Vol. 42 No. 51
White House Gets Local Pumpkin
Pumpkins generated a lot 6? excitement this week at Stauffer Farms In
Columbia. Jim Stauffer, fruit and produce seller, shipped a 320-pound
pumpkin to the White House. This was the fourth year Stauffer was asked
to supply the White House pumpkin. The pumpkin was grown in the back
yard of Tammy and John Williams of Fawn Grove. Jim, seated In wagon,
and his dad Jay grow 300 acres of produce and contract from other farmers
to supply BaHlmore-Washington markets with fresh produce. Photo by Lou
Ann Good.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. Dairylea
Cooperative Inc. celebrated
another year of substantial growth
and unproved financial position at
its 1997 Annual Meeting held
October 14 and IS in Liverpool,
N.Y.
During his presentation,
Dairylea Chief Executive Officer
Rick Smith reported that the
Cooperative had an annual profit
of $1.4 million dollars, increasing
32 percent from the previous year.
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Honorary Chairman Noah W.
Kreider, Jr. launched Lancaster
Farmland Trust’s 1997-98 Annual
Funding Campaign to save Lan
caster County farms. This week
Kreider gave Board of Trustees
President Phyllis C. Whitesell an
envelope containing $30,000 in
donations already received at an
Amish presaved farm, located just
Graziers Featured
In the next issue of Lancaster Farming (Nov. 1) we include Forag
ing Around, a special section dedicated to the forage grower and gra
zier, with information supplied by the Pennsylvania Forage and Grass
land Council (PFGC).
Foraging Around is published four times per year. Look for an
interview with a producer who makes use of hay drying technologies,
sound advice on pasture and forage management from producers
throughout the state, and management tips from cooperative exten
sion. Also included will be information on the state grazing confer
ence, a message from the PFGC president, news of upcoming meet
ings, Research data, and infarction.
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4 Sections
Dairylea Cooperative Reviews Year of Growth
Additionally, sales continued trek
king upward to almost $699 mil
lion, increasing 17.6 percent, con
tinuing the growth pattern of
recent years. Premiums paid to
members, over the blend price, tot
aled close to $15.6 million, up 29
percent from the previous year.
Equity in the Cooperative grew
over $1 million dollars, or 9.3
percent
‘Tor the last eight years, our
milk marketings have grown more
Lancaster Farmland Trust Launches Funding Campaign
North of Greenfield Industrial
Park.
Kreider, a Manheim area fanner
and businessman who has pre
served several farms himself said,
“The work of Lancaster Farmland
Trust is crucial to ensure that farm
ing remains economically viable
for today and for future
generations.”
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 25,1997
than 10 percent each year. This
year, we expect milk marketing
volumes to increase again. This
growth, combined with other fac
tors across the United States, will
likely find Dairylea ranked as the
seventh largest dairy cooperative
in the United Slates,” announced
Smith.
More than 7 SO member-farmers
and industry guests attended the
two-day event, which included
Smith’s presentation and an annual
Noah Krelder, Jr., honorary chairman, gives Phyllis C. Whltesell, board of trustees
president, an envelope containing $30,000 In donations already received for the Lan
caster Farmland Trust annual funding campaign. The preserved Amish farm pictured
is located Just north of the Greenfield Industrial Park. In the photo from left, Philip W.
Klmmel, campaign coordinator; Whltesell; Thomas D. Stouffer, executive director;
Krekfer; and John H. Schwartz, board president elect.
’***
Pennsylvania Milk Marketing
Board Approves 40-Cent Increase
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) The
Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board
(PMMB) on Tuesday announced it has
approved a 40-cent increase in its Class I
minimum over-order premium, effective
Nov. 1.
The total PMMB over-order premium is
to be $1.20 per hundred pounds (cwt.) of
Class I milk, and is to remain until the end
of April 1998.
The over-order premium is an amount
that Pennsylvania dairy processors must
pay Pennsylvania dairy farmers, on top of
the federally set minimum price, for using
and selling that milk as drinking milk
(Class I).
The PMMB over-order premium has
been 80 cents per hundredweight (cwt.)
since April 1996.
It was due to drop to SO cents per cwt. on
May 1, where it has been for some time.
But the PMMB held a hearing in early
April to gather testimony, and followed up
with retaining the 30-cents through April
1998.
At the time, the dairy industry exper
ienced an unexpected $4-drop in the price
of milk, officially due to low cheese prices,
and extraordinarily high feed prices.
In late September, State Secretary of
$28.50 Per Year
address by Dairylea President
Clyde Rutherford.
Smith also reviewed a myriad of
Dairy lea’s new projects and activi
ties that fulfilled its mission state
ment of maximizing net returns at
the farm through effective milk
marketing and providing valuable
services and programs.
In outlining the Cooperative’s
commitment for the coming year.
Smith said, “We will relentlessly
innovate, upgrade, and improve
Agriculture Samuel Hayes Jr. initiated a
request of the PMMB to hold a hearing to
consider the over-order premium in light
of the current dairy price situation.
The PMMB held that hearing Oct. 10
and gathered testimony.
Then, this week, the board met Tuesday
in a special Sunshine meeting. (A state law
that defines the public’s access to the deal
ings of government is called the Sunshine
law.)
After considering the testimony, they
unanimously approved increasing the
over-order premium by 40 cents, by
amending its previous order.
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Set Clocks
Back Tonight
It’s time to change from Daylight
Saving Time back to Eastern Standard
Time. The official lime we “fall back”
one hour j& at 2 a.m. Sunday morning,
Oct. 26. To get that extra hour of sleep,
turn the blocks back one hour before
you go to bed Saturday night. Animal
feeding and milking schedules also
need to be adjusted accordingly.
our performance and service to our
members by 1. enhancing price
and reducing costs; 2. doggedly
supporting and promoting the
Dairy Compact in our region, as
well as pursuing all other avenues
that are rational to enhance price at
the farm; 3. intensifying our efforts
to reduce costs at the farm to
improve cash flow for fanner
members.”
In delivering his annual address
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600 Per Copy