Vol. 18 No. 38
FARM IItENDS I
A summary of market
and commodity news
tor the past week
by Dick Wanner |
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Government projections earlier in the year had shown an
expected corn crop of some 5.8 billion bushels, and Secretary
of Agriculture Earl Butz was confidently looking forward to a
6 billion-bushel crop. Skeptics had doubted these estimates
from the beginning, and they won their point Thursday when
Washington released the latest crop report. The latest corn
projection is for 5.66 billion bushels. Also down are soybeans,
wheat, oats, barley and cottonseed meal expectations. An
increase in sorghum production was the only bright spot in
the feed gram picture, but it won’t nearly make up for the
lowered supplies in other grains.
Will the administration impose controls on the exports of
wheat and corn in an effort to alleviate feed shortages in the
U.S.? “No,” said Secretary Butz this week at a meeting with
newsmen in the nation’s capitol. Export controls on soybeans
are termed a joke by some insiders. Exporters are allowed to
send only half the quantity ordered. So, in order to get what
they want, buyers have been doubting their requests.
Hogs and beef animals continued their climb to new highs
this week on local auction markets. Live steer prices topped
60-cents a pound at Lancaster, in spite of the September 12
price freeze. Only beef not under the freeze is that sold
directly to consumers by farmers, according to the
Philadelphia office of the Internal Revenue Service.
Food - In Short Supply
Everywhere
Canada, Australia and New Zealand are expanding food
production as never before in an effort to capitalize on the
booming export markets for grains and meat products. A
New York Times report this week said that industrialized
countries like the U.S., Japan and Western European nations
are paying through the nose for past “cheap food” policies
Americans may be faced with the prospect of trying to keep
pantries at home filled while at the same time trying to
protect our corner of the world food market.
Bill McFetridge, left, and Bob Festger,
commodity brokers with Allentown's
Rosenthal and Co., keep tabs on swings in
Feed Grains -
USDA Goofs
Washington Says
No Export Controls
Livestock Markets -
How High Is Up?
(Continued On Page 13)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 11, 1973
Conservationists From
12 Northeastern States
Hold Lancaster Meet
More than 500 conservationists
descended on Lancaster’s Hilton
Inn this week to attend a 12-state
northeast area meeting of the
National Association of Con
servation Districts. The group
meets annually at various places
throughout the Northeast to
discuss environmental issues.
This year’s meeting centered
around state land use planning,
rural development, soil and
water research, youth in the
conservation movement, non
point pollution controls and broad
policy areas of the En
vironmental Protection Agency
and other Washington agencies.
Activities began Sunday af
ternoon with tours of the Ephrata
Cloisters, Pennsylvania Farm
Museum and local conservation
sites. Monday was given over to
speeches by a number of state
and local officials in addition to
conservationists from around the
country. Also on Monday, there
were forums on five areas
challenging conservation efforts
today.
Each forum consisted of two
dozen or more participants, a
Farm Calendar
Saturday, August 11
11 a.m. - Public Sale to benefit
Galen Buckwalter, In
tercourse Sales Ground, rear
of Zimmerman’s Store.
Woodman’s Festival, Potter
County, August 11-12.
Monday, August 13
8 p.m. - Lancaster County
Poultry Association Board of
Directors meeting, Farm and
Home Center.
Fulton Grange meeting, Oakryn.
Lebanon Area Fair, August 13-18.
Carlisle Fair, August 13-18.
(Continued On Page 29)
the markets by watching computerized TV
set that displays up-to-the-minute
quotations.
speaker, a moderator and a
recorder. Topics covered were
land use planning, rural
development, non-point pollution
control, challenges in soil and
water research and controlling
shore erosion. On Tuesday, these
forums were recapped at a
general meeting.
“State governments can not
implement land use plans, but
they can and should provide
leadership in this area,” Robert
Graf said in summing up the
forum on land use planning. Graf
is president of the Vermont
Association of Conservation
Districts.
Co. Winners Named in
Pa. 4-H Competition
Lancaster County sent 27 4-
H’ers to Penn State this week to
participate in the annual State 4-
H Days. They competed with
some 1200 other boys and girls
from throughout the Com
monwealth in judging demon
strations, public speaking and
consumer education events.
County teams placed first in
both senior and junior livestock
judging. The senior judging team
consisted of Jeff Grieder,
Ed and Richard Ness,
Strasburg, and Joe Lefever,
Manheim.
In the junior event, Manheim’s
Steve Donough led his team to
victory by placing first in the
state. Other team members were
Ronald Kreider and Kevin
Rohrer, also from Manheim, and
Dwight Houser, Lampeter.
This year’s horse judging team
placed third in the state. Team
Can You Lock In Profits
With Futures Hedging?
Market bears believe, along
with Sir Isaac Newton, that what
goes up must come down. These
bears, eternal pessimists, believe
this maxim applies not just to
apples, but to hog and steer
prices, too.
Now the farmer, in many
important ways, is a bull, not a
bear The farmer plants a hand
ful of seed corn and expects to get
back a bushel He buys a single
chick and expects to set hundreds
of eggs. He buys a little pig and
expects it to gain nearly 200
pounds before it’s sold. And he
does all this even though he
knows the rain might not come,
the army worms might get his
corn, the hogs might get
pneumonia or the chickens might
die. He does it even though he
doesn’t know how much money
he’s going to get
$2.00 Per Year
Graf noted that the impetus for
good land use must come from
local citizens, but the states can
(Continued on Page 29)
In This Issue . . .
Page
Markets 2-4
Sale Register 33-36
Farmers Almanac 6
Classified Ads 37
Editorials 10
Homestead Notes 22
4-H Calendar 31
Berks Co. FFA
Hog Show and Sale 20
Kutztown Fair Schedule 20
members were Randy Click,
Leola, Jane Gregory and Natalie
Immel, Lititz, and Karen
Ressler, Elizabethtown.
A consumer team captured a
blue ribbon and a gold medal for
their efforts. Team members
were Robin Fellenbaum and
Debra Gregory, Lititz, and Anne
Spangler, Marietta.
The county’s diary judging
team came up with a sixth-place
showing this year. Team
members were Gary Akers,
Quarryville, Linda Kauffman,
Elizabethtown, Betty Jo Bitler,
Peach Bottom, and R. Mellinger,
Strasburg.
In the demonstration com
petitions, Donna Bare, Witmer,
took a first place blue ribbon for
her demonstration of hunt seat
equitation. Dudley Rohrer,
Manheim, took a second place
award for his tractor driving
demonstrations.
The farmer is a bull. An in
curable optimist While the
farmer may complain about the
weather, taxes, Washington,
Harrisburg, buyers, suppliers
and the way everyone ignores his
plight, deep in his heart he knows
that things will always work out
for the best. Events of the past
few months have brought
spreading smiles to the faces of
the farmer optimists. Never
before has the farmer gotten so
much for his crops and his animal
products.
Many people didn’t believe the
markets could come so far in so
short a time. Many now believe
that the markets cannot go much
farther and that prices will start
to decline shortly If these bears
are right, the farmer who hedges
his production will likely wind up
(Continued On Page 12)