—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 27,1971
12
Cattle Shelter, Fences, Corrals, Silo Costs Reviewed Here
(Continued from Page 11)
Hushes, and he wondeied how
;ome 200 head cattle lots with
h'gh capital investments can pay
loi themselves in light of the
i datively small profit maigms
m this type of feeding.
Farmei s who have the capi
tal to afford what Hughes re
feued to as a “Cadillac style
opeiation” still should consider
the fact that they ought to get
a letuin on their investment at
least equal to what they could
get for leaving the money m
the bank to draw interest and,
m addition, they should get a
return for their labor
Farmers who do not have the
capital for “Cadillac style”
farming, but who borrow the
money, should take into account
the high cost of borrowing
money. Some farmers pay as
much as 15 to 18 per cent in
terest to buy machinery and
equipment, it was noted.
Hughes cited examples of
two farmers that he knows
about One farmer with a 50 to
60 cow dairy herd has outstand
ing debts totaling about $250.-
000 and has recently realized
that he’s not making out very
well; Hughes indicated he’s not
sure if there is a solution for
this type situation In getting
into this situation, Hughes said,
the farmer kept buying all the
latest type of expensive equip
ment without legard to whether
it would pay for itself and how
it would benefit his operation
The other farmer with about
a 100 head dauy held has in
expensive type machinery and
equipment and maintains a re
latively small overall invest
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| Field and Grass Seeds
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ment, but this farmer reported
a $47,000 net profit last year,
Hughes said
Hughes also said that farm
ers cannot expect to get much
of their investment in buildings
and machinery back when they
sell a farm The important fac
tor m determining price in this
area is the land itself, he said.
In speaking specifically on
silos, Hughes said the silo must
fit into the overall farming
system and it is only part of the
system The farmer must think
in terms of how the silo will fit
into the system and help make
profits, he said.
While corn silage is the
cheapest source of feed, the
faimer must analyze his future
building plans in relation to
what he now has.
When going into a new sys
tem or an addition to the sys
tem, Hughes said the farmer
must be sure that added costs
will not exceed added returns.
There is a trend in farming
toward substitution of capitol
for labor and building a silo is
one way of doing this. But the
farmer must be sure that the
silo actually will reduce labor
requirements
In deciding if he wants a new
silo, the farmer should also con
sider alternative uses for his
money. Referring to Burdette’s
comments earlier in the even
ing, Hughes noted that $1,500
spent on a corral, with all the
management benefits that a
good corral can provide, could
turn out to give a bigger return
than a new $lO,OOO silo
& MD. • • •
305
303
210
In anlayzing the cost of a new
item, including a silo, the farm
er must evaluate it on the basis
of its yearly cost. For a silo,
this should include annually
five per cent for depreciation,
three to nine per cent for in
terest, one to two per cent for
repairs and about one per cent
each for taxes and insurance
This indicates 11 to 18 per cent
of the initial cost as the annual
cost of ownership and this an
nual cost goes up to about 18 to
25 per cent when additional
necessary equipment is added,
according to Hughes,
He noted that conditions
change faster today than be
fore and the five per cent de
preciation figure representing
20 years, may actually be too
low. A 10 to 15 year deprecia
tion schedule may be better, he
said.
Noting that costs for an 800
ton silage storage can range
from just over one dollar a ton
to over five dollars a ton,
Hughes said each steer con
sumes three to five tons duung
a feeding cycle. This can result
in a cost per animal of $l5 or
over for silage storage alone
And the difference between
this cost and the lower cost
storage facility can mean the
difference of large sums of
money annually when figured
over the number of head the
farmer feeds each year, Hughes
explained.
Some farmers may want to
spend some of their profits for
“some of the Cadillacs of opera
tion” This is all right if the
farmer has an a4®<iu a f e profit
programmed
hog
Red Rose developed this program of feeding
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It's a complete nutrition and management story,
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You owe it to yourself to try the Programmed
Hog system and the Red Rose swine feeds that
make up the program. Don’t wait another day.
Call your dealer now!
E. P. Spotts, Inc.
Honey Brook
1 -5 *
level But “if getting enough He also stated, If you have a
net profit is a problem” Hughes high cost operation, it’s no
would advise' the farmer to keep body’s fault but your own.”
costs to a minimum. '
The
H. M. Stauffer & Sons,
Inc.
Witmer
_ -X i j-"*
Walter Binkley & Sbn
Lititz
Brown & .Rea, Inc,
Atglen
Elverson Supply Co.
Elverson
L. T. Geib Estate
Manheim
I. B. Graybili & Son
Strasburg
E. Musser Heisey & Son
R. D. #2, Mt. Joy, Pa.
Heistond Bros.
Elizabethtown
Red Rose Form
Service, Inc.
N. Church St., QuarryviUe
David B. Hurst
Bowmansville
G. R. Mitchell, Inc-
Refton, Pa.
Mountville Feed Service
Mountville
Musser Forms, Inc.
Columbia ■
Martin's Feed Mill
Ephrata, Pa.
Chos. E. Souder & Sons
Terre Hill
Ammon E. Shelly
Lititz
f*