10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 14,1971
Do We Use
Do we as dairymen use the product
that we produce?
This has been the opening of brief talks
by the new Lancaster County Dairy
Princess, Sue Kauffman, Elizabethtown
RDI, before two leading Lancaster County
dairy groups, the Holstein Breeders Asso
ciation and the Guernsey Breeders Asso
ciation, at their annual field days recently.
Basically, Miss Kauffman asked: How
can the dairy industry be strong if dairy
men themselves don’t believe enough in
their product to use it and promote it every
chance they get?
Specifically, she asked, “Are we our
own worst enemies? What do we buy when
we go to a restaurant or out with'the guys?
How can we expect others to use milk if we
don’t ourselves?”
When eating out, Miss Kauffman con
cludes, always add a glass of milk to the
menu. And maybe the person next to you
will say, “I’ll take a glass of milk, too.”
Maybe the dairy princess could be
lersuasive in getting others to have
- , of milk than most of the rest of us.
B „ shouldn't sell ourselves short. The
power of example is great.
Just one person promoting a glass of
milk at every opportunity may not decide
the fate of the dairy industry. But hundreds
of our readers are strongly dependent upon
the health of the dairy industry. All of
them together repeatedly urging “a glass
of milk” definitely can make big difference.
Have a glass of milk. That’s an order
to someone else, something the dairyman
can’t enforce.
Hog-Corn Ratio Starts Up Again
About two-thirds of the feed used by the
typical hog producer is corn, according to
the USDA. And this has led some farmers
to gear their hog enterprises directly to the
supply and price of corn and hogs.
Th “hog-corn ratio” was a term that
originated in the mid-1920’s to describe the
profitability of hog production. Hog pro
ducers know the ratio as the number of
bushels of corn that can be exchanged for
100 pounds of live hog at current prices.
A high ratio, say of around 20, means
that corn is relatively cheap in relation to
hogs and it’s highly profitable for the farm
er to feed his corn to his hogs. A lower
ratio, say around 10, means corn prices
are up or hog prices down, making it more
costly and less profitable to feed hogs.
As farmers know, corn prices have
been relatively high and there’s been a glut
of hogs, making hog prices low. This means
a low ratio now exists.
But currently, it’s uncertain if corn
prices will remain high and the hog glut
is easing, bringing pork prices back up
some. Things, at least pending the out
come of the corn crop, are looking better
for the hog producer.
In theory, at least, the farmer should
sell his corn direct when the ratio is very
low, saving himself the work, perhaps even
loss, of feeding out low priced hogs.
In practice, as farmers know, the mar
ket is highly unpredictable and a situation
that starte out looking good or bad may be
the opposite by the time the hogs are mar
keted a few months later. As a result,
most successful hog producers stay in con
tinuous operation, with the idea that effi
cient operators make enough more in good
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. O. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office: 22 E. Main St., Lititz, Pa 17543
Phone; Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2101
Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Directm
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription price: $2 per year in Lancaster
County: $3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published every Saturday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa.
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa
17543.
Member of Newspaper Farm Editors Assn.
Pa. Newspaper Publishers Association, and
National Newspaper Association
Our Produce?
I’ll have a glass of milk. That’s a per
sonal commitment. Anyone can make that
choice.
And because people do imitate each
other, particularly in areas such as dress
and eating styles, ordering a glass of milk
every chance you get is both healthy and
good business.
We think it’s necessary to go one step
farther. We think every farmer should un
derstand and believe in his product so that
he can be a promoter of his own welfare
and his industry’s welfare everywhere he
goes.
In the past, this wasn’t so important,
although we suspect many of the best farm
ers have always been good salemen of their
products and their industry.
Today, as the number of farmers con
tinually declines and as the potential for
substitute products grows, farmers must
begin to consider promotion as an absolute
ly essential part of their job.
While individual farmers nay object
to being compelled to set aside money for
promotion, we don’t see how anyone can
object to saying, “I’ll have a glass of milk,”
when he really does like milk and believes
it’s a lot healthier than another beverage.
Or to saying, “I like the new, lean pork
better all the time,” when what he’s saying
is the truth.
Understanding your product, believing
in it, using it we think this is < ne of the
best possible approaches to p omoting
farm products and keeping the farm econ
omy healthy.
times than they lose in bad times that
they’ll come out ahead in the long run.
Some successful farmers modify this
practice of steady and continuous operation
to an extent by cutting back a little just be
fore what looks to them like a coming
market glut, or expanding a little during
good times. Others don’t hesitate to take
advantage of good buys in corn and grain
when prices for feed are so low that it
would be difficult to lose even if hog prices
dropped.
Because it does represent a basic pro
fitability relationship, farmers should stay
aware of the hog-corn ratio or a similar
beef-corn ratio. The following is a brief
USDA summary of how the hog-corn ratio
has fluctuated during the past three and a
half years;
During 1968, the ratio averaged 18.0
and it hovered around the same figure for
much of the first half of 1969.
In June 1969 the ratio broke 20. In
fact, the 1969 average, 20.3, was a record
high for a whole year.
February 1970 stands as the high mark
for a single month—24.l. And the ratio re
mained very favorable until August when
corn prices started to climb and hog prices
were going down.
The ratio dropped 2.7 points from Aug
ust to September 1970 and continued down
to a low of 10.7 in January 1971. Most of the
drop 'was due to declining hog prices. Many
farmers saw no profit in feeding corn made
extensive by drought and blight.
Also many farmers became less anx
ious to raise hogs during 1971 than they
had been during 1970.
Late in winter 1970, feeder pigs 40 to 60
pounds at Illinois markets were averaging
$29 per head. When the prices of hogs fell,
feeder pig prices fell faster. By late 1970
they were around $l2 per head, 50 percent
drop from a year earlier, compared to
slaughter hog price drops of around 40 per
cent.
Winter prices for feeder pigs strength
ened and were averaging $l6 by June
Prices are expected to improve further in
second half, particularly if the corn crop
looks favorable.
The hog-corn ratio has turned more
favorable to producers lately, standing at
12.2 in June 1971.
NOW IS
THE TIME..
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
To Utilize Com Crop
The blight condition in many
corn fields has changed in the
past week; growers with the “T”
strain of cytoplasm (not resis
tant) should be keeping a close
watch on their fields. Spraying
with a fungicide has been sug
gested when lesions are on
leaves above the ear of corn; if
this is not done, then some of
this corn might be made into
silage before it gets too dry.
Even though some of this corn
may have been planted for grain,
it might be a good idea to put
the “T” strains in the silo and
keep the “N” strains (resistant)
for grain purposes. It seems un
likely; that corn that is badly
blighted now and only in the pol
linating or milk stage, will de
velop into a normal crop unless
it is sprayed several times with
a fungicide. The experiences of
last year show how quickly the
blight can kill a corn plant; the
big difference is that it is hitting
two to three weeks earlier this
year.
To Beware Of Silo Gas
Silo filling time might be get
ting close for some growers. The
danger of silo gas should be im
pressed upon every member of
the farm family. From the time
the silo is filled, or being filled,
the danger may exist for at least
READ LANCASTER FARMING
FOR FULL MARKET REPORTS
NO LAUGHING
MATTER
Lesson for August 15,1971
Background Scripture Jeremiah 35 1-10,
18, 19, Ephesians 5 15 20
Devotional Reading Luke 1 5 17
In our society the drunk is of
ten represented or regarded as a
most amusing fellow. Frequently
the “hilarious” drunk is regarded
as “the life of the party” and
many well-known comedians have
a “drunk” routine as part of their
repertoire.
For the family
of a drunk, how
ever, alcoholism is
no laughing mat
ter The drunken
“life-of-the-party”
is usually the sor
row of the home
His or her antics
which some may
Rev. Althouse f mc j so amusing
are for husbands, wives, and chil
dren a source of heart-rending
tragedy
The family curse
Several years ago a woman
wrote a letter to a nationally
known columnist. The letter be
gan: “I am the happiest woman
in the world. My husband died
last month He finally drank him
self to death.” She went on to ex
plain that her children no longer
had to ask her why their father
is “so mean,” nor did she need to
lock them and herself in the bath
room for protection. Her twelve
year-old, she said, no longer had
10 days. Some of the gases are
yellow and some are colorless;
they are all heavier than air and
dangerous. Never enter a partly
filled silo until the blower has
been running for at least 10 to
15 minutes. All farmers and
custom silo fillers should remind
all members of the farm family
of this danger. A small amount
of some of these gases can do
permanent damage to lung tis
sues. Be careful.
To Prepare For Winter Grain
The seeding of winter grain
will soon get started on some
farms; we urge the use of Cer
tified seed sowed into ground
that has been limed and ferti
lized according to a complete soil
test. lime and fertilizer work
together to give the most effi
cient yields. Livestock pro
ducers wanting to sow winter
grain early for pasture purposes
can do this job during August
and September, providing they
use fly resistant wheat varieties
such as Redcoat. Winter rye may
be seeded at any time and will
provide pasture until the ground
freezes this fall and again early
next spring. 'Frosty conditions
do not make the winter grains
dangerous from a toxicity angle
as is the case with forage crops
such as Sudan grass or the
sudan-sorghum hybrids.
to help put to bed a drunken fa
ther and there were now no more
liquor bills, jail fines, and attor
ney’s fees. She signed her name,
“Free At Last.”
Her drunken husband was not
a laughing matter.
Those who continue to regard
the alcoholic and problem drink
er as “amusing” ought to try put
ting themselves in the places of
the families cursed by alcoholism.
They ought to consider soberly
the tragic statistics three out of
four broken homes list alcohol as
a major factor; three out of ten
fatal accidents involve a drinking
driver, eleven thousand people
killed each year by drunken dri
vers, one of every four emotion
ally disturbed persons is a prob
lem drinker
Mrs Marty Mann, former exec
utive director of the National
Committee on Alcoholism, has
said that the most painful years
of her life were the years of
chronic alcoholism “I suffered
constantly,” she said, “not just
one kind of pain, but all kinds of
pain I suffered physically, men
tally, emotionally, financially,
and socially in every depart
ment of my life I tell you honest
ly that alcoholism is the most
painful disease known to man ”
The powerful witness of a few
In Jeremiah 35 the prophet is
called b> God to try to entice the
Eechabites to break their vow of
abstinance on alcohol This was a
small group of sincere men who
supported the prophets in their
condemnation of pagan worship
by the of their vows
was to abstain from alcohol and
so, though tempted, they reply:
“We will drink no wine . . .”(35.
6).
We must admire (and emu
late’) the courage of this little
band of men who regarded drunk
enness as no laughing matter.
(tased on outlines copyrighted by the
Division of Christian Education, National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U,S.A.
Released by Community Press Service.)