Voi. 19 No. 1
FARM TRENDS
A summary of market
and commodity news
i? for the pist week
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What to do if You 1
Encounter Fuel Shortage
Farmers faced With a shortage of gasoline, diesel fuel,
liquid propane or fertilizer might be able to get relief by
calling the local office of the Agricultural and
Stabilization Service. Dorothy Neel, local ASCS director, told
Lancaster Farming her office would do everything they could
to keep farmers from running oulrof fuel. Miss Neel said
alleviating any temporary shortage of fuel might be easier
than getting fertilizer.
If your dealer can’t deliver enough for your needs, call the
ASCS office at the Farm and Home Center, Lancaster, or the
local office in other counties. The number in Lancaster is
394-0681. Miss Neel will then ask your dealer to complete a
form stating the nature of the problem, that form will be sent
to Washington, and in all likihood you’ll get your fuel.
Grain Market in a Tizzy - Again
Record harvests in the Midwest should mean lower prices
for feed grains, but so tar the numbers aren’t going down.
Apparently, buyers have been holding back on their orders,
waiting for price declines. These declines haven’t
materialized, though, because the Midwesterners are
holding onto their harvests; until after January 1. The
reason?JThey don't want to make any more money this year
because they’ll be giving too much to Uncle Sam. Prices are
expected to stay very strong until at least Christmas, then
come down a bit after the start of the new year.
Milk Output - Lowest Since 1952?
Keep a sharp eye on those U.S. milk production figures.
Output is really on a toboggan. October production, at 9.015
billion lbs., was off 4.7 pet. from a year earlier. It also marked
the 12th straight month that production has been below that
of a corresponding month a year earlier.
Decline was sharpest in Georgia (down 17 pet), Ten
nessee (down 12 pet.) and Wisconsin (down 9 pet.) from a
year earlier.
Reasons for the cutback: High feed costs resulting in
* lower output per cow, plus a decline in cow numbers.
October milk-feed price ratio, at 1.46, was down 18 pet.
.-from a year ago and the lowest for the month since 1963.
Output per cow during October was 797 lbs., compared to
810 lbs. a year earlier. This marks the sth straight month it’s
been below a corresponding month a year earlier. Milk cows
on farms during October totaled 11.3 million, down 3 pet
from a year ago.
Winners in the Elizabethtown-Donegal 4-H Capon Roundup
Tuesday were Jim Sauder, center, grand champion, and Ron
Nolt, with the reserve champion entry. Congratulating the
winners here is contest judge Herb Jordan, Penn State
poultry specialist.
by Dick Warner
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 24, 1973
Streeter Tells Farm-City Group . . .
Feeding the World-
Tough but Possible
“Farmers can produce enough
food for everybody, but thejy can
only do it ifsociety lets them,”
Carroll Streeter told an audience
of several hundred people
Tuesday night at the Farm and
Home Center. Streeter, retired
editor of Farm Journal, was
speaking at the annual Farm-
City Week banquet sponsored by
the Lancaster Chamber of
Commerce;
Lebanon Co.
HoldsY early
DHIA Meet
The annual meeting of the
Lebanon County DHIA held
Tuesday night at the
Tulpehocken Church near
Myers town was attended by 250
members and guests. Featured
on' the program, was Herbert
Gilmore, Penn State, director of
the state DHIA program. He
reported on the many changes
that have taken place in the
DHIA program over the past few
years. Gilmore also discussed
possible improvements presently
under consideration by the state
DHIA board.
Newton Bair, assistant
Lebanon County agent, reported
that there were 5183 cows in the
county on test last year. This
(Continued On Page 20)
Capon Winners At
E-Town , Donegal
The Elizabethtown-Donegal 4-
H Club held its annual Capon
Roundup Tuesday at Hostetler's
Banquet Hall in Mount Joy. The
event is sponsored each year by
the Mount Joy Rotary Club. The
Rotarians put up the prize money
awarded to the contestants, and
this year, they also bought 50
capons.
Judge Herb Jordan, Penn State
poultry specialist, pinned the
championship ribbon on the
dressed birds entered by Jim
Sauder, Mount Joy RD2. Other
winners, all from the Mount Joy
area, were: Ronald Nolt, reserve
champion, Glen Nolt, third prize.
Linda Stoltzfus, fourth, and Gary
Good, fifth.
In This Issue
Markets 2-4
Sale Register ' 34
Fanners Almanac 6
Classified Ads 36
Editorials * 10
Homestead Notes 22
Computer Feed Program ' ( 12
Lebanon Co. DHIA 14
Streeter pointed out that
conditions for agriculture have
changed drastically in recent
years. “We no longer have the
Carroll P. Streeter
PFA Calls for Pa .
Milk-Law Changes
Voting delegates attending the
Pennsylvania Farmers
Association annual meeting in
Harrisburg this week, suggested
some major changes in the
Pennsylvania Milk Marketing
law, including revisions in the
retail price-making authority of
the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing
Board.
“We still support the Penn-
Other exhibiting were: Mary
and Richard Yunginger,
Marietta, Barbara Miller, Mount
Joy, Ronald Xreider, Manheim,
David Sweigart, Elizabethtown,
Phil and Beverly Garber, Mount
Joy, Earl'Knipe, Mount Joy, and
Pam Wizell, Columbia.
" Farm Calendar
Sunday, November 25
National 4-H Congress, Chicago
November 25 - 29.
Monday, November 26
'7:30 p.m. -- Fulton Grange
meeting, Calvert Grange,
Md; Meet, Fulton Grange
Hall.
DHIA Quarterly Directors
meeting, Farm and Home
Center.
- 4-H Sheep Awards program,
State and National, Chicago.
Wednesday, November 28
7:30 p.m.- - Eastern Lancaster
County Adult Fanner tobacco
meeting, Hinkletown
Elementary School, Jerry
Skoog, speaker.
$2.00 Per Year
huge grain surpluses we once
had, and the demand from
overseas buyers has increased
tremendously because of their
new prosperity,” he said.
“People in the Northern
Hemisphere - Europe, Japan,
Russia and China - want more
meat. They need more soybeans
and corn and they have the cash
to pay for them. And we need the
foreign exchange, so a good
world market will put pressure
on our production
Social programs here at home'
will help boost the demand for
food, too. School lunches, food
stamps and social security hikes
will all result in higher demands
for food. These programs will
pump $l4 billion more into the
economy this year than last.”
(Continued On Page 37)
sylvania Milk Marketing Law',”
said association president, John
R. Pitzer, “but we are suggesting
some constructive changes to
meet the needs of the dairy in
dustry today.”
A year-long study by a special
committee preceded the action of
the farmer delegates. The
committee had been created by
the action of the organization’s
delegate body in 1972. It was
instructed to report at the 1973
annual business meeting. PFA is
suggesting that the resale price
on a gallon container should be
one minimum price for out-of
store, home delivery, schools,
and state institutions for each of
the milk marketing areas around
the state.
Retail prices would not be set
for jug milk purchases under the
new policy adopted by the
organization.
“It is intended that this price,
should initially be set through the
hearing process based upon the
average cost of dealers
marketing milk in the area,”
Pitzer said. “The price would
serve as a floor and, in practice,
be lower than the actual prices '
being generated by market
forces.”.
The organization spelled out
the components to be considered
in the floor price cost of the
raw product, cost of processing, a
return of profit to the dealer, and
the cost ofdelivering the product
to the point of purchase by the
consumer. A procedure, or
formula, would be established for
the producer and retail price to ■
be automatically adjusted as the •
raw product cost changes, ac
cording to the PFA position, and
there should be. opportunities for
(Continued On Page 21)