VoL 42 No. 27 Nonpathogenic Avian Virus Found, Industry Quick To Control EVERETT newswanger Managing Editor MANHEIM-MT. JOY (Lancas- R*r Cr.) The continuing efforts i*She allied poultry industry in rtttinsylvania and the scientific research into how the avian influenza virus operates will keep the latest outbreak of the dreaded disease at the nonpathogenic level. Richard and Sandra Wizar stand next to their farm busi ness sign. Richard said that using the principles of busi ness learned at Bell Atlantic know where you spend your money —helped him develop a successful retirement fanning business. He said that now he has the best of both worlds. Retired Couple Agricultural VERNON ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Farming Staff WEST CORNWALL (Lebanon ' Co.) Catering to an agricultural niche market, Richard and Sandra Wizar, owners of Wizar’s Country Bttursety, said they have found their retirement Shangri-la in an old farmstead they turned into a country nursery. The nursery is located in West Cornwall Township, near Richard’s boyhood home in Cornwall. Starting with a more than 165-year-old farmstead in need of repair, over the past 12 years, espe cially the past five, they built a Four Sections That’s the hope of industry lead ers as they moved swiftly on Tues day to depopulate 154,000 hens in three houses on a farm in the Manheim-ML Joy area. A mm pathogen sixain of die virus was discovered in the birds exhibiting symptoms of the disease. The virus was confirmed by the U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture and all flocks within a five mile radius arc being Establishes Business family home-business that now employs six people full time, including Richard and Sandra, and three part-time people. They started out with a Christ mas tree operation on the farm *s 40 acres, after renting out some of the land for crops to others for a couple of years while they were fixing up the house for themselves. At the time they were both employed by Bell Atlantic. Since they retired (Richard five yean ago, Sandra last year), their side business has quickly blos somed into a three-part, full-time business landscaping and (Turn to Pago A 32) Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 10, 1997 tested. While a flock in Lebanon Coun ty was depopulated in February after a nonpathogen strain of the virus was discovered, this is the first time a commercial flock has been found to have the virus in Lancaster County since the disease devastated the state’s poultry industry 14 years ago. This time both the Lebanon flock and now the Lancaster flock were depopu lated as a precautionary measure because the earlier episode also started as a nonpathogen strain. Later as the nonpathogenic strain passed through a number of flocks it mutated into a highly pathogenic strain that affected nearly every flock in the state. John Hoffman of the Pennsylva nia Poultry Federation said that because of Pennsylvania’s experi ence with avian influenza years ago, the state’s poultry industry doesn’t hesitate to take immediate action once a flock is diagnosed. “Like now, at that time the birds were not highly affected,” Hoff man said. “We thought with sum- Farm Show Director Notes Economic Impact Of Fairs ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff BLUE BALL (Lancaster Co.) —A recent study on the economic importance of fairs conducted by Penn State for the Pennsylvania Farm Show Commission came up with some interesting figures. For one thing, the Farm Show in Harrisburg generates $7O million in economic activity in the capitol region, said Dennis Grumbine, Pennsylvania Farm Show director. TIM state Fann Show generates $7O million In economic activity In the caphol rag* lon, said Dennis Gmmblne, Pennsylvania Farm Show director, center. Grumblne •poke Wednesday night at the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs (PBACF) Zone 4 meeting to 156 people at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord In Blue Ball. From left, Beverly Gruber, Zone 4 secretary; Grumblne; and Sally Molt, Zone 4 chairman. mer coming the virus would disap pear on its own, so we didn’t get alarmed. But it continued and by October it turned pathogenic. Once that happened, it spread quickly through the county, and the state mandated the slaughter of 17 mil lion birds over a year’s time to eradicate the disease at a cost of more than $lOO million. Dairy Cooperatives Agree To Discuss Consolidation INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. Four of the nation’s largest dairy mar keting cooperatives have signed a memorandum of understanding to continue discussions that could lead to the formation of a new dairy marketing cooperative that would market about 25 percent of the nation’s milk. The decision follows a joint meeting of the four organizations’ boards of directors, in which the main topic of discus sion was the consolidation of as sets and operations to form an, as n Grumbine spoke Wednesday night at the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs (PSACF) Zone 4 meeting to 156 people at the Shady Maple Smor gasbord in Blue Ball. Grumbine, who farms 300 acres in Lebanon County and owns sev eral ag businesses, challenged the members of local fair boards to “lake a look at what the economic vitality is of the fair when it comes to the local area,” he said, as com- $28.50 Per Year “Because of our experience, we don’t make the mistakes of the past We are doing everything pos sible to not allow an epidemic to occur again,” Hoffman said. Of course, the loss to individual poultry farmers is dramatic. The family this week lost $lOO,OOO from the destroyed birds, and (Turn to Pag* A 39) yet unnamed, consolidated organi zation. The two-day meeting fol lows nearly five months of analy sis and discussion among the four organizations’ leadership to reach agreement on key issues involved in such a consolidation. Cooperatives involved in the consolidation discussions are: As sociated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) of Arlington, Texas; Mid- America Dairymen Inc. (Mid- Am) of Springfield, Missouri; (Turn to Page A3O) pared with how the Farm Show affects the ag industry throughout the commonwealth. He urged the many fair commit tee volunteers and those who help organize fairs to use some “crystal ball gazing” tactics and come up with some numbers. These num bers relate to the people needed by exhibitors at the fairs, including veterinarian services, trucking, food suppliers, as well as local (Turn to Page At 9) 60t Per Copy
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