GROUP MEETS ON PLANNED LAB

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A steering committee is still seeking state funding for a regional veterinary diagnostic laboratory in Southeast Missouri.

"Members of our committee meet every year with the governor or his aides to encourage support for a diagnostic facility at Cape Girardeau," said Gail King, a member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee. "We're certainly not giving up the fight."

King served as master of ceremonies during a special benefit banquet for the facility held at the University Center of Southeast Missouri State University Thursday night.

In attendance at the meeting were Missouri Agriculture Director Charles Kruse; Dr. Edward L. Snider, veterinarian, who is chairman of the lab steering committee; Kala M. Stroup, president of the university; Tom Schulte, district office director for Sens. Christopher Bond and John Danforth; Greg Branum of U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson's office; and Bob Hendrix and Linda Minner of the Chamber of Commerce office.

"We're already talking with the governor's office about the budget for 1992," said King. "Meanwhile, the committee has raised about $60,000."

King said with the funds already raised, and the university providing part of the equipment, another $160,000 was needed for startup.

Following King's remarks, Kruse said he was in full support of the project and pledged to keep working for it.

"We have no new dollars for any item in the agriculture budget this year," he said. "But we just have to keep trying."

A large crowd gathered for the dinner. They heard farm broadcaster Derry Brownfield of the Brownfield Network discuss agriculture in his humorous down-home style.

Although Brownfield is noted as a humorist, he delivers an agricultural message: mainly that farm prices had not kept up with the rests of the economy.

"When I started farming in 1947, I made money," he said. "Corn was $2 a bushel, a car cost about $1,200, and a house cost $5,000.

"I'm still farming," he said. "I'm still getting about $2 a bushel for my corn. But now a car cost $10,000 and a house costs $50,000."

Brownfield said when he started farming he could take four steers to market and buy a new pickup truck. "Now it takes one steer just to pay the taxes on a new truck," he said.