A26-Lanca9tar Fuming, Saturday, March 14, 1998
(Condnuad from Pago AID)
Agriculture Research Service
in Beltsville, Md.. leaves Smith
Middle School, 8:15 a.m..
, -sport,
20 at the Chester County Gov-
eminent Building, West
Chester.
Sheep Management Series, York
County 4-H Center, Bair, 7
pjn.-9 pjn.
Horse Pasture Workshop, Blooms
burg, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 pjn.
Northwest Pennsylvania Ag Dairy
Day, Henderson Campus Cen
ter. 8:30 ajn.-2:15 p.m.
Lancaster County Conservation
District Annual Dinner Meet-
ing, Country Table, Mount Joy,
6:30 p.m.
Crawford County Ag/Dairy Day.
Allegheny College, 9:30
ajn.-3:30 p.m.
An Evening With Dr. Michael
Hutchins, University of Illinois
Dairy Nutritionist, Mercer
Howard Johnson’s, 7 pjn.-10
pjn.
Southeast Pennsylvania Grazing
School, Lebanon extension
office, 7:30 p.m.-9 pjn.
National Holstein Association
meeting, Lebanon Ag Center.
7:30 p.m.
Pesticide Recertification Meeting,
UGI Auditorium, Bethlehem, 7
pjn.-9 p.m.
Reproduction Meeting, Clinton
County Cooperative Extension,
Mill Hall, 11 a.m.
Large Animal Veterinarians Dairy
Nutrition Consultants Evening
With Dr. Mike Hutjens, dairy
nutritionist at thfc U. of 111-, at
Howard Johnson’s Restaurant,
Mercer, 7 p.m.
Iridac, March 20
National Anriculture l)a\
Spring Begins
Why Pasture Mat?
Pasture Mat is tiahtlv stuffed with rubber
and sewn every 4” to prevent shifting
Proven most durable top cover
Least abrasive top cover on the market.
Fits any stall.
Proven performance.
For details and installation with over 4 years experience, call
Petersheim’s Cow Mattresses
117 Christiana Pike (Route 372), Christiana, PA 17509
610-593-2242
U S Pat Nu
5653195
Weed School, Chester County
Government Building, West
Chester.
Lebanon County Agriculture
Futures Forum, Elco Middle
School, 7 p.m.
York County 4-H Auction, 4-H
Cento-, 5 pm.
Capitol Area Beekeepers Associa
tion, Pa. Department of Ag
Building, Harrisburg, 7:30 p jn.
S.W. Pa. Regional Dairy Day,
Mountain View Inn, Greens
burn. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Equine Expo, Diamond 7 Arena,
Dillsburg, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Penn State Garden Symposium,
Farm and Home Center, Lan
caster, 8:45 a.m.-3:15 p.m.
Spring Junior Dairy Judging Con-
Moiuhn. Mart'll 23
Pesticide Update Meeting, Fruit
Research Lab, Biglerville, 7
pjn.-9 pjn.
Beef Nutrition. School. Ed’s Steak
House, Bedford, 9:30 a.m.-2:30
pjn n also March 24.
Small Fruit Growers Meeting,
Days Inn, Butler, 9 a.m.-3:10
D.m.
Livestock Housing Workshop,
Mercer County Extension
Office, 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Pesticide Review Exam, Venango
County Extension Office, 7
p.m.-9 p.m., exam March 25,
Venango County Extension, 7
p.m.
Dairy Ag Engineering Confer
ence, Mercer County extension
office, 9:30 ajn.-2:20 pan.
Beef Management Short Course,
York County 4-H Center, Bair,
7:30 p.m,-9:30 p.m., also
March 31 and April 7, 14, 21,
and 28 and Mav 2 and 13.
Pasture Mat
The Golden Standard
In Cow Comfort
The Rewards
• Better Cow Health
• Reduced Leg Injury
• Reduced Swollen Hocks
• More Lactation Per Cow - More Milk
• Reduced Bedding Costs
• Pasture Mats Often Pay For
Themselves Within 6 Months.
Sam Petersheim
National Farmers Union Annual Meeting
ALBUQUERQUE. N.M.
The independent farmer's ability
to make management decisions on
the commodities they produce is
disappearing as markets have be
come more concentrated, accord
ing to an internationally syndi
cated investigative reporter.
Alan Guebert of Delavan, 111.,
told participants in the National
Farmers Union’s 96th Anniver
sary Convention that die nation’s
feedlots, packers, chemical com
panies, seed companies and rail
roads have merged and bought
each other in recent yean, denying
market access to farmers and re
ducing their profits.
In the six largest cattle feeding
states, for example, a third of the
cattle are produced under formal
contracts. In 1997, the ratio was
onc-in-five. While vertically inte
grated pork packers offer attrac
tive premiums to' their contract
producers during low-price
cycles, producers’ receipts remain
fixed when prices are higher.
“When you flatten your risk, you
flatten your profitability,” Guebert
said.
In grain and oilseeds, Guebert
said, Archer Daniels Midland has
emerged from a barely profitable
company in the 1970 s to one of
die largest global market corpora
tions today. ADM currently owns
2,200 barges and 15,000 rail cars.
It is the world's largest cocoa pro
cessor and has purchased a portion
of United Feed Growers of Can
ada, Moorman’s Feeds, 10 percent
of lowa Beef Processors and 30
percent of Minnesota Corn Pro
cessors. Elsewhere. DuPont has
spent $3 billion to purchase part erf
Pioneer Seeds; Continental Grain
has purchased a portion of Pre
mium Standard Farms (PSP): Wf
Smithfield is establishing paik
slaughtering plants in Mexico.
In transportation, Canadian Na
tional, Canada’s largest east-west
railroad, recently purchased pur
chased Illinois Central, the largest
north-south railroad unto the U.S.
and owners of the fourth-largest
railroad in Mexico. Guebert said
all of these mergers and acquisi
tions tie together as these transna
tkmal corporations are positioning
themselves to move commodities
from country to country, taking
advantage of differences in cur
rency exchange rates, labor and
environmental standards and other
factors.
Guebert said biotechnology pri
marily benefited farmers in its
first three or four years, through
products such as insect and herbi
cide-resistant seeds. Now, these
products are produced for the
benefit of end-users, which will
force farmers into planting what
the end-users want hi livestock,
technology has enabled the pro
duction of calves from a single
cell. This patented technology will
mean that producers who produce
New Jersey Reserve
Division Champion
DENVER, Colo. - Dunwalke
Farm of Far Hills, N.J., exhibit
ed the reserve champion divi
sion IV female at the National
Gelbvieh Show during the
National Western Stock Show in
Denver, Colo.
The entry, DWK Parti
Hostess FllO ET, is a May 1996
daughter of KCF Bennett Target
AlO out of PRTY Parti Girl.
PRTY Parti Girl is a two-time
national champion in her own
right.
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calves from these animals must
pay a fee, because the calves be
long to the genetics company.
A new federal farm policy and
global trade are fostering an en
vironment in which the business
decision-making is taken away
from farmers. Guebert said $1.2
billion was spent last year on lob
bying, while over the last 10 yean,
farm policy has been passed that
builds market concentration and
denies market access.
“There’s one word to describe
America: freedom. When laws are
broken or distorted, we lose our
freedom and our souls. That’s
what’s happening in this country,”
he said.
The Gelbvieh breed experi
enced a positive week of activi
ties during the National
Western Stock Show. Entries in
the National Show were up to 25
percent, while the Gelbvieh Pen
Bull Show saw record entries.
The National Sale saw great
excitement and the highest sale
average of all breeds during the
National Western. The Gelb
vieh National Sale saw an aver
age of $6,765 on 33.83 lots.