—Lancaster Farming. Saturday. June 27.1970
4
Remember
One thing egg producers should keep
in mind in regard to the impending egg
bust is that even if egg prices go down
only to the 1967 level, farmers will likelv
lose more money.
That's because it will cost most produc
ers more per dozen eggs to produce than it
did three years ago.
Labor and equipment costs are up
substantially. Medication is up.
Feed cost increased about fn e per cent
in the past >ear, according to the Farm
Economics report of Penn State and USDA.
Feed accounts for the majority of the cost
of production.
Keep a Sharp Pencil
The egg producer should remember
r hat in even a relatively mild bust, most or
all producers lose money for \arying
oenods of time.
Producers should keep in mind in
olanning their farm programs in the next
se\ eral months
While egg prices ha\e firmed some
vhat recently, ue are informed that only
:he best and most efficient producers are
naking a profit. Remember that some,
oossibly most, egg producers have been
losing money in recent weeks and the
egg bust w hich w e behev e is coming hasn t
really started
If this type of marginal egg market
continues indefinitely, or if the market goes
down further, the losses for some pioduc
ers can accumulate day after day. week
after week, month after month.
Farmers can sustain such losses for a
time by cutting back in some areas of
operation, such as maintenance and plant
improvement, but there’s a limit to which
Still Too Much Optimism
There’s a natural tendency among
people in general to get caught up in the
mood of the times and to forget reality.
This helps explain the widespread, abject
despair which prevails in market busts and
xhe bouyant, reckless optimism that takes
over in times of prosperity.
These swings in the prevailing mood
have been particularly severe in the egg
■ndustry. These swings have been made
uore severe by the basic fact that small
changes in the supply of eggs tend to
nroduce big changes in egg prices both
up and down
The egg market now would appear to
be at the beginning of a new period of
despair, but close enough to the last penod
of prosperity that too many producers can t
think in teims of what conditions leally
are because they are blinded by the usion
of what has been
The new period of despair would au
pear to be certain because of the cunent.
huge build-up in egg production capaatv
Some egg industry officials, however. aie
optimistic that the bust, which these pro
duction increases would normally mandate,
can be avoided.
Can the bust made imminent by the
natural human instinct to jump on pros
perity's bandwagon be averted?
Technically speaking, there is no doubt
that the bust can be avoided. The UEP pro
gram to sell off layers earlier and to hold
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. O. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office- 22 E. Mam St, Lititz, Pa 17543
Phone. Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robert G Campbell. Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription pi tee S 2 per yeai in Lancaster
County S 3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published every Saturday bv Lancaster
Farming Lititz, Pa
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz Pa
17543
Member of Newspaper Faim Editors Assn
Pa. Newspaper Pubhsheis Association and
National Newspaper Association
Egg Costs
Some fanners fortunate enough not to
need hired labor can eliminate that factor
Established farmers many not need much
new equipment.
But few can economically a\oid medi
cation. none can get around the feed situa
tion. , .
Steady impro\emcnts in the quality
and efficiency of the birds through genetic
advances, plus the industry's steady im
provement in know-how, will help off-set
these increases. But overall, the poultry in
dustry follows the trend almost everywhere
else in the country during the past se\ eral
years of inflation: costs are up.
a property can be “bled” in this wav In
the long run. such items as maintenance
and replacement of buildings and equip
ment have to be provided for.
One way the farmer can save himself
during hard times is to run a sharp pencil
Publications such as ours can inform the
farmer about the overall health of his in
dustry. but only the individual farmer has
the data upon which to judge the health
of his own farm operation.
Correct decisions in all times should
be based on accurate and comprehensive
cost and return figures In periods of de
pressed markets, such figures are absolute
ly vital.
Without a clear understanding of
w here he stands at all times financially, the
farmer is not prepared to make proper
management decisions.
In the type of egg market that exists
today and is indicated for the future, the
importance of a sharp pencil has never been
greater.
moulting to low levels will stop an im
mediate build-up of egg supplies and there
fore stop any significant downward pres
sure on eggs in the next several months,
possibly through this year.
The UEP program to hold egg type
chick hatch to zero in August and to 1969
levels the rest of the year would solve the
long term problem for 1971.
It would appear that if the UEP pro
gram is carried out, there will be little or no
significant drop in egg prices from current
le\els. Under the UEP program, there
would be no bust.
But the UEP program is bucking hu
man nature.
The UEP program is bucking the
farmer who won't listen to any pioposa!.
no matter how beneficial.
It's bucking the producer who will hold
his birds that extra month and let the
other farmer sell his
It’s bucking the producers who wall trv
to take advantage of the efforts of others to
stave off a bust.
And will hatcheries actually cooperate
to achieve zero hatch in August? It will ha\ e
to be seen to be believed.
So, will the UEP program be successful
and avert the type of tragic market bust
all too common to the egg industry, the
type that results in bankruptcy for many
producers?
While we wish the UEP all the success
in the world, because the success of the
UEP program wall mean success for south
eastern Pennsylvania egg producers, we’re
past the period of optimism generated by
last winter’s egg boom. We think any opti
mism remaining from that boom is ill
founded.
But because we believe there is a lot tress their hope, in looking at acce Pt these wounds because we
of optimism still remaining in other quar- f°hn’s vteions it is important vfpf<^ Ure m our knowledge of
ters, and because we think this will pre- hung-upon it is the vision of our *«„
’,, . .., , the details of his visions, but .. 11 xne visi °n of our nope for
\ent the true seriousness of the present egg that we concentrate on the mes- the future that makes us truly
market condition from being widely enough sage behind those details. unconquerable in the here and
recognized, we think the UEP program will For example he speaks of “a now °* the present.
be only partially successful. heaven and a new earth.” (gased on .. , 1
Therefore, we think there will be a J? 3 ? *s an e3 s* r ession of faith Division of Ed?ratmn! NattoS*
market bust hut nnt nearly as rlisastrnns that indicates that God will trans- S°s n a chr! - st
market bust, but not nearly as disastrous fonn the world that it t , by Community f r **»
a bust as would have occurred if the LEP ua ily fulfills the purpose for if
program had not been undertaken, he made it. Today it is * ‘
To Feed New Grain Carefully
Barley and wheat haivcst is at
hand and these new grains will
soon be finding their way into
livestock and poultiy rations.
Produceis aie urged to introduce
these g.ams slowly into the grain
mixture and only after they have
had several weeks of curing in
the bas or bin Too much of the
new giam may cause scouring,
bloating, or o‘her digestive dis
turbances If the gram is placed
in sto’age bins, be suie the bins
are Jean and hate been treated
with an insecticide such as mala
thion 01 meihoxychlor.
To Care For Heifeis
He placement ht.feis aie most
important .n the futuie of any
he’d Danymen aie leminded of
■he need to check on the heifeis
ficquen f l> if they aie away on
pasta.e on another faim Be sure
-hcv have plenty of foiage,
wa.e., salt, and shade This same
far cry from what God intends
it to be, but we belive it will
someday be a far different world,
a world so different that it will
seem a “new world.” This will
happen, not because “day after
day” man simply will get “better
and better in every way,” but be
cause God is moving this world
along toward that goal.
John also saw a vision of a
“New Jerusalem.” Jerusalem was
for the Jew the center of all Ids
religious hopes. It had been de
stroyed a number of times by
enemies and had been rebuilt
again. The Jews remembered
‘with pride the beautiful temple
, . ~ . _ . . that had once stood in the midst
Scripture: bv.bl.on 21 through of the city m& looked forward to
Devetien«l tteodinjs i Peter 5 6-11. that day when it would be there
“Why study a bunch of old a ® ain ' also believed that
visions, anyhow?” when God s plan was fully at-
This was the response of a cpmplished, people from all na
bighschool youth confronted with * lonB would *° toe temple
the prospect of studying the i? Jerusalem as the center for
Book of Revelation in a church * be wors^u P God.
After /\ he “V At the center: Christ
sonea, these vi- , v .
sions talk about JJS “ w £® ° f
the distant future sab r™’ lB s ? me thing
and we are busy rath er different than a city which
enough with the ed - sbove “V *«;
presenf Clty be toe person of
v P f inct no tiio Christ. What this means for us
past has served the future may
to shape the pres- bold *° r . tbe 'I 01 ™ » which we
ent what we do 11 7 e ’ Chnst bs at to e center
- now can be great- mea ps that that which
Rev. Althouse affected by w ® bave P art ially experienced in
what we expect of the future. * b * s b ? perfectly and
And people do wonder about the com P . e Jy experienced in this
future. Among thdvquestions they This is what Raul
ask are these: j alluded to when he said; “Now
1. Will our world go on un- se ? only tbe Putting reflec
endingly, or will it* someday be m a 3n “ rol |i but toen we
brought to a close? , aU see face to face - M y hnow
2. In what direction is the l edg ! n ° w IS . P* rtial : toen it will
world heading? Is it getting “bet- ?l bcde •* • ’ (NEB 1 Corinthian
ter” or “worse”? Is it staying 1 .... ... , .
the same? 6 WltJl tois hope of toe future
3. Will Christianity be undis- Y lthm him th e Christian can
putably vindicated at some point S? aw to Mve “ toe prelent,
in the future? will “good” be Ta ough hfe may seem to tide
triumphant once and for all over rou Shshod over him, though its
“evil”? may have to taste again and
4. Will there be a day of rec- a S ain the bitterness of seeming
honing for each of us? - defeat, he can still be a con
queror: “He who conquers sh«U
A new heaven and earth have this heritage, and I will be
It is to questions such as these b if G °d and he shall be my nm"
that the Book of Revelation is (®®Y*^ a hon 21:7), We are like
addressed. People in those days aol diers wb o fall wounded in n
also wondered about the future battle that we know will event
and needed an assurance to hut- uaUy he won by our side. We can
A VISION OF HOPE
Lesson for June 28,1970
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County A cent
management is :a order for dry
cows if they arc not with the
milking herd First-calf heifers
should be brought into the barn
and with the milking held sev
ci al weeks before freshening in
older to get them accustomed to
the daily milking routine. Re
placement heifers are veiy im
pel tant to all bleeders; they
deserve caieful a'tention and
management
To Make Vlfalfa Cuttings
Weathei conditions have fa
voied the excellent growth of
second cut alfalfa. The latest
lecommendation from our crop
icseaich men suggest that we
make the second and thud cut
tings of alfalfa rom 35 to 40
days aftei the first cutting. Ex
peuments ha\e favored this fre
quency of cutting for maximum
yields and longevity of the stand.