Intermediate Credit Need of Farms Becoming More Pressing, USDA Says A rapidly changing agriculture is increasing farmers’ needs for credit that falls somewhere be tween the short-term annual pro duction loan and the long-term mortgage loan, according to the US. Department of Agriculture. Intermediate-term credit is often needed to help farmers makte ad justment required in farming— such as increases in the size of farms and shifts in production, as from crops to livestock. Although 1 farmers obtain and use a large amount of intermedi ate-term credit, much of it is ex tended to them on the basis of short-term notes. Economists of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service believe that intermediate term notes might be put to wider tisa to improve credit services to farmers. - ' Why do lenders so often ex tend mtermediate-term credit to farmers on a short-term basis? -There is no single reason, but a contributing factor is found in credit practices of some farmers, Department economists say. These include splitting financing among lenders, financing a project “piecemeal,” and failing to take lenders into their confidence. But all the fault is not with farmers. Many lenders find it easi er and safer to buy merchants 1 ’ and dealers’ contracts with farm ers, rather than to finance farm ers directly. This_encourages or forces some borrowers into split See The Champ at the Guernsey Barn MAY 9 8 R M., D. S. T. Lane. Stock Yards MAY 13 ALL DAY Sponsored By Your Local Purina Dealers J. Fred Whiteside Kirkwood John B. Kurtz Eshrata John J. Hess II Intercourse—New Providence borrowing. Moreover, lenders find it easier to lend dh security and to use notes at short maturity than to make the analyses neces sary to adapt loans closely to farmers’ needs and ability to re pay. A reason often given by coun try bankers for using short-term notes is that th&ir deposits are payable on demand. After analyzing the banks’ need for liquidity the rescarers con cluded that if banks accumulate adequate secondary reserves, an ticipate needs for funds with which to make new loans, and analyze the repayment ability of borrowers, they should be able to make wider use of intermedi ate-term notes. The economists point out that if credit terms are to be shaped to individual needs, farmers should develop plans that lenders can analyze and appreciate. Lend ers'in turn should rely more on present and potential earning ca pacity of loan applicants to de termine repayment ability as a basis for making loans. Research Proves Value of Grass Preservatives Five years "of research data proves that the judicious use of certain preservatives is economi cally sound, says Assistant County Wenger Bros. James High Gordonville Snader’s Mill John J. Hess Kinzers—Vintage Law Requires Tank Agitation For 3 Minutes Pennsylvania law requires haul ers to agitata milk tanks for three minutes prior to taking collections for samples, and the farmer should see to it that the hauler performs his duties cor rectly. If milk tanks are not agi tated before samples are taken samplers will get an incorrect and often low test, cautions County Agent Max Smith. Experiments by dairy scien tists show that he most uniform fat tests are obtained after two minutes of agitation. The researchers noted that the average fat test after 10 seconds of agitation was 3 405 per cent at the center of the tank and 3.445 per cent at the end of the tank. After two minutes of agi tation, the fat test was 3 510 per cent at the center, 3.505 per cent at the end of the tank. Agent Victor Plastow. Silage preservatives are sound on the basis of net energy alone, not to mention the great improve ment in odor and texture of the silage In many cases, the preserv atives improved palatability. Chemical preservatives, sodium bisulfite and calcium formate-sod ium hitrate mixtures, showed a definite increase in the feeding value of the silage. Rheems Mt. Airy 63 Per Cent of All Farm Trucks Are Pickup Type, Survey Finds As of Jan. 1, 1956, more than 63 per cent of the 2,819,000 mot or trucks on farms of the county were of the pickup type, accord ing to a report of the Bureau of Census and the AMS. About 442,000, or one-sixth of all farm trucks had a stake-type body, 237,000 had a grain body type and some 173,000 were of the platform body type. About half of >all trucks had a Test Shows Stilbestrol Gives Greater Return on Young Stock Recent permission granted by the Pure Food and Drug Adminis tration to feed stilbestrol in sup plements to beef animals weigh ing less than 600 pounds gives cat tlemen, who have weanling calves to put in the feed lot, the op portunity to take full advantage of stilbestrol’s gam stimulating qualities. When stilbestrol was authoriz ed for use in beef fattening ra tions more than two years ago, a stipulation was included that it was to be fed to cattle weighing 600 pounds or more This was be cause the stilbestrol research up to that time had been done with yearling feeder cattle weighing 6,000 pounds or more at the be ginning of the feeding period. Exhaustive research carried on since that time by colleges and commercial stations shows that S. H. Hiestand Pequea B. F. Adams Blrd-in-Hand Warren Sickman Sailings Lancaster Farming, Friday, May 3, 1957—5 ■rated capacity of less than 6 tons and more than two-thirds of them were on farms with a value of farm products sold of loss than $1,200 The current re port also shows that nearly two thirds of all farm trucks were 1950 or earlier models, and that two-fifths of all trucks on farms with a value of farm products sold of 810,000 or more were 1950 or later models. stilbestrol produces equally good results with bir or small feeder calves, so long as the supplement that carries it is of good quality and the feeding progiam is well balanced. Typical of this research are tests conducted at the Ralston Purina research farm at Gray Summit, Mo. A number of feed lot tests were run with big steers weighing 600 pounds or more at the start In these, the stilbestrol fed cattle invanably finished with an average of $5 to $lO per head more return over animal and feed costs than the comparable non- stilbestrol fed cattle. Cattlemen starting weanling calves in the feed lot may now take full advantage of good stil- bestrol supplements, from the start of the feeding period to the finish ♦ <. •<. *
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers