Draws Huge Crowd
y
, cneese and milk John Perry > ,eft » a medical technologist with Barnes
are Dairy Ambassador Heather Pease, Susquehanna Kasson outreach program takes a blood sample from Tim
County Dairy Princess Karen Hubbard, and Dairy Maid Booth of Clark Summit. Blood cholesterol screening, blood
Heidi Page. sugar screening, and PSA tests were offered free of
charge to all who requested them.
dangers of trying to time the
market.
“Your goal is to lock in a
stable and profitable price.
Don’t focus on whether you
make or lose money on a futures
position. Focus on whether or
not you make or lose money
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with the combination of your fu
tures position and the cash
sale.”
Selling futures also has costs
including brokerage fees that
must be considered in the total
picture.
Another tool available to
some farmers is forward con
tracting. With this tool, the
farmer would contract with a
buyer at a predetermined price.
“These are gaining in popu
larity partly because of the vola
tility that we are now facing that
EVERYTHIN!] ELSE IS JUST AN INSECTICIDE
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we haven’t seen before,” said
Curley.
Curley said that forward con
tracts are not available to every
one. “Cooperatives are not
required to pay the minimum
blend price, so if you forward
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 25, 2000-029
contract with a cooperative for
$12.00 and the actual price of
milk is $12.50, the cooperative
only pays you $12.00,” ex
plained Curley.
“Once the cooperative is paid
the minimum blend price, they
can do anything they want with
it because in the strictest inter
pretation of the law, once the co
operative is paid, you’re paid.”
The balance of the money
would be retained by the cooper
ative.
Other buyers are required by
law to pay the minimum blend
price, so they don’t offer the
option.
“If an independent processor
would forward contract with
you for a certain dollar amount
and the minimum price would
come in higher, legally, they’re
required to pay the minimum
blend price,” said Curley.
Individual cooperatives also
offer programs to smooth out
the price swings.
“Every cooperative has their
own program that they offer and
they’re all a little bit different, so
you need to sit down and look at
them all,” said Curley.
Playing the futures market and forward
contracting are not tools that everyone could
use.
“These programs are designed to smooth
out the rough spots,” said Curley.
In other Dairy Day activities, winning pies
included a peanut delight pie by Robin
Campbell, a cream puff pie by Kay Gow, and
an apple pie by Jean Castrogiovanni.
Proceeds from the pie auction were divided
between the Dairy Princess Program and Sus
quehanna County 4-H. This year $2,730 was
raised from 30 pies, with the high seller going
for $265.
Also at the event, health screening tests in
cluding PSA tests for men and blood sugar
and cholesterol screenings were offered free
of charge.
“We’ll do about 80 blood tests today,” said
John Perry, a medical technologist with
Barnes Kasson Hospital. “We come here as a
way to give back to the community.”
Also offered were tetanus vaccinations,
testing of the respiratory capacity of the
lungs, and a blood oxygen concentration test.
AD ADC Makes
The Best Hot
Chocolate
SYRACUSE, N.Y.-When temperatures
drop, the best way to warm yourself inside
and out is with a steaming cup of hot choco
late-made with milk-of course!
This winter, American Dairy Association
and Dairy Council, Inc. (ADADC) Commu
nications staff set out to show consumers the
trendiest and tastiest ways to enjoy this favor
ite treat.
To kick off the first day of winter and to
show consumers just how much better hot
chocolate made with milk tastes, ADADC ar
ranged for Old Man Winter to distribute hot
chocolate to commuters at Union Square
Greenmarket.
Teaming up with Manhattan’s Chic City
Bakery and joined by the WNBC weather
man, on-air coverage featured consumers en
joying cups of hot chocolate, and City Bakery
owner describing the recipe for his famous
chocolately concoction.
In addition, ADADC pitched local televi
sion stations on the concept of creating a hot
chocolate gift basket as a holiday hostess gift,
containing all the goodies needed to create a
delicious cup of hot chocolate, such as gour
met cocoa powder, chocolate covered spoons,
cookie straws, marshmallows, and, of course,
a gallon of milk! Also included was a copy of
MilkPEP’s “Hot Chefs, Hot Chocolate”