Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 31, 1973
10
Facts of Meat Supply
Many years ago, there were those who
could see the handwriting on the wall as
fewer and fewer farmers produced the
food supplies for ever-greater numbers of
nonfarm people who knew little or nothing
about the economics of agriculture. The
day would come when lack of farming
knowledge would lead to a failure to ap
preciate certain natural laws of nature.
A spokesman for the livestock industry,
Mr David H Stroud, president of the
National Live Stock and Meat Board,
expressed it well when he said lots of
people think the supply of beef is
automatic and no further away than their
favorite food store and that the farmer,
packer or retailer “sets" the price. “But
that’s not so," he observes, “Despite
tremendous farm efficiencies, there’s no
short cut to a choice T-bone steak or a
pound of hamburger" It still takes two
years to grow the steak or roast you have
for dinner, plus 2,500 pounds of grain, 450
pounds of protein supplement and 12,300
pounds of hay, silage and pasture and
tremendous substantial investments in
Inflation and Food Costs
As a nation, we have become used to
spending a very small portion of our
average income on food—around 16
percent Americans, for the most part, have
been spoiled by our agricultural produc-
tivity and the efficiency and innovativeness
of our food processing and distribution
industries Still, this doesn’t change the
fact that the average cost of food eaten at
home between January, 1972, and
January, 1973, rose some 7 6 percent and
that rising food prices are sure to cause
more public dissatisfaction than similarly
rising costs in any other area Some argue
that food prices can be tamedonly by rigid
controls all the way back to the farm, which
would be the most disasterous possible
course from the standpoint of consumer
welfare Massive shortages of many food
products or rationing and black markets
reminiscent of World War II would be the
result Thus it is essential that some facts
about food prices become common
knowledge
The general pressure of inflation that
contmues to increase the dollar cost of
everything we buy has, of course, in
fluenced food prices But they have been
nudged upward to an additional extent by
the fact that, in the case of a number of key
food products, available supply is slightly
short, relative to strong demand. There is
no way price controls could cure this
situation They would simply reduce the
rate of return to farmers'and ranchers and
make it impossible to invest the money
required to increase production Higher
prices will boost production, but it takes
time to get new land into use, expand
facilities and boost the size of beef and
dairy herds Increased supply cannot come
overnight
Consider the matter of beef prices which,
because of the average person’s
preference for this variety of meat, have
been much in the limelight Growth in beef
demand has been greater than expected as
the level of affluence in America has risen
This has been a major cause of increased
pressure on prices Also, the price of feed,
which accounts for 80 percent of the meat
producer’s costs, have gone up like an
express elevator The kind of increase in
beef production that is needed to meet
demand will not come from today’s cattle
population That means an additional in
vestment in breeding herds that will
produce more beef That investment will
only be made as ranchers receive prices for
their cattle that are high enough to en
courage such action Supply, demand,
labor and capital before a steer is feedlot
fmished and ready for the market at 1,000
pounds. Further, supply and demand set
the price for beef regardless of farmer
rancher cost of production.' When
homemakers buy more beef, supplies are
reduced, and prices tend to rise because
consumers are bidding against each other
for available meat. Over the long pull,
however, ranchers have steadily increased
beef production-increased it 2J5 times in
the last 20 years. Today, beef consumption
in the U.S. has more than doubled-up from
56 to 115 pounds per person compared to
20 years ago.
There is only one way that Americans can
have the meat supply they will need in the
future and that is by adhering strictly to a
market-oriented agricultural industry
capable of producing abundance in ac
cordance with the laws of supply and
demand. This is one of the hard facts of
nature there is no dodging. It is a fact with
which farmers live everyday of their lives.
It is also a fact that many nonfarm con
sumers have forgotten.
weather, consumer tastes, massive sales of
gram.to the Soviet Union, processing,
packaging, transportation, cost of labor in
retail stores—all of these \(imgs and more
are part of the cost of food.
Another problem is that rqpst people’s
dissatisfaction with rising food prices
winds up being directed at the local
supermarket But food retailers have been
among the hardest hit by the inflationary
process because it has not been possible in
such a highly competitive industry to pass
costs along to consumers as fast as they
have occurred. On the average, food chain
companies earned 1.41 cents per dollar of
sales after taxes during the period 1964-
1965 Six years later this figure had
dropped to .86 cents; and, by the third
quarter of 1972, the average food chain
company was earning ofily .3 cents per
dollar of sales.
What it all boils down to is that the forces
of inflation all along the line, combined with
rising demand for particular food items,
has finally hit America’s grocery bill just as
it has everything else, and no one's getting
rich in the process. The one thing that does
appear to be certain is that the way to cure
the situation is not to further restrict
supply by slapping incentive-killing price
controls on the nation's food producers. It
is a time for a little patience, some un
derstanding of the forces that are at work
and some changes in buying habits in the
interest of greater economy. Also, it is time
for a little faith. There is every reason to
believe that the competitive, free
marketplace will continue to fill the
nation's market baskets at the lowest
possible cost, just as it always has done.
The St. Louis "County Medical Society
Bulletin states that, “Doctors generally
kept increases in their fees below allowed
levels during the first year of wage and
price controls, a study published in the
current issue of Update, a publication of
the American Medical Association, reports.
Including outpatient care and inpatient
surgical procedures, physicians' fees went
up 2.3 percent. The allowable ceiling for
the increases was 2.5 percent - and only to
cover increased costs incurred by
physicians. In contrast, the study reports,
the average increase in prices for all other
services (except medical care) was 3.6
percent. The figures are based on the
Consumer Price Index for August, 1972,
the first anniversary of controls. The cost of
living during the first year of controls went
up 29 percent."
xxx
A
I NOW IS
I THE TIME . ..
Max Smith
. County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
To Topdrets Alfalfa
The harvesting of a bumper
crop of alfalfa forage should be
the goal of every producer this
year. Supplies of quality hay are
very low and alfalfa for hay or
silage will be a great asset. If the
established stand was not fer
tilized last fall, an application of
phosphorus and potash this
spring or after the first cutting,
should increase yields. Alfalfa is
a very heavy feeder of potash and
this fertilizer element should be
liberally supplied.
To Control Weeds
The problem of weed control
has confronted all fanners and.
gardeners for many generations.
In spite of various weed control
chemicals, the battle continues to
keep the weeds from taking over.
All producers are urged to plan a
good weed control program in
advance of planting time. Weeds
compete for moisture, light, and
plant food. Good weed control
usually means a greater yield.
There are too many materials
available to discuss in this ar
ticle, but producers are urged to
contact their dealer or the local
Extension Office for details.
To Control Woodchucks
This is a good time of the year
to. be alert for woodchuck
(groundhog) signs; the freshly
dug holes are more easy to
.detect. Woodchucks dig extensive
underground systems with
several surface openings. These
holes are potential threats to
farm animals and to machinery.
Serious accidents have occurred
WHAT GOD’S
REALLY LIKE
Lesson for April 1,1973
■ackgrauml Scripture: John l-I-l, 14*
11; Acts 10 34-43; Hebrews 1:1-4.
Devotional Reading: Isaiah 42-5-f.
One of the most persistent of
man’s questions through the ages
has been; “What is God really
like?”
Men have attempted to answer
that question with pictures, stat
ues, temples, scriptures, rituals,
and theologies.
Usually, however,
these attempts
have been some
thing less than
satisfying. The
varying descrip
tions of God have
often clashed.
Others have not
ie been very convinc
ing. Some have
been only fragmentary, bits and
pieces that give only a partial
image.
Partial truth
The Jews pointed to their ela
borate system of law and said,
“God is like that.” The prophets
emphasized the themes of justice
and righteousness, indicating that
the nature of God was to be found
in them And all of these were
partly right, but they were also
partly wrong.
Three blind men were taken to
the zoo to experience their first
elephant Led to the elephant,
the first grasped the elephant’s
trunk and he thereby concluded
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when wheels drop into these
woodchuck holes. Even though
woodchucks are classed as game
animals in Pennsylvania, there
are provisions permitting control
in farmland. Sport shooting gives
some control and the use of gas
cartridges ip the hold gives ad
ditional control. In suburban
areas a woodchuck population
can be very hard on vegetable
gardens.
To Beware Of Herbicide
Utensils
Any sprinkling can or sprayer
in which 2,4-D weed killer was
used last season should still be
considered dangerous to use on
many plants. This weed killer
sticks to equipment for years
unless removed by such
materials as household ammonia
and hot water. Growers and
gardeners are urged to be very
careful when using 2,4-D.
Separate equipment used only for
weed killing is suggested. Many
vegetable, flower, and tobacco
plajits have been hurt because of
neglect to do a good cleaning job.
Prevent Calf Deaths
One out of every six calves die
before birth, during birth, or the
first six months of life, reports
Donald L. Ace, Extension dairy
specialist at The Pennsylvania
State University. He notes that
calf losses can be kept at a
minimum if dairymen can reduce
the chill factor in the barn,
disinfect calving areas, and feed
colostrum at birth.
that an elephant was shaped like
that all over. The second got a
hold of his ear, and he concluded
that an elephant was thin and
flat. The third "grasped the ele
phant’s tail and he was sure the
elephant was long and thin. Each
of these men were partly right,
but only partly right.
Often, this is the only way it is
with our perception of God. We
experience one narrow perspec
tive of God’s nature and yre un
fortunately assume that we have
discovered the totality of his na
ture. Yet, even if you could put
together all these views, they still
would not add up to an adequate
picture.
A reflection of God
So men have constantly been
frustrated in their attempts to
get an adequate composite pic
ture. Thus they were still search
ing when God sent his own Son so
that that question could be ans
wered once and for all. Two New
Testament writers approach the
same truth from two different
perspectives.
The writer of Hebrews pro
■ claims: “In many and various
ways God spoke of old to our
fathers by the prophets; but in
these last days he .has spoken to
us by a Son ... He reflects the
glory of God and bears the very
stamp of his nature... ” (1:1-3).
The writer of John’s gospel tells
us: “And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full of grace
and truth ... No one has ever
seen God; the only Son ... he has
made him known" , (John 1:14,
18).
What both of these witnesses
are saying is that the only way we
can have an adequate picture of
what God is really like, is to look
to Jesus. In his personality, his
nature, we come face to face with
the heighth, depth, length, and
breadth of what we mean when
we use the term “God.”
(Based 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.)