Lancaster farming. (Lancaster, Pa., etc.) 1955-current, November 05, 1994, Image 1
Ssfif eta rlT^irmlim y?iQ fl MU If vol. 39 NO. 52 Hershey Chocolate, Atlantic Dairy Announce Long-Term Supply Agreement EVERETT NEWSWANGER Managing Editor SOUTHAMPTON (Bucks Co.) and HERS HEY (Dauphin Co.) Atlantic Dairy Cooperative and Hershey Choco late U.S.A., a division of Hershey Foods Corporation, jointly announced Tuesday that the dairy cooperative will supply the confectionery company with all its raw milk needs in Pennsylvania. The announcement was made by Michael Pasquale, president, Hershey Chocolate, and Robert Dever, Atlan tic’s chief executive officer. For the last 10 years Atlantic has had Hershey as a customer, but Hershey has also bought milk directly from 722 farms in southeast Pennsylvania. Under the new agreement, these fanners will be offered membership in Atlantic, which currently represents 3,500 dairy Two Farms Tie For Pa.DHIA Herd Management Award VERNON ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Farming Staff (Part 1 of 2) BERN VILLE (Ber v k»*. Co.) For the past several years, ihe Pennsylvania Dairy Herd Improvement Association has annually presented county level awards and a top state herd dairy herd management award in recog nition of members who have made significant achievements in impro ving the management of their herds. This year two herd manage Lancaster Farming Now 39 Years Old Lancaster Farming had a birthday this week. On November 4,1955, the first issue appeared in rural mailboxes. Since that time the paper has expanded in size and circulation with 51,000 copies sent out to our farm readers each week. Coverage of farm and agribusiness news, markets, features, col umns, and advertising for the farm market continues to be the emphasis of this farm newspaper. The All-Pennsylvania Aged Cow is Justa Beauty Trixie Use for Guy and Sharon Hammond, Carlisle. Please turn to page A-27 for a full pic torial report of the All- Pennsylvania winners. 60g Per Copy farm families in the Middle Atlantic region. According to Dever, the new agree ment benefits both companies and will result in increased income for the dairy producers currently supplying Hershey with milk. John Long, Hershey Foods Corpora tion, agrees. “We are always looking to make our operation more cost effec tive,” Long said. “But from the farmers ’ point of view, we have always bought all their milk whenever they produced it and sold whatever excess we may have had into the Class 1 market. However, we did npt do enough of this to be able to increase the blend price to the far mers as much as a cooperative such as Adantic Dairy has been able to do. So we think the move is good for us and good for the farmers also. ments tied as the top herd managers Fantasyland Farm in Berks County, and Mark and Campbell in Armstrong County, The awards are based on various dairy herd management aspects and points are awarded to those aspects. The basic qualifications, according to the awards oudine, are that end-of-year data (end of September each year) is used, that herds must be on official test, that herds must have at least 10 cow years and 10 tests for the most recent cow year, that the top three herds in each breed with 20 or more official tests will be recog nized, and all information for the entire testing year will be used. As far as determining winners, the Pa DHIA has a point system based on milk production increases per cow, protein and fat production increases, and pounds of peak milk milk production, the average days to peak production, (Turn to Pag* A3O) Berks Farm-City Council Honors Grange, Ag Reporter ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff READING (Berks Co.) More than 380 farm friends from a -wide range of industries met at the 11 ih Annual Berks County Farm- City Banquet Thursday evening at The Inn at Reading. What they learned, according to exchange representatives from (arming and industry, is that there are distinct parallels between farm and non-farming businesses, according to Chip Lutz, president of Sentry Abstract Company. Lutz exchanged experiences by spending a day with sheep farmer Joe Vogel, Stony Run Farm, Kempton. He said that farmers should be granted the right to com pete on an “even keel” and that his experience allowed him to Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 5, 1994 David and Martha Pool and family were co-winners of the top Pa.OHI A herd manage ment award. From the left is son Elliot, David, Martha with baby Caitiyn, and daughter Lynette. * ‘gamer a new respect for the kind ot work that goes into farming,” he said. ' Vogel, president of the Berks County Sheep and Wool Growers, manages a herd of 8Q Columbia ewes on his farm. Vogel called the farm-city exchange program “a great way of getting people from Pa. State Grange Holds Annual Convention CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.) The Pennsylvania State Grange last week held its 122nd annual convention at the Embers Convention Center in Carlise, reviewing policy, honoring mem bers and'electing officials. Gordon Hiller, of Lycoming County, was reelected master for And since Hershey is already Atlan tic’s third largest customer, the agree ment will not affect prices paid to cur rent Atlantic members. Robert McSpar ren, president of Atlantic Dairy, said the move is good for everyone. “Without customers we don’t need members,” McSparren said. “Because of our businesslike dealings with Her shey over the last 10 years, they have seen us as a reliable source of the milk supply they need. And for the farmers, we have the over-order pricing and the returned profits (an extra nickel in Sep tember) to make it good. Since we are a regional cooperative, we can’t control the national market But what we dois in the 30 to SO cent bracket “This agreement allows both compa nies to concentrate on what they do best,” Dever said. “Hershey Chocolate the city together.” Vogel said the program promotes “the total understanding of from whence each other comes.” Vogel was provided a tour of the abstracting business and was unpressed with the high-tech deve lopments in title searching and record-keeping. another two years. The position of master is equivalent to that of a president in a more modern organization. In the position of master, Hiller a retired farmer, retired conservation program specialist tor DER, and retired regional director for the state Department of Four Sections U.S.A.’s expertise is in the manufactur ing and marketing confectionery pro ducts. Our expertise lies in marketing milk for dairy fanners for the best pos sible price. “Hcrshey Chocolate U.S.A is a strong supporter of production agricul ture in Pennsylvania,” Dever said. “We look forward to a long and successful business relationship with them.” Pasquale agrees. “We’re very pleased with this agreement,” Pasquale said. “We feel a full-supply contract with Atlantic Dairy Cooperative is in our best interest, as well as the dairy far mers who currently supply us with milk.” The agreement is effective Decem ber 1,1994. In the meantime, all current shippers to Hershey will be offered membership and a milk market by Atlantic. Marlene Firestine, who with husband Mike farm 150 acres of vegetable and other crops and maintain 30 head of registered Polled Hereford cattle on their Womelsdorf farm, said the prog ram “gives you a great insight.’’ Firestine, who toured the offices (Turn to Pago A 36) Agriculture is to be responsible for supervising the state office in Harrisburg and overseeing all state Grange programs, as well as visit ing Granges, hearing concerns, helping members solve'problcms and representing the organization as a member ot various agncullur (Turn to Pag* Al 6) $21.00 Per