A22-lwc—tr Farming, Saturday, January 1, 1994 (ConUniMd tram Pag* A 1) Then during the summer, some areas of the state didn’t receive enough rainfall for com and some other crops to reach potential. Medically, 1993 was historic for the life-saving operation per formed on state Gov. Robert Casey. Casey, who appeared palid and wobbled at his podium during a June 1 press conference to public ize his May 22 signing of the Nutrient Management Act, became the first governor to receive a heart and liver transplant. Within two weeks of the mock signing held at a Middletown dairy farm, the governor was in Pitts burgh receiving the heart and liver of a young man who had been beaten to death. Gov. Casey went into the hospi tal on June 11 and had the surgery on June 14. And, on Dec. 21 Casey returned to office, though still under con stant medical care and testing. That alone, in most previous years, may have been held as the most significant event But there were other significant events. On June 22, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, in con junction with the U.S. Senate Agri culture Committee, headed by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VL, held an unprecedented national dairy con ference at the York County Fairgrounds. The attempt was to determine what consensus of opinion may be within the dairy industry, as far as national policies. The dairy industry appeared as divided as ever on which route to take to prevent the loss of the fami ly dairy farm operation, make milk pricing more fair to the producer, and retain a producer’s own decision-making independence. However, most all in attendance said they considered the effort worthwhile. And, milk marketing has changed. There is now Class in pricing to fit in with Class I and Class n, in order to arrive at a bet ter blend price, more reflective ol the uses of milk. In August, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board was reaffirmed by U.S. dairymen as an effective tool to support the marketing and sale of milk and milk products, despite a small, but vocal group of opponents based in the Midwest (The group formed in opposition to BST and called for the demise of the National Dairy 1993 wm the year for ths Pennsylvania Farmers Association to changa its nama to tha Psnnsylvania Farm Buraau. Hars tha association’s banner rides above a table of gubernatorial hopafulls during tha association’s annual convention in November. 1993: A Year To ChdUe Board because it used dairy fanner funds to attempt to educate the public on the safety of milk, whether or not supplemental BST has been used.) The situation of the national Dairy Herd Improvement Associa tion and its affiliates has changed greatly. State borders no longer apply. Data processing centers in the East are serving dairy opera tions in the West And laptop computers are com monplace in dairy bams. Also, on July 31, in Madison, Wise., the National DHIA and Holstein Association held its first joint session to consider ways to make the services better. Wetlands issues and water issues garnered more public atten tion this past year. Recently, a U.S. judge in the Western Pennsylvania District ruled in favor of an Erie County farmer who had been battling the Environmental Protection Agency to continue wetlands conversion on his farm that his father began under the approval and support of the U.S. Department of Agricul ture more than 20 years ago. While that decision is still open to appeal by the federal govern ment, and its potential application to other cases may be very limited, some politicians, such as U.S. Congressman Tom Ridge, R-Erie, are calling for more changes. Specifically, Ridge, one of many campaigning to governor of Pennsylvania, has been building a platform that calls for restructuring the state Department of Environ mental Resources to eliminate mixed enforcement from the same agency. As a federal representative, he is also seeking changes in the federal Clean Water Act to make it easier for the layperson to understand the complexities of water cycles and what kinds of land protections are necessary to ensure naturally clean water. In other areas, the domestic tobacco industry seemed to have been hurt with aggiesive govern mental prohibitions on public smoking and health warnings, increased taxes, and price wars. Thousands of tobacco factory workers were given pinfcslips this past year, seeming to end the huge influence and prosperity enjoyed by that industry, at least domestically. The politics in Harrisburg haven’t seemed to stop changing and adjusting after a relatively large slate of freshmen entered the -v %, ' ■' Falling at a rata of 4-inehaa par-hour, tha March 13 Blizzard of tha Cantury locked up travel and back roada for up to three day* and prevented aome milk from being ahipped to handiere. Robthom Suzet Paddy, a 6-yaar-old Holatein set a world record for verified milk pro duction and is honored at the 1993 World Dairy Expo. From the left are owners Robert and Mariann Thomson, Nancy Thomson and daughter Laura; and Alton, Janet and son Eric Ling. Also shown is Steve Kerr, CEO of the National Holstein Association. House and, the Senate became controlled by the Democrats. Understandi Most recently, in the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party’s majority control seems to have been threatened by some of the younger crowd switching par ties and increasing the Republican ranks. There has been almost no dairy industry reaction to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Monsanto Corp.’s commercial form of bovine soma totropin (BST), which is to be used to stimulate a lactating cow’s pro duction of milk. Monsanto’s BST, called “Posi lac,” is the first biotechnological product based on recombinant DNA techniques to be used direct ly to produce food. There are many more biotech nological products, made by using direct genetic manipulations, that are waiting to be introduced to the public’s food supply, according to a number of industry sources. The industry awaits the public reaction. But determining public reaction has been changing. While it has never been easy to To V '!%* vV ' ascertain the opinions of the mas ses, it seems to be getting more dif ficult because of the increasing number of self-appointed spokes persons for the general public. It seems as though “represent ing” the public has become a new full-time job in the United States. It was announced this year that there are now more than double the number of “non-profit" oiganiza tions seeking money to help sup port causes and ideologies than there were in the 1980 s. However, in order to determine public opinion, there is still nothing more reliable than careful ly worded, unbiased, well conducted and documented poll ing and research. Achievements for 1993 are also many, depending on whom is defining the events. From the perspective of the state Pepaitment of Agriculture (PDA), there is much to build upon in 1994 which was achieved in 1993. State funding was allocated for a new veterinary diagnostic laborat ory. and Urban Consultants Inc., of (Turn to Pago A 23) f* «
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers