big
Phila. Rep. Wants More Benefits For Farmworkers
VERNON ACHENBACH, JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) A state Democratic rep
Cliff and Sue Martin with daughters, Amy, Kim, and Audrey find that raising minia
ture horses Is a hobby the whole family enjoys. For more about the Martins and their
Pinto Park Miniature Horses, turn to page 82. Photo by Lou Ann Good.
Four Sections
picture; at the same time we don’t
want to forget the little problems
because they could become the big
problems we deal with down the
line. Don’t be afraid to share your
concerns, large or small, with the
directors.”
Because Extension has received
decreased funding from state
appropriations, Omer announced a
cooperative joint effort with
Northeast DHIA to fund research
projects. “We rely heavily on work
that extension does for the deve
lopment of new programs and
programs we are working with
now,” Omer said. “We hope a year
from now we will be able to have
some proposals of items we can be
working on jointly between Penn
Slate and Cornell and between
some other universities in north
eastern U.S.”
Beside this joint research pro
ject, Omer said Pennsylvania has
been working with Northeast and
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resentative from Philadelphia
Thursday introduced a package of
legislative proposals into the
House of Representatives that
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 27, 1993
The formation of the Clyde S. Robinson Leadership Award was announced at the
Pennsylvania DHIA annual meeting. Bill Jackson, vice president, presents a memorial
clock to Clyde’s wife Marie Robinson and children, from left, Bev Minor, Connie Lusk,
and Robert Robinson.
would increase the cost to hire
farmworkers, in an effort to make
farmworker benefits here coincide
with benefits afforded industrial
laborers.
The proposal would alter three
main labor laws the 1936
Unemployment Compensation
Law; the 1937 Pennsylvania Labor
Relations Act, dealing with collec
tive bargaining and unionizing;
and the 1978 Seasonal Farm labor
Act.
FDA’s VMAC Sets
Public Hearing On BST
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
WASHINGTON D.C. The
controversial bovine growth hor
mone, otherwise known as bovine
somatotropin (BST), is apparently
nearing the end of its official Food
and Drug Administration review
process.
If no valid objections can be
made to the use of manufactured
BST, it can be expected that the
biotechnological product would
make its entry onto the U.S. com
mercial market late this summer or
fall, according to observers.
Several manufacturers with
rights to produce BST-like pro
ducts have been waiting for years
for a go-ahead decision from FDA
to make the product available
commercially.
The companies may not have to
wait much longer, pending the out
come of testimony scheduled to be
given during a three-hour period
March 31.
According to a nol-widcly cir
culated announcement, a veterin
ary advisory committee to the
FDA is to meet March 31 at the
Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg, Md.,
to discuss the use of commercially
manufactured types of bovine
somatotropine (BST) for use in
608 Per Copy
Sponsoring the bill, state Rep.
Mark Cohen, House majority
Whip, would not consent to a tele
phone interview because of a busy
schedule, according to Michael
Cassidy, his assistant.
However, this past week Cohen
introduced the proposed legisla
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cows to stimulate the production of
milk.
The national Center for Veterin
ary Medicine (CVM), part of the
FDA, has already concluded that
the use of BST docs not pose a
threat to human health.
But that doesn’t mean that it will
be received by all the public with
open arms.
About the same lime as the
CVM announcement, two farm
organizations and a consumer
group lobbied the White House to
(Turn to Page A 22)
Staff Writer
Wins PNPA Honor
For Water Series
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
Andy Andrews, staff writer for
Lancaster Farming, will be hon
ored with a second place award in
the Pennsylvania Newspaper
Publishers’ Association (PNPA)
Keystone Press contest in May.
Andrews won for Division VI,
weekly newspapers with more
than 10,000 circulation, fora scries
on how farmers can identify and
manage water quality problems in
a three-part senes. The scries
(Turn to Page A 34)
$19.00 Per Year