42
—lancaster Farming. Saturday, March 24, 1973
Crunch is on in Freight
Record grain exports to Russia
are taxing the already strained
capacities of the Nation’s
railroads.
The entire Soviet purchase
amounts to 19 million metric
tons—a fourth of all farm exports
projected for fiscal ’73. It consists
of 10.9 million metric tons of
wheat. 7.0 million of corn, and 1.1
million of soybeans. The grains
are committed for delivery
before June 30, 1973.
A high proportion of all
soybean and grain exports move
to port by rail. And food grains
(primarily wheat), feed grains,
and soybeans account for roughly
three-fourths the volume of all
farm products hauled by trains.
Demand for freight space to
carry grain and soybeans—seen
a fifth higher than in recent
years—falls on a greatly reduced •
freight car supply. •
From 1962 to 1970 the number of
covered hopper cars and general
purpose boxcars suitable for
hauling grain plunged from
For high efficiency
at low cost
feed your cows
Checkerboard Dairy
You can take advantage of present high milk prices by
getting your cows to produce at their bred-in ability-at a
low cost. Checkerboard Dairy is the milking ration for the
dairyman who wants a highly efficient, yet a low-cost
ration for his herd. Checkerboard Dairy has a balance of
vitamins, minerals and protein cows need for top per
formance. And it's a complete milking ration, high in
molasses for added palatability and pelleted for easy
handling and feeding.
Put your herd on Checkerboard Dairy. See us today—and
let Checkerboard Dairy help your cows produce all the
milk that’s bred into them—and let you take advantage
of today's good milk prices.
John J. Hess, 11, Inc.
Ph: 442-4632
Paradise
West W«ew fanners Wenger , $ fai M 9 |nc .
West Willow Rheems
Ira B. Landis
Ph: 665-3248
Box 276, Manheim EDS
646,000 lo 503,000. The retirement
of many old and small boxcars
was offset only partially by the
addition of mo'dern, high
capacity hopper cars. Con
senquently, instant capacity of
the fleet dropped from 30.8
million to 28.1 million metric
tons.
Skepticism
Back in mid-1972 when USDA
announced the huge grain sale,
skeptics questioned whether
railroads could muster sufficient
freight car capacity to meet
delivery schedules. It’s still too
early to prove them wrong.
Locating empty rail cars to
move grains proved quite dif
ficult several years during the
sixties, even when export
volumes were well below those
anticipated this year. Too, annual
economic activity in fiscal ’73 is
expected to top last year’s level,
adding to competition for freight
car capacity.
The rail lines most affected by
the surge in grain and soybean
lames High & Sons
Ph; 354-0301
Gordonville
John B. Kurtz
Ph: 354-9251
R. D. 3, Ephrata
t iViiVt'i Vt’.ViV/t'iVi'iViV*
exports are those serving Gulf
ports. The Soviets purchased
primarily Hard Red Winter
wheat. Rail lines from production
regions lead most directly to
Texas ports. Over the past 2
years, nearly 90 percent of all
Hard Red Winter wheat ship
ments moved through Gulf ports.
Gulf ports also provide the
starting point for most U.S. feed
grain and wheat exports to the
Mediterranean area—gateway to
Russia’s Black Sea ports. Thus, if
the Russians make heavy use of
their Black Sea facilities, U.S.
Gulf ports—and the trains that
serve them—will receive the
brunt of increased export levels.
Icebound Ports
During fiscal ’72, roughly a
third of all Russia-bound feed
grains moved through Great
Lakes and Canadian (St.
Lawrence) ports. These ports,
however, usually close from late
December to mid-April due to
freezing. Though North Atlantic
ports may substitute during this
period, a shift to these facilities
lengthens rail shipments, tying
up cars for longer periods.
During July-September 1972,
only about 1.5 million metric tons
of corn —of the total 19 million-ton
purchase—left U.S. ports. Lack
of shipping arrangements bet
ween the U.S. and USSR was
largely to blame. Though an
agreement was reached in mid-
October, it brought no sudden
pickup in exports.
The upshot was to push a
larger-than-anticipated export
load into the final quarter of ’72
and first half of ’73—creating a
bigger crunch on rail and Gulf
Rely on Agrico
for practical
fertilizer programs
Let Agrico tailor a fertility pro
gram for you this year. We can
start right with your soil test report
. . . then we’ll make a practical,
down-to-earth fertilizer program
A century of service to grow on
Cali Now
Your Local AGRICO Dealer
OR STOP AT . . .
LANCASTER AGRICO CHURGHTOWN AGRICO
SERVICE CENTER SERVICE CENTER
1661 Rohrerstown Road Route 23
QUARRYVILLE AGRICO SERVICE CENTER
**»•»•*'•»♦*>* *»*>»'#>*>* » ft >*r* J
Car Capacities
port capacities. Wheat shipments traffic. Experts contend,
are now being expedited so that that holding capacity of nc
U.S. ports will clear by the end of country elevators, as \
May when export subsidy interior terminal ant
commitments on wheat sales are elevators, is sufficient to
due to expire. projected grain ex]
Congested Elevators provided rail facility
Huge shipments now moving to adequate to assure i
ports may at times clog train pickup and delivery,
elevators and bottle-neck rail (Continued on Page
W. L. 305
Alfalfa
one of the best yielding alfalfa for th
section,
Also full line of clovers.
ALL CLOVERS AND ALFALFAS
MIXED AND INOCULATED FREE.
VORIS SEED CORN
REIST SEEDS SINCE 1925
REIST SEED CO.
MT, JOY, PENNA.
PHONE 717-653-4121
WE DELIVER
that truly is tailored to your soil and
to the crops that you plan to grow
this year.
You’ll get a mixture of the ni
trogen, phosphate and potash that
you can broadcast on your fields
any time before you plow. We’ll
even work with you to manage a
way to get the fertilizer down early
so you’ll have more time for plant
ing.
Count on Agrico fertilizers this
year for the fertilizers that can
help you boost yields and profits.
North Church Street
Agricod
Chemical Company
One of the Williams Companies