Turkeymen Looking For Higher Sales
Pull a wishbone with anyone in
the turkey business and it’s no
secret what he’s hoping for: More
people eating more turkey more
often during the year.
USDA projections of per capita
turkey consumption indicate that
at least part of this wish should
come true: By 1980 we’re slated
to be eating about 10.5 pounds of
turkey each, nearly a pound and
a half more than last year.
Total projected 1980 con
sumption would be 2.4 billion
pounds, necessitating a 26-
percent increase in production
over 1972’s ready-to-cook output
WAYNE ANIMAL
iLTH AIDS TO KEEP
IR LIVESTOCK AND
ILTRY HEALTHY
M. STAUFFER
& SONS. INC.
Witmer
ROHRER’S MILL
R D 1, Ronks
JE’MARFARM
SUPPLY INC.
Lawn —Ph; 964-3444
HERSHEYBROS.
Reinholds, Pa.
HAROLD H. GOOD WHITE OAK MILL
Terre Hill R.D 4, Manheim
But the second half of the
wish—getting Americans to
spread their turkey consumption
throughout the year—may take a
bit longer to realize.
Turkey is still the favorite food
at both Thanksgiving and
Christmas: Nearly half of the
annual consumption is during the
October-December quarter. And
while turkeymen appreciate our
fondness for the fowl during the
holidays, they would like to see
more turkey meat on menus at
other times of the year, too.
The industry, in fact, has made
a concerted effort to alter
GRUBB SUPPLY CO,
Elizabethtown
CHARLES E. SAUDER
& SONS
R D 1, East Earl
S'l EVENS FEED MILL,
INC.
Stevens. Pa
DUTCHMAN FEED
MILLS, INC.
R.D.I, Stevens
seasonal consumption patterns—
including promotional cam
paigns as well as new product
development. Some headway has
been made: Between 1963 and
1972 our turkey helping in the
fourth quarter fell from 57.4 to
49.5 percent of the annual total.
Biggest help in balancing out
the heavy holiday dininp: has been
the greater everyday use of
further processed items
developed by the industry
turkey rolls, roasts, pot pies,
frozen dinners, ground turkey,
and so on.
In 1972 about 35 percent of total
certified ready-to-cook turkey
was used in further processed
items, compared with about 10
percent a decade earlier. USDA
projects that 45 percent of
production may be going into
further processed items by 1980.
What other changes are oc
curring in the U.S. turkey
business? A recent USDA study
of the industry’s structure,
practices, and costs reveals the
following trends:
Fewer but larger producers.
The 1964 agricultural census
showed 42,000 farms raising
turkeys, only half as many as 5
years before. However, the
average flock size had tripled in
the interim to 2,500 birds.
1969 data, which aren’t truly
comparable with earlier census
findings since they excluded
farm enterprises selling less than
$2,500 annually, revealed roughly
5,400 farms marketing an
average of 19,000 birds apiece.
Greater efficiency. Larger size
has allowed many turkey
growers to capture certain
economies of scale. Since 1965
growers have shaved nearly
three-quarters of a pound off the
feed required to produce a pound
of liveweight turkey. The in-
FOWL'S FEED SERVICE
R D 2, Peach Bottom
MOUNTVILLE
FEED SERVICE
R.D.2, Columbia
PARADISE SUPPtY
Paradise
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 3, 1973
dustry average is now down to
just over 4 pounds. Meantime, the
labor used per 100 pounds of
turkey production has been
almost cut in half.
Contributing to the increased
efficiency in feed conversion and
labor has been decreased mor
tality due to better management
practices as well as the
availability of new vaccines and
drugs for disease prevention and
treatment.
More vertical coordiantion. To
assure themselves of dependable
supplies and to better schedule
production, turkey processing
firms have taken the initiative in
extending the use of production
and marketing contracts within
the turkey industry. Feed firms
also have promoted contracting,
though to a lesser extent than in
the broiler industry, to promote
sales of feed.
In 1970, an estimated 42 percent
of all U. S. turkeys were produced
under contract, up from about 30
percent in 1960. Additionally, 12
percent of turkeys in 1970 were
estimated to have been grown in
owner-integrated facilities while
18 percent more were sold under
marketing contracts.
Regional production shifts. The
record output and depressed
prices of 1960 marked a turning
point in regional turkey
production.
Since that time only the South
Atlantic and South Central
regions have increased their
share of total production. The No.
1 and 2 turkey regions—the West
North Central and Western
States—have each seen their
shares slip slightly.
The relative profitability of
growing turkeys versus other
enterprises is a very important
factor in these interregional
shifts.
In some areas of the South
Atlantic and South Central
regions, less productive soils and
limited off-farm employment
opportunities have made turkeys
a very attractive enterprise.
Apparently the areas emerging
into turkey production in these
regions have been able to
overcome any differential in feed
ingredient costs over the Midwest
by savings resulting from low
transportation rates, a tightly
coordinated industry, and milk
Tree Seedlings
Available For
Farm Plantings
Farmers of Lancaster County
are reminded that now is a good
time to plan for tree planting to
be done in the spring of 1974. As in
past years, The Glatfelter Pulp
Wood Company, Spring Grove,
Pa., will again furnish tree
seedlings free of charge to in
terested and qualified lan
downers. Since the inception of
this Company program in 1951,
more than 14 million seedlings
have been furnished to lan
downers in 13 southcentral
Pennsylvania counties.
Tree seedling species available
this year under this program are
white pine, Austrian pine, Nor
way spruce, white spruce,
Japanese larch, European larch
and Virginia pine. Orders are
filled on a first-come, first-served
basis so it is important to get
orders in early. All trees are
purchased by The Glatfelter Pulp
Wood Company from the Penn
sylvania Department of En
vironmental Resources.
The company imposes no
restrictions of any kind, but
landowners planting these
seedlings must comply with
normal state regulations
regarding these trees. That is,
they may not be used for
Christmas trees, decorative or
ornamental uses or for wind
breaks. Minimum order ac
ceptable is for 1,000 seedlings
which will plant IV2 acres. All
trees are the property of the
landowner and he may cut them
at a future date for any wood
product that he desires.
If you are a landowner in this
county who would like to plant
trees in 1974 and wish to recieve
these free tree seedlings, act
now. Stop at your County
Agricultural office located at the
farm and home center, Arcadia
Road, to obtain information on
placing your order. Do it now
before the rush of fall activities -
while you can be assured of
having your order filled.
weather which enables them to
utilize a longer ranging season
and reduce costs.
— < —. —f fVrit w;. \
19