Milford chronicle., 1957-08-02
Farmers Ask 40 Cents
More For Class | Milk

Wilmington, Del. - Local dairy
farmers cited drought losses and
increased costs of production and
marketing IN asking a 40 cents
per hun0red weIgnt increase N
lass / mink prices at a United
States Department of Agriculture
.4earing neIe tnIs week.
the hearing was called unde,
terms of Federal order IlU, Wnicc
became enectlve IN the Wilmington
area June 16, 1856, with the provi-
sion that Class / pricing be review
ed before August 81, 1907. Farmers
now receive $5.4y per hundred
weight for milk useu for boLtllng
purposes, which is Glass l.
After an all-day session on Mon
day, July 30, the hearing was ad-
JOurned but no decision is expected
Tor about three weeks.
The proposal for a Accent in
crease was made by DR.. James E.
Honan, assistant manager of Inter
State Milk Producers Cooperative
He asked a 20-cent increase in the
present Glass I pricing formula to
cover increased production and
marketing costs, and an additional
20 cents to compensate for the high
price of hired labor.
w. Lewis Phipps of Centerville,
Del; Ray ID. Van SAINT of Elkton,
Md; Leon Wilkinson 0f Landen-
berg, Pa; Norman T. Dempsey of
Newark, DEL. and Richard Sutton
of Cecilton, Md. all farmers ship
ping milk to Wilmington, testified
that increased costs were forcing
dairy farmers out of business and
that the present drought already
mas increased costs because dairy
feed stored for next winter has had
co be used now and greater amounts
of feed will have to be purchased.
Alvar ]. Nixon, representing the
Wilmington Milk Dealers Associa-
ton, said that, since Wilmington
under Order 10 is a secondary
market to metropolitan Philadel-
phia, he believed that there should
be a fixed relationship in Glass l
pricing. He asked a provision that
in no event should the Wilmington
price be any more or less than the
announced price for Order 81 minus
Is cents. This, in effect, probably
would keep the Glass l price at its
present level unless there should
De a change in the Philadelphia
price.
Mr.. Sutton, a Glover Dairy ship
per, said that a recent sale at Ga
lena, Nd, had been the largest in
history because there is no pasture
left and farmers can't afford to, feed
their present herds. He said hay is
already 81 a bale, as compared to
20 cents last year, and that day la
Dor has gone up from $3.50 to So.
no business can keep operating
at loss,' he said. This has been
named a drought area, and neigh
boring counties row are listed as
disaster areas. We need help i'm
mediately."
Mr.. Van SAINT, a Delamore Dairy
shipper, testified that it is i'm
perative" that farmers receive
more for their milk because costs
of all items necessary for pro-
ductiOn except fertilizer have gone
up an average of 4.9 percent.
Mr.. Wilkinson, a Gree1nill Dair-
les shipper, said that where he lives
in L4andenDerg, Pa, farm labor has
gone to work at two new auto as
sembly plants which pay twice as
much, and that ne has to operate
1876 acre farm with no regular
help except his wife and two sons.
Mr.. Dempsey, who also ships to
DelamOre, said the severe drought
had cut his second crop of alfalfa
and clover to quarter of what it
should be, that his corn crop is
small, and he already is using up
winter feed.
Mr.. Phipps, who ships to West
End Dairy, said he pays $5 more
per week for help that he did a
year ago, and that farm machinery
has gone up seven, percent.
DR.. Honan supported his propo-
sal for Accent increase with
series of charts showing monthly
and yearly increase of costs. An
example of one item not considered
by the present pricing formula, he
said, is that real estate taxes have
gon up 43 percent in the past seven
years.
"The fact that some producers
are having their price supported by
government funds in the midwes-
tern market is no reason why the
fluid milk industry in Philadelphia
should not be given a fair producer
price for the bottled milk product
in this particular area" DIR. Honan
said.
Sessions were heard in the Hotel
DUPONT by Hearing Examiner G.
Osmond Hyde on behalf of the U.
S. Department of Agriculture, Ag-
ricultural Marketing Service