A3O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 7, 2003
(Continued from Page A 10)
years now, without having had its
citizens develop the proverbial
“gambling problem.”
Thirdly, you appear oblivious
of the economic stimulus slot ma
chines would have in the state as
a whole and in this region in par
ticular. Funding of public educa
tion would increase greatly with
out any tax increase, and
agriculture in this area would re
ceive a great shot in the arm.
Western Chester County and
parts of Lancaster County con
tain the bulk of the horse breed
ing industry in Pennsylvania it
consumes large quantities of hay,
straw, fencing, land, and equip
ment, and it also provides hun
dreds of jobs. Slots revenues
would, of course, greatly enhance
the monies for which race horses
could compete, making their
breeding and training more at
tractive.
Finally, the proposed slot ma
chine legislation would also en
courage the preservation of agri
cultural land by making the
breeding and training of race
horses, already an important
business in this area, hopefully at
least somewhat less unprofitable.
More money would pay for more
fencing, pastures, and open
space, not to mention jobs.
So my conclusion is that the
proposed slots legislation would
be very good for Pennsylvania for
a large number of reasons with
out risking any gambling prob
lems. If the lottery is OK, as I’m
sure you would agree, certainly
the slots bill promises even great
er benefits for the common
wealth. And since Lancaster
County contains no race tracks
(where the slots machines would
be located), to write that the en
actment of a slots bill could make
this county “the next Atlantic
City” is simply absurd.
Roger E. Legg
Parkesburg
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Editor;
I recently attended a CWT in
formational meeting. I was ap
palled. A few slides into the pre
sentation was one that said
“Because of overproduction dur
ing the past few years, we have
ended up with a 4.3 billion pound
surplus,” the whole basis for the
CWT program. There was no
mention of where they came up
with these figures at all.
This is not the truth. Accord
ing to official USDA figures, here
is the truth:
In 1998, according to USDA,
domestic milk marketings in mil
lions of pounds stood at 156,080,
with commercial disappearance
in millions of pounds at 159,916.
In 1999, those numbers stood at
161,411 and 164,948. In 2000, the
numbers were 166,247 and
169,124. In 2001, the numbers
went to 164,062 and 169,432. In
2002, the numbers of domestic
milk marketings were at 168,533
and commercial disappearance at
170,461.
These figures are on a milkfat
basis. The truth of the matter is
that the oversupply is coming
from the imports, of which a lot
of NMPF members and affiliate
members are either using or im
porting themselves.
Land O’ Lakes has 12 import
licenses and DFA has 11. Com
bined, they have more than any
one else, and some of these com
panies that have them are set up
for the sole purpose of importing
dairy products and ingredients.
This can be checked at the Web
site www.fas.usda.gov/itp/
imports/dairyimporto3/
03issuanceword.pdf. I asked the
DFA and Land O’ Lakes present
ers that if we reduced the domes
tic milk supply and raised our
milk price, what was going to
keep everybody, them included,
from importing more and driving
our price back down? They really
didn’t answer that, but in a
roundabout way said that they
will do what they have to do to
keep their processing plants com
petitive.
A couple of years ago. Land O’
Lakes had an ad on the Internet
listing MPC for sale to anyone
who wanted it. What does that
Custom Fabrication of Galvanized Barn Equipment
have to do with keeping their
processing plants competitive?
The Land O’ Lakes fellow was
presenting the CWT program as
“A tool in our toolbox,” saying
that right now we have no tools
in our toolbox to help with our
milk prices. Aren’t our co-ops,
founded under the Capper Vol
steid Act, suppose to be a tool for
us to use? The way the co-ops are
going now, they sure aren’t a tool
for us.
In a reputable Northeast dairy
magazine recently, I read that by
the year 2012, the processors
want to import 50 percent of the
nation’s milk needs. Is the CWT
program just a way to bring us
closer to that goal by reducing
cow numbers and domestic pro
duction? The farmers would be
using their own money, through
the 18 cent deduction, to help the
processors achieve their goal.
The co-ops were founded by
members, for members, and for
marketing the domestic milk sup
ply at the best possible price for
the farmer. Have the co-ops be
come so far removed from their
members and the very reason
that they were founded, that they
would rather get rid of the mem
bers and their milk production so
that they can import more?
After the CWT meeting, peo
ple came to me and others that
spoke out during the meeting and
said that we knew what we were
talking about and what the actu
al problem really is. Friends, we
all need to speak up to turn this
problem around. The whole prin
ciple of domestic overproduction
on which the program is founded
is just not true.
Question what these co-ops are
telling you and do a little re
search, and you will be surprised
at what you will find. 1 would
like to thank everyone who
helped me research for this letter.
HalDrick
AUenwood
Editor
Just a few thoughts on
NMPF’s “CWT” (Co-ops Work
ing Together) Program. Since the
“surplus” is being caused by the
importation of dairy products,
shouldn't the off-shore contribu
tors to the “surplus” be requested
to kill some of their cows also?
DFA is real cozy with the New
Zealand Dairy Board (Fonterra).
Why is it that only American
dairy farmers will have to con
tribute to the cow kill?
If you compare commercial
disappearance with domestic
milk marketings, it is easy to see
that the USA is in reality a milk
deficit country. The free traders
won’t be satisfied until domestic
milk production is reduced by
about 50 percent, leaving only
enough volume for fluid milk use.
They will import the rest.
If the co-ops would just do the
job they were set up to do, then
this problem could be cleared up
in short order. The Capper-Vol
stead Act of 1922 allows and ex
pects co-ops to set a reasonable
price for raw milk to benefit
farmers. Why isn’t this being
done? Problem: It would require
some testosterone to do it a
hormone that seems to be sadly
SOME OF THE GREATEST IDEAS
CAME TO ME WHILE
MILKING A COW.
- Grant Wood
American Painter
SITE EXCAVATION
Installation of H.D.P.E. Liner Systems for:
Dairy, Hog, and Veal Manure Storage Facilities
Seals manure in, subsurface water out
Concrete ramp for manure agitation and pumping
1942 Camp Swatara Road • Myerstown, PA 17067
Ph: (717) 933-8853 • Fax:(717)933-8078
lacking in today’s dairy co-op
board rooms.
Rather than do what is obligat
ed under Capper-Volstead to re
lieve the unprecedented human
suffering in our dairy commu
nities, co-op “leadership” has
hatched the CWT scam that is a
bogus self-help scheme that will
steamroll more American dairy
farmers into oblivion, while for
eign products continue to steal
our domestic markets. CWT is
an outrage with more holes in it
than any proverbial imported
Swiss cheese. Farmer “support”
for CWT is out of abysmal des
peration.
Farmer/members of co-ops, is
this “taking” of another 18 cents
from your pathetic milk checks
to finance cow slaughter the best
your co-ops can do for you? If so,
then you better replace your co
op leadership before you start
funding another milk check de
duction, because the status quo
guys are refusing to work for you.
You’ve been working for them,
and now they want you com
pletely out of their picture.
Joseph Cochran
Dairy Farmer
Tioga County
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