Vol. II No. 25
Burgesses, Mayor
Are Invited
To Barbeque
Pouftrymen Plan
Special Event
For Broiler Week
The week of May 4 to 11 has
been, designated as Pennsylvania
Broiler Weekr This week is to
kick-off the broiler season and
acquaint more people with chick
en as being a tasty and economi
cal food.
In Lancaster County, the poul
try association is staging an in
vitational broiler barbecue to be
held on May 4 at the Lancaster
Poultry Center.
The Mayor of Lancaster, the
Burgesses of the County towns,
press, radio and television repre
sentatives, and representatives of
service clubs are invited.
Mayor KendigC. Bare of Lan
caster will proclaim this period
las Broiler Week in the City of
Lancaster.
The Chicken of Tomorrow con
test is the highlight of the week
on a statewide basis. Nearly 700
farm boys and girls are entered
in the competition
State Agricultural Secretary
Willjaar IS; to present
a^speciaTprize' to top'place win
ners at the close of the state
wide judging at the Farm Show
Building on May 7.
The boy or girl winning the
Grand Champion award for the
highest quality nine and a fialf
week old broiler will receive an
engraved silver bowl. The same
type award will go to the reserve
champion. Entrants ' placing
third to tenth will get special
plaqdes. from -Henning. Each-of
the 23 regional winners whose
birds reach the finals will re
ceive $5O U, S. Saving Bonds.
In addition, the top ten win
ners will be given a one day ex
pense paid visit to the North
eastern Poultry Producers Ex
position in the Farm Show Build
ing next Oct. <3 (to 10,
A big broiler barbecue demon
stration is scheduled for May 8
in Philadelphia. Preliminary ar
rangements have been complet
ed for an outdoor chicken “bar
becue to -be set up in Reybum
Square, center Philadelphia. The
Mayor of Philadelphia, and other
city officials will be entertained.
Miss Elizabeth Erb, state poultry
queen, will j6in in this observ
ance
City and County officials m
the Scranton area will partici
pate in a special barbecue on the
Court House grounds in Scran
ton on May 9. Demonstration
barbecue pits will be set up also
on the Court House grounds to
show the public various ways to
barbecue chicken in their back
yards.
Similar events are being plan
ned for Pittsburg, Johntown, Al
toona and other cities across
Pennsylvania.
Later in the month, a “Barbe
cue Clinic” is slated to be held
at Camp Fred L. Rentz, New
Castle. Sponsoring the May 22.
event in the Northeastern Poul
try Producers Council and the
Poultry and Egg National Board.
The clinic actually is a one
day school to train people to be
able to put on a full scale chick
en or turkey barbecue for groups
of 19 or more-persons.
Applications for the school
should be sent to NEPPCO, 10
Rutgers Place; Trenton, N. J.
Quarryville (Lancaster County) Pa., Friday, "April 26, 1957
HOW WILL THESE little pigs go to
market from the farm? As finished slaugh
ter hogs or as feeder pigs? In line with
growing interest in Lancaster and other
Pennsylvania Counties on production,'and
V __ | , .
Missouri Feeder Pig Sales Provide Market Outlet
To Small Producer Raising Limited Numbers of Swine
By RICHARD LEE
Asst. Agricultural Editor,
University of Missouri
When a group of Ripley Coun
ty, Mo., hog producers got togeth
er and held an organized feeder
pig sale at Doniphan in the spring
of 1950, they started a movement
that has been adopted by many
other South Missouri and ’ out
state localities.
Why did these Ripley County
farmers want to sell their 562
feeder pigs in an auction they
would supervise themselves?
Primarily because they wanted
a better price. The Missouri Agri
cultural Extension Service recog
nized an opportunity for this to
be a demonstration sale to show
in dollars and cents that good
breeding and good feeding pay.
It would be a valuable teaching
tool for the extension program in
livestock production and maket
ing, particularly in a swine im
provement program.
Many producers had failed to
get full and equitable prices for
their feeder pigs because of the
small number produced by most
farmers, lack of adequate sorting
and weighing facilities, distance
from central markets, lack of fa
miliarity with other available
mrakets, and lack of knowledge
of grades and current values.
Also inherent in this situation
were the higher procurement
costs and less uniformity in the
feeder pigs that feeder buyers
obtained.
Each year since the first sale
in 1950, more counties have or
ganized feeder pig sales pattern
ed after Missouri’s now widely
known feeder cattle sales held
each fall. The sale pens and facili
ties in counties often serve a
dual purpose since both feeder
pig and calf sales are held'there.
The county livestock associa
tion is incorporated under the
sales of feeder pigs, see the article in this
issue on how Missouri farmers found a
new market and new source of income
through farmer owned and operated sales.
Missouri Statues for Non-Profit
Agricultural Marketing Associa
tions, with charter and bylaws.
Each association elects a board of
directors and officers annually
and every consignor to the sale
is an active member. The county
extension agent acts as an ex-of
ficio member in an advisory
capacity.
All feeder pigs consigned to the
sales have been vaccinated for
cholera at least 30 days prior to
sale dates, are brought to the sale
pens on the date of the sale, and
are unloaded under a veterinar
ian’s supervision."
Unsalable pigs, such as boars,
cripples and unthrifty animals,
are sent back to the farm.
Although there is a range in
pig weights, the majority fall in
the 40 to 60-pound class. Consign
ments to each of the farmer-own
ed and farmer-operated sales are
graded into uniform lots t by Uni
versity extension specialists.
During the past year, 10 county
associations held 23 sales with
1,474 producers consigning near
ly 50.000 feeder pigs. These pigs
were sold to some 450 buyers for
a total of nearly $630,000. Aver
age weight of all pigs was 60
pounds and the average price per
hundredweight was $2l.
It’s important to note that the
number of pigs consigned averag
ed 34 head to each producer. The
sales have helped the small pro
ducer. He gets his pigs into uni
form lots as to grade and quality
and, in addition in size of lots de
sired by buyers.
Each producer can compare his
pigs with others and see how his
pigs grade and sell in comparison
with his neighbors’ pigs. He can
witness first-hand the reward for
following recommended practices
such as vaccination and castra
tion. He can see the quality and
heavier weights of pigs raised on
good pastures and a good ration.
And, most important, he can see
the better type and quality pigs
that result from the use of better
breeding stock.
Missouri feeder calf sales are a
medium through which college
and extension personnel can be
of service to cattle producers by
passing on information in man
agement, selection, feeding and
pasture and marketing. *
“We don’t look on the sales as
iust a way to sell pigs,” says Mis
souri Extension Service Director
J. W. Burch. “We look on them as
a demonstration and will work
with producers as long as they are
improving the quality of their
pigs through the use of better
breeding stock, better pasture
management, and selection.”
Smaller Cattle Numbers Part
Of Typical Cycle, Says Economist
The cattle population of the
country appears to have entered
a downward swing this year typi
cal of cattle cycles, reports Jim
Reynolds, midwestern extension
livestock marketing specialist.
But the downward drift is no.
expected to Hast as long as it
has in most previous cycles.
Reynolds explains that the
number of cattle on farms us
ually runs in cycles—with num
bers falling over a period of
years and then rising again to
new heights.
The United States Department
of Agriculture recently reported
a reduction in cattle population
for the first time this year after
a seven-year‘upswing carried the
total number to an all time high
of almost 97 million head. The
reduction applies all to classes
of animals with milk cows down
$3 Per Year
Farm Credit
Shows Increase
From Year Ago
Production Loans
Show Slight Rise;
Money Not Tight
Agricultural production credit
is both plentiful and in demand,
this year, according to a survey
taken m Lancaster County this
week by Lancaster Farming.
Lee R. Brobst, secretary treas
urer of the Lancaster County
Production Credit Assn and the
National Farm Loan Assn., said
that approximately $50,00(1 more
had been borrowed this spring
tint last year. -However, the
number of borrowers stayed
about the same.
He~ said that approximately
$2% million in loans are out-,
standing from the farmer owned
cooperative lending association.
Most of the money has been
borrowed for fertilizer, spray
material and labor to be used in
raising cash crops These crops
include tobacco, potatoes and
tomatoes.
Other lending agencies and
banks found the picture about
the same with demand for oper
ating capital about the same as
lest year.
The average rate of interest
for production loans this yeat is
five to five and a half per cent.
This reflects the governments
tight money policy and the cur
rent discount rate from the
Federal Intermediate Credit
Bank of four and a half per
cent.
The key word, it seemed in
conversation with the credit su
pervisors, was management.
“It is becoming more import
ant to look at management. It
is becoming the key to profit,”
said Brobst.
He indicated that farm man
agement practices are being
watched more carefully by lend
ing agencies now than ever be.
fore.
Sympathy for the young man
getting started was expressed
by many. In Lancaster County,
with land prices well above the
(Continued on Page Three)
one percent, calves down one
percent, beef cattle down two
percent and the number of steers
reduced four percent.
Most of the decrease has oc
curred in the Great Plains re
gion stretching from the Cana
dian border to the Gulf of
Mexico and the Rio Grande.
Drouth that plagued this area
explains much of the change but
other influences also were at
play, marking the downward
trend as part of a caittle cycle.
In some areas cattle numbers
had reached the limit of grazing
capacity. And, in general, lower
prices for cattle have discourag
ed producers, tending to reduce
them cash expenditures for
caittle production.
Cattle cycles usually continue
(Continued on Page Three)