A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 12, 1994
Rush, Barnett, Diller
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) Three deserving support
ers of cooperative education pro
grams were recently honored at
the Leadership Recognition Ban
quet of the Pennsylvania Council
of Cooperatives’(PCC) Annual
Meeting.
Receiving the Distinguished
Service Award was Jay Rush of
York. For nearly a decade, Jay
Rush has been a supporter of the
Pennsylvania Council of Coopera
tives. He has served the organiza
tion in many capacities, including
council president and several years
as chairman of the finance commit
tee. He is also highly supportive of
employee involvement, allowing
■ for strong representation by York
Farm Credit employees in local
cooperative council activities.
Rush has served as president of
York Farm Credit since 1984.
Prior to joining York in 1982 as
vice president for operations, he
served in various credit officer
positions with Northeastern Farm
Credit in Lewisburg.
Explained nominator Harry
Roth, General Manager of
Atlantic Breeders Cooperative,
“Jay’s diplomacy and judgement
are strong attributes...and his
forthright approach in dealing
with difficult tasks in a trade asso
ciation has set an example for oth
ers as they assume leadership
roles. Pennsylvania cooperatives,
and the cooperative industry in
general, are benefiting by Jay’s
presence. He not only has been a
beacon within the cooperative
industry, he as been a fine ambas
sador and witness to all other
areas of society in behalf of the
cooperative effort.”
Rush was raised on a dairy and
poultry farm in Washington
County. He attended Penn State,
were he received a Bachelor of
Science degree in Agricultural
Mechanization. He then served
in the U.S. Army as an engineer
officer and helicopter pilot from
1969-1972. He is currently
enrolled in the MBA Graduate
Program at York College. Rush
and his wife Joyce have two
sons—Dale and Michael.
James Barnett, member rela
tions manager of Atlantic Dairy
Cooperative, was the 1994 recipi
ent of the PCC Master Educator
Award; he has been a dedicated
supporter of cooperative educa
tion for the past 25 years.
Barnett joined Atlantic Dairy
Cooperative in 1969 as a field rep
resentative and was promoted to
his current position in 1983. As
such, he is responsible for coordi
nating member education pro
grams, including the Young
Cooperator program, which pro
motes leadership development
and cooperative education among
members ages 21 to 40.
In addition, Barnett has played
an integral role in PCC activities
at both the local, regional and
state level. He has served as part
of the on-going staff and planning
committees for both the Summer
Institute for youth and the Coun
cil’s Young Cooperative Leaders
program. He has also taken vital
roles in the implementation of
programs for cooperative employ
ees and extension and vocational
agriculture teachers. Barnett has
served as a member of the PCC
Board of Directors for 4 years.
Concludes PCC President N.
Alan Bair, “Beyond these orga
nized activities, I have observed
Jim many times educating cooper
ative members and non-members
in informal settings. His under
standing of the cooperative way of
doing business, along with his
tremendous network of coopera
tive members, gives him the
opportunity to educate—an
opportunity he exercises naturally
and routinely.”
Barnett and his wife, Susan,
have three children—Christina,
Jason and Jocelyn.
They reside in Strasburg.
Also recognized was Fred D.
Dillner, who as a lifetime educa
tor, began his formal teaching
career at Conneaut Valley High
School in Crawford County and
moved from there to Shippens
burg where he was the teacher of
agriculture and young farmer
instructor for 41 years. During
that time, he was instrumental in
the cooperative venture of pub
. fishing an educational unit plan
for teachers implementing cooper
ative business education with
youth and adults.
Dillner and his wife, Rose,
were also an integral part of the
PCC’s Young Cooperative Lead
ers Program, having served as part
of the permanent planning com
mittee for sixteen years prior to
their recent retirement in 1993.
Moreover, Fred has taken an
active role in many state and local
Council activities for youth,
young farmers, cooperative direc
tors and employees.
PA Cooperatives
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) The Pennsylvania Coun
cil of Cooperatives (PCC) recent
ly hosted their 1994 annual meet
ing on October 12-13, 1994 at the
Penn State Scanticon Conference
Center and Hotel.
Highlighting the program por
tion of the conference was
keynote speaker Joseph Fam
alette, president and CEO of
American Crystal Sugar Company
headquartered in Moorehead,
Minnesota. Famalette urged the
audience of cooperative manage
ment, employees and directors to
challenge existing mindset's and to
face the inevitability of change as
absolutely essential to productive
leadership.
The keynote presentation was
followed by a series of panel dis
cussions focussing on internation
al cooperative opportunities,
director issues and membership
issues. Presenters included Carol
Z. Buckhout, former professor at
the State University of New York
at Morrisville; Robert Cohen,
regional manager for Volunteers
for Overseas Cooperative Action
(VOCA); James Oliver, chair of
the VOCA Volunteer Advisory
Committee; James Barnett, mem
ber relations manager of Atlantic
Dairy Cooperative; Gary Hennip,
sales and service director of Sire
Power; Larry Hiestand, operations
manager for Northampton Farm
Bureau; and Robert Reich, presi
dent and CEO of Northeastern
Farm Credit. Providing a,wrap-up
presentation and discussion of
changes and challenges faced by
National Grape Cooperative was
Patrick O’Donnell, general man
ager and CEO of the organization.
The program’s second day fea
tured an informative discussion of
the PCC/Penn State Joint Agree
ment and the University’s Coop
erative Business Education and
Research Program (CBERP). Par
ticipating were: Dr. Theodore
Alter, professor and head of the
Department of Agricultural Eco
nomics and Rural Sociology,
Samual Minor, dairy producer and
Honored At
Jay Rush, PCC Distin
guished Service Award.
“Fred is highly deserving ot
this prestigious honor,” notes
PCC Executive Director Crystal
Smithmyer. “He truly exemplifies
Hal Doran’s legacy of quiet,"
behind the scenes dedication and
involvement and his entire career
has been committed to the cause
of agricultural and cooperative
education.”
Council
dairy store and restaurant owner
from Washington: Dr. Cathy
Smith, CBERP director; and
Richard Poorbaugh, CBERP pro
gram manager.
The Annual Business Meeting
of the Council welcomed the elec
tion of several new board mem
bers, including: Alfred Calkins,
producer-director of Tri-County
Rural Electric Cooperative; Bon
nie Eno, manager of member rela
tions of Agway, Inc.; Robert
Thomson, producer-director of
Eastern Milk Producers; and
Robert Fox, director of field ser
vices of National Grape Coopera
tive. Re-elected was Harold Mar
tin, producer-director for Dairy
men, Inc.
The Council also voted to
revise their existing dues structure
to provide greater equity among
members, as well as further broad
en opportunities for non-tradition
al cooperative involvement.
The Board of Directors of PCC
met for a brief reorganization
meeting following the member
ship meeting. Highlighting their
activities was the reelection of
Council President N. Alan Bair.
Fred Dinner,
Jamee Barnett, PCC Mas- cooperative Bueinees Edu
ter Educator Award. cator Award.
Dillner holds a Master of Sci
ence degree from Penn State. He
and Rose reside in a lovingly
restored farm house in the Ship
pensburg area.
The Doran Award recognizes
individuals who demonstrate
exceptional dedication and lead
ership in furthering the under-
Reports Annual Meeting
Bair serves as director of member
and public relations for Atlantic
Breeders Cooperative; he has
served as PCC President since
1993. In commenting to the gener
al membership, Bair noted, “Our
board of directors are very dedi
cated and competent people ... I
plan to challenge them to define
the future of PCC and its mis
sion.” He also urged PCC td'keep
up with the ever-changing world
of business, stating that “proactive
rather than reactive will need to be
our byword.”
Northeast DHIA
Imports Management
Technologies
ITHACA, N.Y. Today Dairy
Management Technologies a divi
sion of Northeast DHIA an
nounced jointly with SAE Afikim,
Israel that Dairy Management
Technologies will begin import
ing the Afikim Herd Management
and automatic take-off equipment
directly from Israel effective
immediately. Previously the
equipment was purchased by the
Ithaca based Dairy Management
Technologies from SAE Afikim’s
California Subsidiary.
This change was made to
streamline the path between North
east users‘of the state of the art
herd management equipment and
the Israeli suppliers. The result will
be an immediate reduction in cost
of the equipment and a more direct
information exchange.
' Israel has been touted as hav
ing the most modern dairy pro
duction industry in the world and
has the highest herd average pro
duction.
The Afikim System is the pri
mary cow management equipment
used in Israel and is a dominant
player in the European market. The
equipment can serve as a stand
alone milk meter/take-off or can be
connected to an automatic ID sys-
Meeting
V
standing and importance of coop
eratives in the American business
enterprise system. The award
consists of cash and a Penn State
Nittany Lion statue, and is spon
sored by the Penn State Coopera
tive Business Education and
Research Program. It is made
possible by the Hal F. Doran
endowment fund.
The Pennsylvania Council of
Cooperatives is a statewide asso
ciation of cooperative businesses
owned and controlled by farmers
and rural Pennsylvanians. Its
membership includes major mar
keting and farm supply coopera
tives and Pennsylvania' Farm
Credit Associations and Rural
Electric Cooperatives. Organized
in 1933, PCC is the voice for agri
cultural and rural cooperatives in
Pennsylvania. For more informa
tion contact the PCC office at
Building 2, Suite 104, 600 Chest
nut Avenue, Altoona, PA 16601.
tem that ties together the cow’s
daily production, the electrical
conductivity of her milk and her
activity. The identification tag
includes a pedometer and is worn
on the leg. The antenna for reading
a cow’s identification is located at
each stall in the milking parlor
resulting in exceptional identifica
tion rates. After each milking the
herdsman can get a list of cows to
inseminate and to check for sick
ness, based on the three parame
ters, her activity, the conductivity
of her milk and the changes in the
electrical conductivity of her milk.
“We are very proud to repre
sent equipment like this in the
Northeast and see it as part of our
mission of bringing the best of
herd management technology to
the Northeast Dairy Herd,” stated
Nelvin Empet General Manager
of Northeast DHIA. Dairy Man
agement Technologies also sells
and supports Dairy Comp 305 on
farm herd management software,
in the Northeast including, Maine,
New Hampshire, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Vermont, Penn
sylvania and New Jersey. The
group has also installed the soft
ware as far south as Alabama and
as far east as Bermuda.