VOL. 5. NO. 5
How Does The 1960 Agriculture Picture Look
County Agriculturalists
Express Their Views
Lancaster Farming asked some of the agricultural
leaders in the county to express their thoughts on the agri
cultural situation during the past year, and their predic
tions for the year ahead. The general trend seemed to be
that agriculture did not fare too badly in 1959 and the
picture looks about the same, or perhaps just a little bit
brighter for 1960, but most agriculturalists cautioned that
efficiency would be the watchword in the coming days.
Specialization and consoli
dation were mentioned by
several of the contributors
Most felt that costs of pro
duction will be the control
ling factor m the economic
picture during the coming
year. Following are the re
ports received.
M. M SMITH, County Ag
ncultural Extension Agent:
The year 1959 was a bit
better than average lor mo
st farmers; weather condi
tions were average for a go
od growing season m sc to
MAX SMITH
of low sub-soil moisture.
The yields from major gr-
COWS ajnU UitiisK Mai(JRE CATTLE give off considerable heat from their bodies
all the time. Small calves give off much less heat, and for this reason need to be kept in
a place that does not rob them of too much of their body heat. Ventilation fans may be
of many different kinds, shapes and sizes, but all ot them should be installed with the
young stock in mind If the calves are kept m the barn where the cows are stabled, it is
a good plan to locate the fan over or near the calf pens This will cau=e the wanner air
to t>e drawn from the rest of the barn over the backs of the calves, as in this picture.
If the fan is located over the calves, extra caution must be exercised to make sure that
there are no openings m the building near the calf pens to cause a draft on the young
animals. The fan here is a double model controlled by a thermostat. One half of the
unit is in continuous operation while the other half is controlled by the barn tempera,
ture L F PHOTO
owing cops were good and
most barns and storage bins
are filled with winter feed
supplier Most livestock en
terprises returned dependab
le incomes while the poultry
industry was a bit unsteady
The outlook for 1960 se
ems to contain no major
changes but a trend toward
higher production costs Ma
tenals, supplies, and labor,
are all expected to come at
higher figures m 1960 Pri
ces of major farm commodi
i " , es are expected to remain
•toady which means slight
y reduced net income to mo
t producers.
The expansion of most hi
'in enterprises will no doubt
ontmuc in - order to reduce
costs through greater pro
duction I predict more sp
ecialization and less diversi
fication on many more dairy
and livestock farms in the
next few yeais.
Labor-saving devices are
only beginning to be estab
lished and many new deve
lopments and pieces of on
uipment will be introduced
Generally, consumer de
mand will continue to be
strong but government ag-
The staff of Lancaster Farming would like to
take this opportunity to wish to each of our
friends. A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS
NEW YEAR.
Lancaster. Pa., Saturday, December 26, 1959
cncies will continue to tig
hten up production regulat
ions in order to protect the
general public.
No doubt farming will
continue to be successful in
southeastern Pennsylvania
for the coming year, but bet
ter management and greater
efficiency on larger units
will be essential to with
stand the cost squeeze.
WAYNE B RENTSCHLER
Membership Relations, Lan
caster County Farm Bureau
In looking back over 1959
I feel a measure of pride
and satisfaction, over the
many agricultural activities
the youth achievements and
WAYNE B. RENTSCHLER
continued development of
agricultural businesses. The
year 1959 brought challen
ges now bearing down, upon
us challenges of servic
es, size of operations, finan
cing, integration and etc.
We must meet these chal
lenges in 1960 with courage
and good judgement. Both
our urban and rural folks
must take greater interest
in and share responsibilities
m the marketing and pro
duction of food and fibre,
and the necessary tools ne
eded to do the jobs in me
eting the challenges.
In the days ahead we ne
ed the complete program of
general understanding of cc
onomic civil, and sccml fac
tors, as well as the factors
of quality, service, and pri
ce in order to keep pace
with our countless achieve
ments.
It is through “Together
ness- ’ that we will go for
ward to preserve our Free
dom of Choice, which is one
of the basic pillars of our
American economic system
STANLEY MUSSELMAN,
public relations, Lancaster
County National Bank
Our bank has always look
STANLEY MUSSELMAN
od upon Agi iculturo as an
outstanding industry in our
county. Even m these tunes
For Cattle Health
Ventilate Dairy Barn
The proper ventilation of
the dairy barn contributes
many things to the success
of the enterprise; however,
lv r o major advantages stand
out toward making this pr
actice quite profitable: (1)
More efficient production of
the herd and (2) Greater
preservation of the faim st
ructure. Both of these items
aie very important if the
dairyman is to stay in busi
ness
At the present time near
ly all darry barns arc nllcd
to capacity since tlie trend
is lo\va''d larger heids; un
less some svstem oi forced
ventilation is estabbhed, ma
ny herd owners will exper
ience additional manageme
nt problems The manual
control of doors and \mii-
EARLY PAPER
In order lo give the staff
a holiday, Lancaster Farming
will be printed on Thursday
instead of Friday this week
and next. For this reason,
some of the markets normal
ly carried will be omitted
from these two issues. After
the issue of January 2, the
paper will again go to press
on Friday and the regular
markets will bjs carried.
$2 Per Year
To You?
of “tight money we see no
reason why the needs o,
fanners can not be met.
Unit costs ol production
vary m every business. This
is no different in Farming.
According to predictions we
are approaching a period
during which the margin be
tween the efficient operator
and the submarginal operat
or is going to widen
We must recognize thaf
the credit pattern m our
country’s agriculture has
changed in the past few
years The capital and cic
dit requirements per farm
and per man have increased
We feel that for this reason
the faimer should make the
best use possible of his fin
ances whether they be his
own capital or in the foim
of ci edit.
WILLIS ESBENSHADE,
Agricultural Extension Sei
vicc, Executive Committee
The Lancaster County La
mer has had a good gi owing
WILLIS ESBENSHADE
season in 1959. There was
under normal rainfall dur
(Turn lo page 10)
dows during the wmlcr mo
nths is unsatisfactory and
risky under the best atten
tion and mangemont.
We recommend that dairy
men install an electric tan
exhaust system to remove
the loul, moisture-laden, ,wa
im air from the barn; tin
(Turn to Page 5)
FIVE-DAY
WEATHER
FORECAST
Saturday ■ Wednesday
Temperatures during the
next five days will average
2 to 5 degrees below norm
al. Normal temperatures
for this area range from a
low of 25 at night to a
high of 40 in the afternoon.
Slightly warmer over th»
week end. but continued
rather cold. Some light
snow ending sometime Sat
urday is expected. Chance
of snow again about Mon
day. Temperature early
Wednesday morning was
the coldest of the season to
dale, when thermometers
read 8 degrees in the coun
ty. Precipitation during
the week was the 2 inches
of snow on Monday.