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Vol. 19 No. 13
FARM
TRENDS
Pa. Milk Output About Unchanged
Milk production m Pennsylvania during January
was 555 million pounds, about 1 percent more than in
December, but 1 percent less than in January last
year, according to the Crop Reporting Service.
The number of milk cows in the Commonwealth
during January was 673,000 - - the same as last
month, but 1 percent below the January year ago
number of 678,000.
Milk produced per cow averaged 825 pounds in
January, compared with 820 pounds in December and
825 pounds in January last year.
United States milk production during January is
estimated at 9,278 million pounds, down 3 percent
Keystone Expo
- Not Dead Yet
Plans for a new facility to
replace the old Farm Show
complex in Harrisburg ran
into a major snag this week
as the state Senate shelved a
measure to - finance the
project.
in what was apparently a
political power play, Penn
sylvania Auditor General
Robert Casey prevailed upon
the Senate tovote against the
Keystone Exposition Center
bill. In a prepared statement
which he sent to the Senate,
/Casey said, “I have read
with amazement. press
Victor Ziegler is confident of his future as a dairy
farmer. He concedes that 1973 was his worst year,
but that things are going to get better and this is no
time to get out
(Continued On Page 17)
reports that the Keystone
Exposition Center,..will be
self-liquidating.” He added
that the center would,
“...provide benefits to a very
limited area and a very
limited group.”
‘Casey’s statement did not
take into account estimates
of revenues which would be
-generated by a new center,
revenues which would be
used to repay the $l5O million
cost. Nor did Casey motion
in his statement that a new
center has the backing of
(Continued On Pagel9)
Lancaster Farminc. Saturday. February 16.1974
Penn State Dean Predicts . . .
More Funds for Ag Research
“I think we’ll soon be
getting more funds for ex
tension programs,” Dr.
James M. Beattie, dean of
the Penn State College of
Agriculture, told a press
conference Tuesday at the
Lancaster Farm and Home
Center. The question-and
answer session with
newsmen preceded the
annua‘l Lancaster County
Extension Association
meeting at which Beattie
was the featured speaker.
Beattie said the federal
budget last year trimmed
expenditures for extension
and research work. For
fiscal year 1975, which
begins July 1, Beattie said a
modest increase has been
provided. “Vacancies in our
program haven’t been filled
over the past year,” Beattie
said, “because of the budget
problem. Out of about 400
positions now, we have 19
vacancies, and I’m sure it’s
hurt our program. We’ll be
able to fill some of those
positions, but probably not
all of them because costs are
going up.”
Research is a necessary
element of a strong
agriculture, Beattie com
mented, and added that he
disagrees with the detrac
tors of agricultural research.
“ ‘Hard Tomatoes, Hard
Times’, is a book that came
out over a year ago slam
ming our research
programs, saying they were
geared only to mechanized
In This Issue
FARMCLAENDAR 10
Markets 24
Sale Register 37
Farmers Almanac 6
Classified Ads 44
Editorials 10
Homestead Notes 26
Home on the Range 31
Thoughts in Passing 7
Lancaster Co. DHIA 12
Lebanon Co. DHIA 18
Extension Assoc. Elects 22
Lebanon Co.
Corn-Soybean Day 6
Meat Outlook Conf. 20
Victor Ziegler Sees . . .
A Bright Future In Dairying
Victor Ziegler’s lot-confined herd of 210 stub-tailed milking
cows produces well over 4 tons of milk per day on a once-a
day feeding schedule which features a completely combined
mix of haylage, insilage, brewers grains, and concentrates.
The 41-year old Ziegler, a recipient of the 1953 Aiperican
Farmer degree, owns and operates a 212-acre dairy farm
near Reistville, Lebanon County. While admitting that 1973
was “the poor year out of the last ten”, Victor sees a bright
future for the dairyman. He states: “Why should I get out
now, when it’s just getting good?”
Victor started in the dairy business after graduation from
high school in 1950. His father, Abraham, offered several
paths to him, each with the understanding that nothing
comes without responsibilities or monetary obligations. A
note was signed whereby half of the elder Ziegler’s 30 cows
corporation farming.
Nothing could be farther
from the truth,” Beattie
said. “The people who wrote
that book read a lot of
research synopses. They
didn’t read the research
reports themselves, and they
drew a lot of wrong con
clusions.”
According to Beattie, the
family farm will remain the
dominant force in American
agriculture. “There may be
some changes in the family
farm, but it’ll still be with us.
I definitely don’t see farming
being taken over by giant,
multi-national firms.”
There are some new
directions for agricultural
research, Beattie noted,
some of them influenced by
increased awareness of the
environmental impact of
agriculture. “Agricultural
chemicals are important in
farming, and some critics)
have said we emphasized
chemicals at the expense of
biological controls,” Beattie
said. “We’ve always sear
ched for biological controls,
and we’re doing even more
work in that area today.
There are researchers
looking for disease-resistant
plant varieties, as well as
Eshelman Sees No
End For Inflation
“We haven’t been able to
stop inflation for the past ten
years, and ,1 don’t see how
we’re going to stop it this
year,” Congressman Edwin
D. Eshelman said at a news
conference in Ephrata this
week. The conference was
televised Wednesday
evening on Channel 7, D and
E Cable TV’s local
origination channel. Lancas
ter Farming and other
local news media were
represented, at the con
ference.
Eshelman added that he
Dr. James M. Beattie, dean of Penn State's College of
Agriculture, shown as he faced newsmen in a news
conference Tuesday at the Farm and Home Center.
predators and viruses that are also under investigation
attack crop pests.” at Penn State and other
No-till fanning methods (Continued On Page 17)
didn’t think wage and price
controls were the answer to
inflation. “Controls don’t
work unless you put a lid on
everything,” he said. “When
controls go off in April, I
think we’ll see some more
price increases, but they
should stabilize pretty soon.
“One thing we should
never underestimate is the
power of the consumer
Whr thi of so””'"
.ien u ;e price of something
gets too high, people stop
buying it and that brings the
price down. If we give our
economy a chance to work,
were transferred to Victor as wages. In 1954, two years after
his marriage to the former Grace Cox, Victor proceeded to
buy the complete operation from his father, and the 4-year
partnership ended. Nine years later, when his sister wanted
to buy a farm, he paid his father in full, thereby making
money available for the benefit of other members in the
family.
Today Ziegler farms not only the old home place but also
an adjoining farm which he purchased, and an additional 140
acres of rented ground. His herd was increased to a total of
275 cows, 220 heifers, and several bulls. He says he wants to
keep on growing to keep the business more challenging and
interesting. Victor describes his oepration as being “strictly
commercial”, and he utilizes only the most efficient
(Continued On Page 21)'
$2.00 Per Year
prices will find their natural
levels and everybody will be
better off.”
Gasoline was one of the
items Eshelman feels might
find its natural price level
after controls are lifted. “We
might even see gas wars in
the not-too-distant future,”
the Congressman predicted.
On the subject of rationing,
Eshelman said, “I don't
think we’ll have to get into
.gasoline rationing, not if
everybody cooperates. The
even-odd system really isn’t
(Continued On Page 16 >,