Lanrasu r Fannin,
4-
Milk Prices Too High
Au* milk prices lon high in the North
cast’’
In his provocative talk last week be
fore dozens of dair.vmen al Lancaster Coun
ty Dairy Day, A. J. Nixon, vice president
of Penn Dairies, didn't flatly say prices arc
too high. But we suspect most dairj men
who heard the talk fell Nixon was urging
lower milk prices.
Are milk prices really too high in the
Northeast?
It's a question of real importance to
Lancaster County, which is first in the state
in dairying. In an area where being first in
various important aspects of agriculture
seems to come naturall>. the stature of
dairying is still quite impressive.
Dairvmg in 1968 accoutred for S3;i 4
million of the countv's M 24 2 million of a»-
ncultural pi eduction, deriving accounted
lor nearlv one thud nl the countv's total
agricultural piwduct D.uiv ng \ as >\r>it.i
moic than twice a> ur.ch « heel c<; t'e.
ho.s and sheep comomed
Nixon gave some, sound icanons !,u
lower milk puces, inclining toe grow ng
and costlj. milk and milk product suiple es
in the Northeast Nonnalh. when a sijr
plus develops in a product, the price is toe
high in relation to the demand
The Penn Dairies president also said
continued high prices of milk will encourage
substitute products to come on the market.
And he said high milk prices will encour
age consumers to turn to other products
But what about Lancaster Countj dairy
men? Are milk prices too high. Air Dairy
man?
Probably not.
His automated feeder pig barn enables
Glenn Longenecker of Elizabethtown RDI
to care for 400 feeder pigs with a minimum
of backbreaking work and a minimum of
time. (See story on Page 9.)
His modern set-up is a far cry from
the traditional “slopping the hogs" ap
proach most of us knew or probably still
know.
Automation eliminates or holds to a
minimum hired labor, which is increasingly
scarce, more costly and less reliable than
during the ‘‘slopping the hogs” days. Auto
mation enables him to grow more hogs
Has Advantages
Automation obviously has its ad\ an
tages.
But that doesn’t mean every pig grow
er should suddenly build an automated
feeder pig barn
Two points which Max Smith county
agricultural agent, and other Penn State
extension service personnel aie repeatedly
making to county farmers aie
—Don’t o\er-e\pand. don t buy too
much or uneconomical equipment, don t
waste your capital
—Make suie that what you do ht<; in
with your particular operation, don’t rum
your system, don't get into something you
can't manage
Losses Possible
The point is simply this While Irg pio
its can be made from big. efficient aiRO-
ASTER FARMING
Lancastei County’s Own Farm VtecLij
P 0 Box 266 Lititz Pa 17543
Ofhce 22 E Main St, Lititz Pa 17543
Phone Lancastei 394 3047 m Lititz 626 2191
Robert G Campbell Ad\ eitismg Duector
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription puce S 2 pei jeai in Lancaster
County S 3 elsewhere
Established \o\ ember 4 1955
Published eveiy Satin da\ bj Lancastei
Farming Lititz Pa
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz Pa
17543
Member of Newspaper Farm Editors Assn
Pa Newspaper Pub'isheis Association, and
National Newspaper Association
ig. Saturday. March 21.1970
To Automate?
We’re constantly hearing about how the
profit squeeze is hitting the dan > man. how
important it is for him to make his herd
more efficient, and how he must continue to
expand to maintain a reasonable li\mg
standard.
If Nixon's proposal for lower prices is
followed, the dairyman will be faced with
both decreasing prices and increasing costs.
It’s an old story in economics in general and
farming in particular. It's the classic price
cost squeeze in which the less efficient and
smaller operations get squeezed out and the
bigger and better operations expand.
In a sense, the price-cost squeeze has
been undeiway in dairying for many years.
The number of herds has been decreasing,
while those remaining grow larger (o take
up the slack But this has been occurring
under lelatuel.v f-norablo conditions o
conl'nuing milk pi ice increases Imagine
how the squeeze can intensify it. instead e
going up milk ni ices go doe n
'lnc raided b\ Nixon. however
nnohe-. moic than lust whcthei or not milk
puces ‘-houlci be lowered Nixon actuahv
was challenging danjmen to consider il
they can afford not to lower prices.
Will the consequences in teims of lost
markets and general decline in dairying as
a result of high milK prices be worse than
the consequences of lower profit margins
tor dairymen? That’s really the question
Nixon raised.
The question is \ ital to Nixon. He repre
sents a firm which sells milk and milk pro-
ducts
But the question is no less \ital to
every dairyman.
mated operations, big losses also await the
farmer who makes big mistakes in expand
ing unwisely, improperly or in the wrong
area.* - - ■
One of the dangers of automation is that
it’s so expensne. We have to know how to
get big returns out of automated operations
in order to cover these high expenses and
still have something left over.
Study Pros, Cons
Of course, there are manv complicating
factors which enter into the situation when
each indiudual farmer begins to consider
the pros and cons of the situation.
How much money does the farmer have
to invest in upgrading his pig operation?
How much can he or how much does he w r ant
to borrow 7
How well does the fame m
modern equipment 7 Can he ‘u it, or can
he get someone to h\ it when it doesn't
work 7
To operate efficiently, one piece of
modern equipment often requires another
Can the fai’mer affoid all the necessary
equipment to become big and automated 7
Or will the costs of his equipment be too
high to be otf-set b\ the income from his
product 7
These are the kinds of questions each
fanner has to answer foi himself Manj
factors are involved, which only the indivi
dual can know tullv Rewards tor making
-ght decisions can be great, and the losses
aom wrong decisions can also be huge
Long Term Trends
Those who choose to expand have long
teim trends in their favor Automation is
generally replacing labor, farming opera
tions are growing in size, farming is becom
ing more specialized.
But the name of the game is still to
make a profit The farmer who doesn't
make a profit soon won't be a farmer any
more.
And to make a profit, costs have to be
kept lower than returns. That's true if you
slop the hogs or feed them by tube.
To Be Alert For Termites
As waimer weather arrives
dunng late March and April,
piopcrty owneis should be alert
for termites that may collect in
the sun ncai windows or doors.
The termite should not be con
fused with flying ants that may
collect in the same warm areas.
Tci mites will have four large
wings of equal size and one
elogated body the ant will have
two pans of wings of diffeient
sizes and ha\e a two section
bo Tei mites at this time of
the yen is a warning o( then
piosence m the building and
po-sildt sci ions damage
To Graze Hmls fatefully
Winter i\e and olhei last- are mged to keep accurate ic
giowing glasses will giow in- cords of their chemical applica
pidH when waim wealhei am- tions Recoid blanks are avail
ves Animals to be giazed on able.
THE TERBIBLE PRICE
Lesson for March 22,197(1
s:vMimm<«i!fw. Matthew 211-n. the fifty-third chapter of .Isaiah;
(1) Sin does cost and cannot be
A teenage boy had participated overlooked. _
with a number of friends in the <2) God Is not reluctant to fop
“borrowing” of a man’s car (with- give man, nor does he need
out his permission!). Because the to be persuaded by Christ
car was returned undamaged be- (3) The justice of God de
fore the loss was discovered, the mands that someone pay
police were not notified, but the the terrible price of sin;
boy's father the love of God offers to
found out when pay that price for man.
h e accidentally In other words, it is God him
heardhissonand self who offers to take upon
a friend discus- himself the burden of sin. When
sing their “wild Jesus willingly went to the cross,
ri ~f‘ t +• t,- was G°d himself who was as
soSwKShe S'* m “’ s mm a ” d tmish -
Siid'mttkiM The l ““ 8c you see, was
Rev. Althouse awav wrong. There was harm done and
driving priveleges with the family hls fat her something to
car for three months. This was to l * lB *°° wl *-h God.
be his penalty one o£ the charac ters in W. H.
Auden’s Christmas oratorio, For
The Time Being, exclaims: “I
No one knows
‘ But why, Dad?” his son wanted hke committing crimes. God likes
to knew. “There was not any forgiving them. Really, the world
harm done, we got the car back |s admirably arranged.” But he
in time, and no one else knows is wrong: God doesn’t “like” for
about it but you. I’m sorry it hap- giving us, for it is painful to him.
pened and I want to forget the He does so only at a terrible cost,
whole thing Why can’t you forget c nmpnnp na}fl
it too 9 It doesn’t cost you any- «°i nBo ‘ ,e P a,B
thing to forgive me. Why must was f°° with. the cross
it cost me something?” which Jesus bore. In it there was
What do you think 7 Is it true a ern^e cost:
that theie was no haim done? Is Surely he has borne our griefs,
he coirect m thinking that it and carried our sorrow^;.. •
doesn't cost us to forgive? ® ut he was wounded for our
If you were asked to explain transgressions, he was
how God goes about foigiving us, bruised for our iniquities;
w huh of these tw o answeis would Upon him was the chastisement
j ou choose 9 that made us whole, and with
Answer #1 When a man sins h‘ s stripes we are healed,
against God, he incurs a debt with .
God and, since he cannot nav it t 5? . on Ines c *py"3hiad •>/ Hi. oivisi.<
Hod i« Ii " f • ’ 6 Christian Education, National Council ol Hi.
uOfl IS ready to condemn him. Churchas of Christ in tha u. S. A. Ralaosad by
But Jesus, by dying on the cross, Prass Samca)
ofleis himself in payment of the
debt and persuades the angry God
to forgive the sinner
Answer #2 When a man sins
against God it is possible for God
to overlook his sin as though it
never happened. When wesay YOUR CHOICE SUNDAY
we're sorry, this is what God does
because of his great love for us.
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
these areas should be allowed
only a short length of time (15
minutes to a half-hour) for the
first few days in order to get
them accustomed to the lush
forage; a feeding of some dry
matter such as hay, straw, or
silage is recommended before
they are turned into the new
pasture.
To Keep Pesticide Records
The subject of pesticides in
agncutkue occupies the front
iow, and eieic food and feed
pioducci should be extremely
caieful leeaidmg the use of any
chemical Recommendations
m iy be changed ficquently and
the legistiations of ceitain
chemical cancelled. Producei 3
The answers suggested above
•e both extremes.ln the first
le, God seems harsh and legal
;ic. What he wants is justice and
matters little whether it is
irist or man who does the pay
g.
>d, the sin-bearer
In the second answer we see
tite the opposite; God doesn’t
,ake sin seriously at all. He simply
overlooks it as if it never hap
pened at all. No one pays anything
because there is really nothing
to pay.
Neither of these answers are
adequate. Both miss some im-
ATTEND THE
CHURCH OF