Periodicals Division /To
Vol. 19 No. 11
Robert Harnish, Millersville RDI, has
a very comprehensive conservation
program on his farm. His father,
Huber, became one of the county’s
Conservation Case History No. 3
Harnish Likes Both
Terraces, No-Till
(Editor’s Note: This
continues a series on con
servation fanners in Lan
caster County)
Robert 6. Hamish and his
father, Huber Hamish, have
developed a very com
prehensive conservation
In This Issue
FARM CALENDAR 10
Markets 2-4
Sale Register 37
Fanners Almanac 6
Classified Ads 40
Editorials 10
Red Rose Farmers 22
Homestead Notes 24
Home on the Range 28
Thoughts in Passing 33
Pork Producers Meet 36
Farm Feature -
DanHogeland 15
Merrill Lynch
Opens Hot Lines 11
FARM
TRENDS
Commonwealth Farmers
Announce Planting Intentions
Pennsylvania farmers plan to plant more land to
corn, oats and soybeans, but the same amount to
barley in 1974 as they did in 1973. The acreages
actually planted to these crops may differ from
current intentions. Shortages of seed, fuel, fertilizer or
money, as well as the usual uncertainties of the
weather and economic conditions could move farmers
to change their plans between now and planting time.
Corn and oats acreages are both expected to be up
(Continued on Page 18)
earliest conservation farmers in the
late 30’s when he started planting in
contour strips.
farming operation, and they■
say they ’wouldn’t Want to
farm any other way. The
elder Hamish is retired now,
but he was one of the first
Lancaster County farmers to
farm with contour strips.
The strips, which were laid
out in the late 1930’5, were in
use until 1966. That year,
Robert Hamish not only
bought a no-till planter, he
also installed diversion
terraces and grass water
ways on his com acreage.
“My father went to strips
because we did have a
terrible erosion problem,”
Hamish recalled this week in
the kitchen of the family’s
19th century farmhouse.
“We had gullies that actually
had to be filled in before we
could harvest the fields.
Some of our land has a 15
percent slope, but the strips
by Dick
Wanner
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 2, 1974
stopped the erosion problem.
We rotated com, wheat and
' hay, and' had very little
runoff.” ■
Hamish said the move to
diversion terraces was
prompted by a desire to grow
more com. “Com is a more
valuable crop,” he said. “At
least it was back then. With
terraces, we felt we’d be able
(Continued On Page 22)
County FFA officers elected this week were, front
row, left to right, Don Weaver, vice-president;
Barry Wissler, president; Jeff Glackin, recording
secretary; Dwight Houser, treasurer; Bob Buck
waiter, sentinel. Back row, Gerald Phiilipps, ad-
Moore Tells Cattle Group . . .
Cattlemen Optimistic,
But Costs Going Up
Record livestock prices
have not impressed many
cattle feeders simply
because costs moved right
along up with prices. Even
so, Lou Moore told a group of
about 150 cattlemen on
Tuesday, giant Midwestern
feedlots keep expanding. “A
few years ago, 50 percent of
the country’s beef came
from just one percent of our
feedlots. Today, 65 percent of
the beef comes from one
percent of the feedlots.”
Moore, a Penn State ex
tension economist, was
speaking at a day-long
program for cattle feeders at
the Farm and Home Center.
He said in spite of the many
factors which could cloud the
outlook, both large and small
feeders are optimistic about
the future. Fuel and fer
tilizer shortages are
potential threats to all of
farming, Moore said. Feed
Bulletin
Ivan Yost, Christiana RDI,
has been named Penn
sylvania’s Outstanding
Young Farmer by the
Pennsylvania Jaycees it was
learned this week as Lan
caster Farming was going to
press. Yost was sponsored
by the recently formed
Octorara Jaycee chapter,
and he was scheduled to pick
up his award in Valley Forge
today, Saturday, at noon.
prices could be boosted
higher by a wheat drain.
There’s no end in sight to
spiraling farm costs. “What
happens if we get a recession
- or worse?” Moore asked
the cattlemen. “What is the
consumer going to be
demanding?”
Inflation was seen as one
of the worst of the farmer’s
enemies. “In 1974, inflation
in this country was about 10
percent. If that rate keeps
up, our currency seven years
from now will be worth
exactly half what it is
today.”
Pork Meet Examines
Grade, Yield Potential
“Grade and yield marketing is for the man who wants to
get paid for producing top quality hogs. If a producer has
nothing to offer but average, run-of-the-mill hogs, grade and
yield isn’t for him,” Howard Sparlin told a New Holland
Young Farmer meeting on Tuesday night in the Garden Spot
vo-ag classroom. Sparlin is a marketing representative for
Pennsylvania Farmers Association. He buys hogs and sells
them on a grade and yield basis to a local packer.
Sparlin said that there are a number of ways to set up a
grade and yield system. PFA uses a letter and number
designation to determine the baisis for payment. A 1 is the
very top category, and Sparlin said only five percent of all
the hogs in the whole country would ever grade Al. The “A”
stands for muscling quality and the “1” stands for backfat
thickness. The packer bases his yield determination on the
percentage of lean cuts in an individual carcass. Any yield of
53 percent would be classified “1”, 50 to 52 percent gets a “2”,
(Continued On Page 23)
visor; Nelson Martin, chaplain; Brian Ober,
corresponding secretary; Dwight Martin,
parlimentarian; and Kevin Rohrer, reporter. See
.story on page 22
$2.00 Per Year
Moore said the country
came close to a recession in
the last quarter of 1973, when
a growth rate of only one
percent was experienced. He
added that if unemployment
rises this year, demand for ,
beef will drop.
“The first quarter of this
year should be pretty good,
though,” Moore commented,
“because supplies are going
to be five to six percent lower
than they were last year. But
those prices may drop after
April as we get more fat
cattle on the market.”
(Continued On Page 32)