Vol. IL No. 23
Proposed Swine
Producers Assn.
Meeting Planed
Views on the organization of a
■swine breeders association will be
hired Monday night at a commit
tee meeting' at- the Farm_ bureau
Cooperative, Dillerville Road,
Lancaster.
Attending the meeting will be
a 12 man committee appointed to
investigate the possibility of or
ganizing an association
‘ County Agent Max M. Smith
says that with the hog population
.of opr county leading the state,
and since we have a large number
-of farms either- breeding or feed
ing hogs. I sincerely hope there
will be a constructive program
for such an organization to repre
sent the industry on all levels.
< Smith gave as reasons for'such
an association;
One: To represent the industry
to the public, swine organizations,
and other agencies interested in
pork production.
Two: Sponsor shows and sales
of feeder pigs, breeding stock and
_ barrows.
Three: Education of both the
producers and public.” Such an or
ganization through shows,of local
stock could contribute greatly to
Understanding of what types of
swine are deseed by Breeders
and packers. ~ ‘ ”
1 Named to the' committee are:
Arlie Anderson, Masonic Homes
Farms, Elizabethtown, Levi Hr
Brubaker, Rohrerstown, George
Cogley, R 1 Bonks, Earl Fisher,
Staulfet -Homestead Farms, R 1
East Earl.
Aaron Click, R 4 Lancaster;
Claude Hart, R 1 Quarryville;
John Hastings, Kirkwood; C. War
ren Leininger, R2' Denver; J.
Lloyd Rohrer, R 7 Lancaster; How
ard Siglin, vocational agriculture,
instructor, Millersville; Kenneth
Skiles, R 2 Narvan; and Abram H.
Weidman, R 1 Manheim.
INSPECTING THE construction of an air duct for a barn
dryer in the Kauffman-barn, these farmers find that it
must be of rugged construction and of considerable size.
The wire on the sides is not necessary it only baled hay
is to be stored. However, , the top should be covered so
there will be no danger of a six foot drop while handling
hay. (LF Photo)
Quarryville (Lanaster County) Pa., Friday, April 12, 1957
DRYING HAY IN THE BARN instead of
in the field will increase the feed value,
lower cost of producing forage and in
crease meat and milk production, accord
ing 'to'Joe McCurdy, Penn State agricul
tural engineer, who conducted two hay
88 Cotmty Farmers Hear Virtues, Drawbacks
Of Forced Air Barn Drying Haymaking Systems
Eighty-eight County farmers
spent a chilly half day Tuesday at
tending two quality hay meetings
sponsored by the extension serv
ice.
The morning meeting was at
the Robert Kauffman farm near
Landisville. The afternoon session
-was at the Donald S. Eby farm,
R 1 Gordonville.
Moat of the discussion present
ed by Joe McCurdy, extension
agricultural engineer from. Penn
meetings Monday. A total of 88 county
farmers attended the meetings. McCurdy
said that 10 tons of water must be removed
from hay after it is in the barn, thus caus
ing need for large fans and good manage
ment. (LF Photo)
State, concerned barn drying by
use of unheated air.'
Also discussed were various
methods of dry hay by use of
heated air.
McCurdy said that longtime
weather records in Lancaster
County show that 12 days of ram
can be expected in June. This
means a day of rain about every
second or third day.
Having hay wet once will cause
half the leaves to drop, according
to tests made at Belisville, Md.,
by the U 7 S, Department of Agri
culture.
Under the air drying systems,
McCurdy said* the hay should
come into the barn when it has
about a 40 per cent moisture con
tent.
When asked how this moisture
content could be determined, he
said that when you could twist
the stems and not get any juice,
it was about right. Another way,
he said, was when the balens not
pushing out any leaves, but is not
having any trouble pushing out
the bales.
McCurdy and Kauffman both
recommend the making'of short
bales when the hay is to be barn
dried.
Kauffman said that last year,
the hales were made much short
er than usuaL These bales pre
sented no problem in handling.
But, he said, when the baler
would skip a tie and kick out a
long bale, the resulting shmkage
would loosen the tie so that the
bale had to be handled very care
fully. *'
The use of a crusher to speed
the curing of the hay is also
recommended. McCurdy said that
no tests have been run, to his
knowledge, on the effectiveness
or desirability of_ the pressure
roller type as compared to the
corrugated type. Both are-good,
he said.
The actual bam drying installa
tion was easy to make, according
to Kauffman. The long duct was
made of rough sawed lumber cov-
ered with heavy wire. It took only
a days time to build.
Cost of the structure, including
fan was about $1,200. However,
nearly a thousand dollars of the
expense was for the 7.5 horsepow
er motor and 42 inch fan installa
tion, including wiring.
Kauffman said that the barn
floor has to be repewed before
the installation could be made.
For the air to rise through the
bales effectively, the floor must
be nearly air tight. He said that
if the floor had been merely,
open, heavy paper or masonite
could have been laid down to
make the floor tight.
Heat drying is gaining in popu
larity and several farm equipment
companies are coming out with
new and better means of drying,
Guernsey Breeders to Hold Tour
Of Dairy Farm Operations Tuesday
" The Lancaster County Guern
sey Breeders’ Assn, will hold their
annual tour Tuesday.
The tour will leave from the
Conestoga Traction Co. bus bam,
800 East Chestnut St., Lancaster,
at 7.30 a.m. A special pick-up will
be made at Penn Hill at 8 a.m.
To be visited on the tour is the
Lloyd Balderstop farm at Colors,
Md. Here pipe line milking, bulk
tank operations and nurse cow
calf starting will be seen.
As the second stop on the tour,
the Mt. Ararat Farm, Pt. Deposit,
Md., will be visited. This will be
the lunch stop. Mt. Ararat Farms
will furnish free milk and coffee.
The third stop will be at a
standard bred horse farf owned
by George R. Norris at Forest
$2 Per Year
State Price Index
Down 14 Points
Since December
HARRISBURG —' The State
Depaitment of Agriculture Mon
day reported that usual seasonal
decline m prices received by
farmers of Pennsylvania for milk
at wholesale, coupled with a sharp
drop in calf prices, more than off
set the slight advance in prices of
other meat animals, causing the
index of prices to drop six points
during the month ended March
15.
A five-point drop in the price
index was reported for January.
This was followed by a three
point decline in February, making
a total drop of-14 points since
mid-December. The Pennsylvania
index now stands at 236 per cent
of the 1910-14 base level.
The parity index, at 80 on
March 15, was down two points,
from Feb. 15 and two points un
der a year previous.
The statewide average price re
ceived by dairy farmers for milk
at wholesale was $4.90 per hun
dred pounds (46% quarts), down
15 cents from February but 50
cents higher than on March 15,
1956.
Farmers-on March 15 were av
eraging $20.30 a hundred pounds
liveweight for calves, a drop of
$2 from Feb. 15 and $1.16 above
March of last year. The decline
in calves was the leading cause
for a drop of o»e point in the
meat animal index. All other meat
animals were up somewhat, with
lambs making the greatest ad
vance.
For the second consecutive
month chickens showed a slight
(Continued on page 16)
McCurdy said.
However, drawbacks
to heat drying are the cost and
the fact that in most present in
stallations, the hay must be hand
led twice. The extra handling
raises the cost and slows the op
erations.
However, he said, if 200 tons
of hay a year or more is to be
handled, a pole type structure
fitted with ducts can be built
(Continued on page 16)
Hill, Md.
The 200 cow .herd of John
Worthington at Bel Air, Md. will
be visited as the fourth stop.
The final stop „will be at Peter
Zeither Farm, Glass Glow, Del.
Zeither has built a fine Guernsey
herd usihg a grassland farming
technique.
Robert McSparran, Samuel
Groff, Robert Burkino and
Francis Kirk are the tour commit
tee.
McSparran has requested that
anyone wishing to join the tour
at Penn Hill contact him Monday
so that room may be made, avail
able. Cost for the tour will be
about $3.
All persons taking the tour are
advised to pack their own lunch.