Periodicals Division. '
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VoU9 No. 2
FARM TRENDS
A summary of market
and commodity news
for the past week
A tight supply and demand situation dominates the
outlook for feed grains, according to a seed situation report
issued yesterday (Friday) by the USDA. The supply for 1973-
74 totals 240 million tons, 3 percent below 1972-73.
Production, forecast at 208 million tons, is 8 million more
than last year, but carryover of old grain into the marketing
year was down a third to 32 million tons.
A further decline in carryover is likely at the end of 1973-
74. Total disappearance, projected at 212 million tons, will
exceed production. Domestic use may not quite match last
year’s 173 million tons if high feed costs reduce feeding
rates and offset an expected 2 percent increase in livestock
numbers. Foreign demand, projected at 40 million (short)
tons, continues exceptionally strong.
Corn production is forecast at a record 5.7 billion bushels.
Plus carryover of old crop corn, this gives a supply of 6.4
billion bushels, 4 percent smaller than last year. Production
is -short of expected use, for the' second consecutive year,
causing another probable reduction in the carryover to
about 625 million bushels next October. The tight supply
plus high, prices, strong exports, and some shift back Jo
soybean meal feeding probably will bring a modest drop in
domestic use. Export demand is projected at, 1.1 billion
bushels, down about 10 percent from the 1972-73 record.
Corn prices (Chicago) in mid-November were around
$2.50 a bushel, about $1.20 above a year earlier. With tight
supplies and strong demand, farmers’ prices into next spring
may average about $1 a bushel above the $1.32 national
average for that period last year. However, prices next
spring will be influenced by acreage prospects, weather, and
the world supply-demand situation.
Despite a record soybean crop nearly a fourth above last
year’s record, domestic feeding of high-protein feeds in
1973-74 likely will make only a 6 percent gain to around 19.7
million tons. An 8 percent increase is forecast for domestic
feeding of soybean meal; prices could average about a third
below last season's $230 per ton at Decatur. Combined
supplies of other proteins may be down slightly.
(Continued On Page 4)
Some Yeas, Some Nays . ..
Are Whole Beans
Good for Bossy?
One thing you can say for
certain about extruded soybeans
is that they smell good coming
out of the extruder. It’s a warm,
early-morning, farm kitchen
smell, a cross between cooking
mush and frying scrapple.
Steaming soybean flakes don’t
taste bad, either, especially if
you’re fortunate enough to get a
handful without grit.
Except for the smell, though,
and the fact that the extruded
bean can be used for a dairy seed,
there aren’t too many things you
can say for certian. Exponents of
feeding the whole bean say their
dairy programs are more ef
ficient and profitable than they’d
be with soybean meal. Others
aren’t so sure.
And many farmers find a
certain appeal in being able to
grow and feed their own soy
protein. “After all,” the usual
by Dick Wanner
logic goes, “why should I sell my
soybeans to a dealer, who sells
them to a processor, who takes
the oil out, and then sells the bean
meal back to a dealer, who sells it
back to me? Why not eliminate
the middle men and keep their
profits for myself?”
Why not, indeed. In an attempt
to learn more about the pros and
cons of feeding processed whole
soybeans, Lancaster Farming
talked to a number of farmers
and feedmen. We’ve • tried to
recap - as objectively as possible
- the results of that inquiry. We
concentrated on dairy feeds for
this article, and hope to deal with
the experiences of local hog and
beef producers in future articles.
A local grain broker, when
queried on the economics of
growing beans, sending them
away for processing then buying
i ConHmiwl fin Po«» ■»' -
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December I, 1973
Winners in this year's conservation
photography contest, announced Thursday
at the Farm and Home Center, Lancaster,
are pictured above. Front row, left to right.
Conservation Case History No. 1 .
Conservation Pays
For Cliff Holloway
(Editor’s Note: This begins the
first in a series of Conservation
Case Histories to be presented
monthly in the pages of Lan
caster Farming. We’ll be taking a
look at farm operations with
intensive conservation
Farm Calendar
Saturday, December 1
Fulton Grange Youth go to Ice
Follies, Hershey.
Monday, December 3
National Young Farmer In
stitute, Indianapolis, Ind.,
December 2-5.
Tuesday, December 4
4:30 p.m. - Lancaster County Vo-
Ag Teachers Association
meeting, Mt. Joy.
7:30 p.m. - Ephrata Adult Far
mer meeting, “Raising Dairy
Beef”, Ephrata Vo-Ag
Department.
7:45 p.m. - Young Farmers Of
ficer’s meeting, Garden Spot
High School.
Lancaster Coupty Farmers
Association meeting, Farm
and Home Center.
Wednesday, December 5
7:30 p.m. - Eastern Lancaster
County Adult Farmer tobacco
meeting, Hinkletown
Elementary School.
7:30 p.m. - Lancaster County
Conservation District
meeting, Farm and Home
Center.
Thursday, December 6
Food Policy Conference, Hotel
Hershey, December 6 and 7.
Friday, December 7
8 p.m. - Lancaster County Senior
Extension Club Alumni party
at Mount Joy Vo-Tech School.
Square dancing with Paul
Andrews and other en
fprtainmonf
are Rick Ramsdell, Heidi J. Linn, and
Stephen Kessler. Back row, Jon Ebersole,
Brad Brubaker and Brad Morris. (Story
appears on page 11
programs. State law requires
that by 1977, all Pennsylvania
farms must have implemented
conservation plans. We hope this
series will give some insight into
how conservation plans have
been used to good advantage by
local farmers.)
One of the first moves Clifford
Holloway Jr., made when he
bought his farm at Peach Bottom
RDI was to get a conservation
plan. “I’ve been interested in
conservation ever since I was a
vo-ag student in Maryland,”
Holloway said when we visited on
Wednesday. “We had an awful
gully wash on our farm, and we
just never did anything about it
until my vo-ag teacher brought
the class over to the farm one day
for a tour. He asked my dad if
he’d ever thought of getting rid of
that gully, and that started the
wheels turning. It wasn’t too long
before Dad had called the SCS for
a plan and we soon had the whole
farm in strips.”
Today, Cliff Holloway farms
some 440 acres of rolling far
mland just south of Wakefield,
In This Issue
Markets 2-4
Sale Register 34
Farmers Almanac 6
Classified Ads 37
Editorials - 10
Homestead Notes 22
Home on the Range 26
Thoughts in Passing 5
Farmers AgCredit 29
Livestock Judging Team 29
Mark Hershey -
Farmer in the spotlight 8
Twin Valley Hosts 9
Planting Intention Surveys 32
Lancaster Co. DHIA 14
i 52.00 Per Year
near the Maryland line. He
bought the 105-acre home farm
from his father-in-law in 1959. He
grows alfalfa hay and corn there
on alternating strips. Holloway
said he laid out the strips himself
on a topographic map which he
got from the Soil and Con
servation Service at the Lan
caster Farm and Home Center.
The strips have eliminated
most of the erosion problem that
existed when he took over the
farm, “Although we still have
some problems,” he said. “Agnes
didn’t seem to take away any
(Continued On Page 20)
State to Host
National Food
Policy Meet
ml _
Plans for the upcoming
National Food Policy Conference
scheduled Dec. 6-7 Hershey were
solidified Tuesday in Washington
at a pre-conference meeting
between participants and Penn
sylvania Agriculture, Secretary
Jim McHale.
The conference, which aims to
lay the groundwork for a
cohesive national food policy, will
feature workshops and presen
tations by economists, food ex
perts and several Congressmen
and Senators.
McHale met with members of
international food agencies and
USDA and land grant college
officials who will moderate a
series of workshops on food
policy development scheduled for
Dec. 6 from 2 to 6 p.m.
Topics include, Population and
Food Reouirements. Production