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Vol. 18 No. 49
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FARM TRENDS I
A summary of market
and commodity news
for the past week
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A record crop of feed grains highlights the crop production
estimates received this week from the USDA’s Crop
Reporting Board. A summary of the board’s estimates, as of
October 1, appears below.
CORN--A record large 5,763 million-bushel crop is
forecast, slightly below (5 million bushels) last month but 4
percent (210 million bushels) above last year's crop.
SORGHUM GRAIN--Prospective production is a record
high 999 million bushels, up 2 percent from a month earlier
and 22 percent (178) million bushels) above last year’s
crop. A record yield of 63.0 bushels is forecast.
FEED GRAINS-Production of corn, sorghum, oats, and
barley combined is forecast at a record 211 million tons,
slightly above last month’s forecast and 6 percent above last
year.
SOYBEANS-A record large 1,588 million-bushel crop is
forecast, 1 percent (10 million bushels) below last month
but 24 percent (305 million bushels) above last year’s crop.
A record yield of 28.3 bushels is forecast.
OILSEEDS-Production of soybeans, cottonseed, peanuts
and flaxseed combined is put at a record 55.1 million tons,
down slightly (0.2 million tons) from last month but 20
percent (9.2 million tons) above 1972.
ALL WHEAT-Forecast production of 1,727 million bushels
is record high, up 12 percent (182 million bushels) from
1972 but down slightly (0.7 million bushels) from the
September 1 forecast as other spring wheat declined
slightly.
FOOD GRAINS-Output of wheat, rye, and rice collectively
is expected to total 57.3 million tons, 11 percent over 1972
but slightly below the September 1 forecast with rice ac
counting for nearly all the decline.
ALL TOBACCO-Forecast of all tobacco, at 1,770 million
pounds, is up 1 percent from 1972. Flue-cured, at 1,128
million pounds, is up 11 percent, burley production, at 500
million pounds, is down 17 percent.
FALL POTATOES-Production is forecast at 252.7 million
cwt, up 2 percent from the 248.8 million cwt. harvested in
1972.
Don Robinson, left, and Clyde Martin take a
look at the camera end of a closed circuit
TV system which was installed last
by Dick Wanner
Tuesday in Martin's dairy barn. The system
is being studied for its value as a means of
watching problem animals.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 27, 1973
Senate Ag Comm.
Studying Milk Bill
The Pennsylvania Senate
Committee on Agriculture held a
hearing Wednesday to discuss the
merits of Senate Bill 130. The bill
was drafted and introduced by
the Shapp administration, and it
would replace the present milk
marketing law.
Many of the provisions of the
old law remain in SB 130. The key
feature which would not be in
cluded in the new law would be
the Milk Marketing Board’s
power to regulate retail milk
prices. The administration
reasons that controls have kept
Pennsylvania milk prices higher
than retail prices in surrounding
states.
The milk industry, particularly
dealers, contend that lifting price
controls will result in marketing
Lebanon DHIA
Lebanon County Dairy Herd
Improvement Association
members will find a DHIA report
for September on page 16 of this
issue of LANCASTER FAR
MING. We hope to be able to
include this feature every month.
Farm Calendar
Monday, October 29
9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. - Shaver
Poultry Seminar, Ramada
Inn, Lancaster.
1 p.m. - York Area Farm-City
tour of Lancaster County
Tuesday, October 30
9:30 a.m. - Chester County
Extension Workshop, Men’s
Knit Jacket, Malvern.
7:30 p.m. - PA Organic Farmer-
Consumer Organization
meeting, Farm and Home
Center.
NEPPCO Convention and Ex-
(Continued On Page 36)
chaos, the bankruptcy of a great
many independent milk dealers
and, eventually, higher retail
prices.
One of the state’s leading ad
vocates for dropping price
controls in Peter H. Sandfort,
president of Louden Hill Farms.
Sandfort’s firm operates six
farms and 35 dairy stores in the
Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area.
Sandfort also told the committee
FFA’ers Return
Bearing Honors
Local FFA members attending
the national FFA convention in
Kansas City, Mo., last week
brought home with them an
impressive number of awards.
American Farmer degrees, the
highest achievement for any FFA
member, were presented to two
Lancaster County youths, both
Solanco graduates.
Thomas W. Aaron, Drumore
and Dale Bollinger, Quarryville,
received their American Farmer
degrees in ceremonies on
Thursday of convention week.
The American Farmer Degree
is presented only by the National
Organization of the Future
Farmers of America to members
who have demonstrated ex
ceptional agricultural and
leadership ability. State FFA
Associations are permitted to
submit candidates for the
American Farmer Degree based
on total FFA membership in the
state. The 564 members awarded
the American Farmer Degree
represent the highest
TV in the Bam -
A New Farm Tool
Lancaster County’s newest TV
star is a 13-year-old Holstein with
a bad case of milk fever Ac
tually, the cow isn’t looking for
any acting awards, but she was
sick for a few days, and her
owner, Clyde Martin. East Earl
RDI, wanted to keep an eye on
her
Martin is the first local par
ticipant in a study organized by
Donald Robinson, a vo-ag teacher
at Garden Spot High School. The
study is aimed at finding out how
useful closed-circuit TV systems
might be in dairy and other
livestock operations. Closed
circuit TV has been put to use by
a number of livestock farmers
across the country, and Robinson
felt it was time for a Lancaster
County test
Tuesday afternoon, a small TV
camera was attached to a
bracket on the ceiling near
Martin’s calving stall, where the
$2 00 Per Year
that he buys milk from some 350
dairy farmers.
Continued on Page 44)
Grange Meet
The Pennsylvania Grange held
their annual convention this week
in Reading. A full report will
appear in next week’s LAN
CASTER FARMING.
achievement of more than 448,000
FFA members now enrolled in
the nation’s 7,798 high school
vocational agriculture depart
ments.
FFA members begin as
“Greenhands” and after one year
of membership may be advanced
by the local chapter to the degree
of “Chapter Farmer”. The third
(Continued On Page 24)
In This Issue
Markets 2-4
Sale Register 41
Farmers Almanac 6
Classified Ads 45
Editorials 10
Homestead Notes 26
Home on the Range 30
Thoughts in Passing 22
No-Till Considerations 35
Holstein Banquet 37
Lebanon Co DHIA 16
Agway Annual Meet 7
sick cow was confined A coaxial
cable was run from the camera to
a TV monitor in the living room,
where all of the Martin family
can keep an eye on the cow
without going to the barn
If Martin decides to install the
system permanently, it will cost
him about $6OO for the camera,
cable, brackets, lens and possibly
some lighting fixtures in the barn
and feed bunks “All I have to do
is save three calves or one cow,
and I’d have the system paid
for,” Martin says
What at first seems like an
exercise in laziness or a needless
extravagance, becomes, after
some thought, an eminently
practical idea, according to
Robinson Besides watching sick
cows, Martin could use the
system to aid in heat detection, to
keep an eye on new born calves
and to spot calving difficulties.
(Continued On Page 15)