4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 7; 1961 FROM WHERE WE STAND - Dilemma In The Broiler Industry . Once in awhile we come across a story or article which says just what we would like to say and says it just the way we would like to say it. Such an-article is-the one -below reprinted from the Arbor Acres Review, publish ed -by Arbor Acres Farm, Inc. It-reflects views of the farm’s president, Henry Saglio, and supports the views of this editor, that the sands of time are rap idly running out for many broiler growers in America today. We believe it is a very accurate appraisal of the national situation in Poultry. ‘The broiler industry, after repeated warnings from reliable sources and with the knowledge of all concerned, as on the brink of economic suicide. “Unless some firm and intelligent decisions are made immediately, most of the industry people we know today will no longer be factors in the pro duction of poultry meat. They will -Jiave been replaced by men who have the ability to give the industry the lea dership to which it is entitled—an in dustry with a sound economic struc ture, and not one based on the philos ophy that i the only way to success is to drive the other fellow into bank ruptcy. “In the,greedy race for power and iprestige, we have defied every sound economic law, and have tried to justify our actions by blaming the other fel low. As a result, so much hate and mistrust have developed between in dividuals and between areas that 'there is a deep-seated determination for destruction at any cost. “In recent weeks, numerous emer gency meetings have been called in Ihopes of achieving group action. Un fortunately, group action in itself can accomplish nothing in' this situation. It must be proceeded by individual ac tion. Up to this point, the individual action has not been forthcoming. “ As long as birds are being placed without regard to the final outcome all the group action in the world isn’t going to help. We’re just going broke. “Unless the present tendency to ward self destruction is quickly replac ed by a strong desire for survival with in our own individual financial struc tures, there is no hope for the so-called leaders of the industry as we know it today. “One of the first prerequisities of managing any business is, the ability to manage money. The products of a company are only the working tools— the catalysts which generate a turn over ,of capital. The amount of product produced is significant only in the manner in which it affects the'return on the investment. Product is a means —not the end. “The individual businessman in this industry therefore must be judged on his ability to make a profit, rather than by the number of chickens •he grows. His decisions must be based on his own financial position, over and farmers Urged To Grow Quota OfWinterWheaf Earl L Groff, Strasburg HI, this week called on far mers of Pennsylvania to pe tition the Secretary of Ag riculture for a separate pro gram for soft red winter wheat. Groff, State Chairman of the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Commit tee, in a letter to U. S. Sec retary of Agriculture, Or ville L Freeman, said he ieels the present program is “grossly unfair” to produc ers of soft wheat since no surplus exists in supplies of soft wheat He added that soft wheat has not in the past, and is not now adding to the stor age holdings of Commodity Credit wheat Groff said in the letter “The elimination of the 15 acre exemption portion of * ■* above all other factors. We can’t con tinue to be motivated by the actions of our competitors, or the fear that someone else might gain an advantage. The important thing is that you make money, regardless of how much or how little the other fellow makes. If our competitors go broke, there is no reason why we should rush to go with them._ Individual business thinking must dominate within the financial capacity of each of us. “There are three particular topics which have been widely discussed by industry people as we have started to sink toward insolvency. “First, available supplies of our raw materials which are hatching eggs produced by our breeder hens Many advocate the ‘only cure’ is the disposal of 20% of the nation’s breeders. Many agree—as long as it is their competi tors’ birds being slaughtered rather than their own. No doubt such an im mediate reduction in the breeder hen population would have a beneficial ef fect. But, at best, the creation of an artificial shortage would be short-lived. This requires a management decision by each individual -businessman. If dis posing of a significant number of your breeders is best for you, regardless of what your competition is doing, then get rid of them. “The second popular topic of con : versation is the role of big business in our industry. Some -feel that the ‘pow er plays’ of larger firms are basically responsible for our present difficulty. It depends on where you sit as to what is big or who is big.. Everyone is big to someone. “Once again the actions of other people blind us to the opportunities in this industry for a well managed busi ness. A perfect example is the degree of success attained by independent feed manufacturers under the umbrel la of the larger national mills. Bigness in itself is neither an asset or a liabil ity. The individuals involved determine the goodness or badness, the success or failure of any business enterprise. “The third and last of the three most popular topics is government con trols In my opinion, such controls will be necessary if, and only if, our pres ent industry leadership fails to deliv er. “It has been said many times that the role of government should be to assist only when the individual can’t help himself. When the time comes that we, as businessmen, are incapable of helping ourselves, then controls will be a necessity. Being bailed out is a poor substitute for good management. “It really boils down to this if you save yourself, you save the indus try. It must happen in that se quence. Will you be present at the next roll call?” That is a good question for all far mers to ponder. At least that’s how it looks from where we stand. the law denies the farmer basic liberties to which he is entitled. Farmers who historically grew less than 15 acres had no voice in the referendum which authoriz ed the program under which they are now penalized.” Groff cited the separate agreement on Duram wheat and the separate provisions under which different tobac co types are regulated as historical basis for separate legislation for soft wheal. “I would urge farmers in the soft wheat growing area (the 22 states in Northeast ern U S, including all of Pennsylvania) to continue to grow their full quota of wheat to prevent a shortage of soft wheat and to main tain the good foreign mar ket we now have for soft wheat ” Groff told Lancaster Farming this week. Groff urged that, farmers write the Secretary of Ag riculture asking for a relax ing of acreage controls un til such time as a surplus of soft wheat begins to devel- op. If such a surplus does develop, he said, more str ingent controls could be ap plied. Advertisers will be glad to have you mention Lancas ter Farming when answering advertisements. Lancaster Farming Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly P O Boy 1524 Lancaster, Penna. Offices: 53 North Duke St Lancaster, Penna Phone - Lancaster Express 4-3047 Jack Owen, Editor Robert G Campbell, Advertising Director & Business Manager Established November 4 1955 Published every Saturday by Lancaster Farming, Lancaster, Pa Entered as 2nd class matter at Lancaster, Pa under Act of Mar. 8. 1879 additional entry at Mount .Joy, Pa Subscription Rates- $2 per year three years $5 Single copy Price 5 cents Members Pa Newspaper Publish ers Association, National Editorial Association. mg to do as he does, to live as 116 lived Even those who ar e not 9:51-56, I Corinthians 3:1-4, Fhiup- . , . *. • *■%, ' plans 3*4-17. Christians understand this. Chris Devotional Reading John 14:21-28.' tiamty is fully possible, Bernaid Shaw said once, only in a nation of Christs. Quite right; and that is precisely what Christians should be aiming at—a nation ol Christians Grow Lesson for October 8, 1961 - .... -.1 will say, Jesus lived long ago and CHRISTIANS aren’t such a pe- vastly different circumstances culiar breed that they stand rom ours. How can we follow outside the laws which God has Sun? written into nature, the laws that govern all human beings whether Christian or not. The Christian child has to learn his lessons and finish his spinach just like other children. The Christian teen ager is not -going to find he can get by without doing his home work just because he is a Christian. The boy who goes out for the basketball team had better be a good player or he won’t get on,the team, and that holds for Roman Catholics or Quakers just the same as for atheists. There are certain laws of -growth which are in force at all times and for all persons. The Christian grows, and can grow, only in the way that others do, when it comes to physical, mental and social -growth. But what about spiritual growth? How can we, or can we, make progress as Christians? “Learn from Me” First of all, and most founda tional of all, the Christian be comes more of a Christian, —he becomes more Christian aspect of his life—, by learnmg from Jesus. This means at least that Jesus is THE TEACHER, the number One teacher, of the growing' Christian. If we take se riously the claims of Jesus as we read them in the New Testa ment, if we take seriously what the church says about the divine authority of our Lord, then the only logical conclusion is; If we take any other authority ahead of the authority of Jesus, we are in sincere at worst, inconsistent at best. Now we can’t learn from Jesus, we don’t rate the name of “disciple” which is to say, “learner” —if we never read or stop to think about what Jesus Now Is The Time . ♦ ♦ BY MAX SMITH TO CHECK MILKING MACHINES The milking machine is a noted labor-saving piece of equipment on the dairy farm; however, it may be the source of many problems if improperly adjusted and handled. Improper vacuum in the line and fluctuations of vacuum at the end of the teat during the milking period may cause serious udder troubles. All dairymen are urged to have their lines, pumps, and gauges checked to be sure that the equip- MAX SMITH ' ment is in top-notch condition. TO DRY NEW CORN—Most corn cribs are constructed to provide a maximum amount of air circulation to a maxi mum amount of corn; however, in times of a large corn crop many temporary storages are used that do not provide prop er air circulation. This presents need of forced air ventila tion thru the pile of corn to keep from heating & molding Air ducts may be constructed on barn floors or any other tight floor so that the air may be forced up through the pile of corn Multiple use of hay mow fans may be realized for ( this purpose TO SPRAY FOR WINTER CRESS—Many hay fields ate infected with a yellow-flowered weed m the spring named winter cress; this weed may be killed with the use of one pint of MCP per acre applied during mid to late October after a killing frost. It is not advised to attempt any spray next spring after the growth starts. TO PREPARE FOR CHICKWEED SPRAY—Chickweed will crowd out stands of alfalfa or other legumes if not control led; this weed is often very bad m summer seedings of al falfa or pastures Control may be obtained by spraying with one of the DiNitros in October or November when the temperature is 65 degrees or higher, using 3 pints in 25 gallons of water per acre. The use of 2 pints of Chloro IPC in November or December when the temperature is I £SS than 50 degres will also give control. Growers are urged to make the applications this fall rather than next spring TO CUT BROOD SOW FEED COSTS—The feeding of grass or com silage to brood sows at the rate of 8 to 12 pound 3 per head daily will cut down on feed costs during the ges tation period; the silage fed in troughs with one pound °* protein concentrate per head spread over top has given good results. - - said. The study of the -four Gos pels Is absolutely indispensablj for Christian growth. Copy Whom? Of course, learning from Jesus is not only learning to do as ht -says, but also and always learn Christs. But after all, some one At this point we have a valuable hint .from what seems at first g conceited remark by Saint Paul, but is not really conceited: "Copy me,” he writes to the Philippians (Moffatt’s translation.) The Chris tians to whom Paul was then writ ing had no written gospels, and even if they had, they might have felt a little baffled. How could they—Roman citizens, slaves, Greeks, copy Jesus who was neither citizen nor slave nor Greek? Paul gives the answer. “Copy me”; for us this would mean, Imitate the most Christ like persons you know, living m your own time and place. Why Christians Don’t Grow > 'lt is a pathetic, tragic fact that most Christians are stunted. Christianity has nqt spread in the V/orld as one would expect; and one big reason is that we don’t have enough good samples of genuine all-round Christians. We are scrawny in spirit for the same reason that some sick people are underweight in body: we can’t or won't take proper nourishment. “There is still much that I could say to you, but the burden would be too great for you now,” Jesus told his disciples. “I could not ad dress you as spiritual men,” Paul writes to the Corinthians, “but as . . babes in Christ.” Not even an inspired apostle, not even our Lord himself," can cram truth down mto the mind of one who is not ready for it, or who rejects it There is a mental disease, or symptom, known as aboulia, in which the patient just does not want to do anything whatever. Set the patient, hungry from two days' fasting, down in front of a bountiful meal, and the patient sits there without moving, will starve there if not helped Spir itual aboulia is worse, for it starves the very soul (Based on outlines copyrighted by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A Released by Community Press Service )
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers