12—Lancaster Farmlnt. Saturday. Jan. 25. 1975 2; 160 Million Acres Lost To Farming Since Late 1800’s "Sec that shopping center? I can remember when all that land was in com and tobacco." Statements like this have become familiar to us all. And no wonder. The U.S. has over 160 million acres that have gone out of farming since the late 1800’s • the equivalent of roughly three fifths of our harvested cropland today. Poring over 1880-1969 Census data, researchers found that as many as 436 million acres had been planted to crops sometime during that period, but that only 272 million acres remained in production in 1969. Much land, of course, has been brought back since then. Crops were harvested from about 322 million acres in 1974. The 436 million acres are the sum of the park levels of cropland harvested by every county across the Nation. In 1929, the U.S. reported 359 million acres of cropland - the most ever in production in any 1 year. The national and county records vary sharply because not all counties had top acreage that particular year. Ninety-five percent of all counties harvested their LARRY SAYS, IS THE WORD! SEE OUR THREE NEW COMPACT LOADERS WHICH WE CALL OUR Sußsaatfl CL-20 t-iasoill 25 H.P. AIR COOLED ENGINE CL-30 iSissw'j 1,500 LB. LIFT CAPACITY CL-40 ffiiaaaawu 40 H.P. WATER COOLED ENGINE HYDROSTATIC 4-WHEEL DRIVE MACHINES OPERATED AT THE HOME OF THE . ' i: £• JFona ARE IN STOCK. CAN BE SEEN AND FRIENDLY FOLKS. A* ft peak acreage after 1900. Jhose cresting before 1900 were mainly along the eastern seaboard where most of the population lived at that time. Close to a fourth nf all counties reached their maximum acreage from 1900-1920. But 1920-1940 brought a record 1,217 counties to their peak as tractor power replaced horses and mules. During the following 2 decades, harvested acreage hit record levels in a fifth of all coun ties. Irrigation and drainage proved the driving force in counties where acreage hit top levels after 1960. Most affected were areas along the Mississippi River, in southern Florida, and in the central Cora Belt. In 1969, 57 million acres were diverted from crop production under federal programs This means that of the 164 -million acres that weren’t farmed that year, 106 million no longer formed part of the cropland base. Nearly three-quarters of the acreage vanished from five regions: the Northeast, Northern and Southern Plains, Appalachia, and the Southeast. MACHINES. ALL THREE LANCASTER TRACTOR, Take Flory Mill Exit off 283 and go V* mile toward East Petersburg. THE NEW HOME OF THE FRIENDLY PEOPLE 1655 Rohrerstown Road Lancaster. Pa. Phone (717) 569-7063 In many cases, thla land was abandoned because it was inferior to present cropland. On average, about 2Vfc million acres of farmland are converted to other uses - including grass and trees • each year, but development of nearly IV4 million acres of new cropland partly offsets this conversion. Experts say that only a minor share of abandoned cropland could compete economically with present farmland if returned to production. Acreage most likely to be brought back lies mainly in highly productive farming regions. Generally, the earlier a county reached its peak harvested acreage, the larger its share of retired land. For example, 80 perc net of the Northeastern counties hit cropland peaks before 1920. Much of this land then shifted to other uses, and it’s unlikely to return to agriculture. Too, fields throughout the Northeast - as well as in parts of Appalachia and the Southeast - are too small and scattered for efficient use of modern machinery. And much of the former cropland has reverted to wooded areas. The Delta and Southeastern regions also have vast areas that have never been cropped but which could become productive farmland with proper drainage. FORD INC. Farmers Give Calves I Continutd from Fail I| stations, two of the local TV stations and a daily newspaper. I think we made our point with a lot of our city cousins. "Some non-farmers did talk to me after they heard about what we did, and they were shocked at the low prices we were getting. Some of them thought far mers are getting rich because food prices are so high. I think we helped them to realize that we don’t see a lot of the money that’s spent in the supermarkets." Victor Ziegler, Myer stown, another dairy com mittee member who donated calves, said his pay slips from a recent cattle auction were the best reasons he could think of for not feeding calves. "I figured out what 1 had left after selling a 900- pound steer the other week and it was just $8.30. And that doesn’t even include the cost of the feed.” Ziegler said he’d like to see similar moves by other farmers across the Eastern U.S. He said large scale action would soon be reflected in the price that fanners get for their steers and calves. sentiment. “There’s been some talk already by some of our members to donate more calves,” he said. “That might be a good idea, but I think it would be even better if we could get some par ticipation from our neigh boring counties. I’d like to see this idea spread out from here and involve a lot more farmers, and make a lot more consumers aware of our problems.” The Mennonite Central Committee, a relief Home Costs Just simply operating your house is getting to be ridiculously expensive Listed below are some helpful hints on cutting those home costs. —Over a third of calls to repair men are unnecessary Make sim ple, obvious checks on your own prior to calling for help See if the plug is in, power on, and con trols set properly If a repairman is needed, be there when he ar rives Pay for his work—not his waiting —Be aware of active appliance warranties Take advantage of any such benefits. —Tool rental can be a money saver You don’t have to purchase everything you need for those pe riodic chores. Combine your ef forts with those of your neighbors —Redecorating can be done much cheaper when you do it yourself It’s not as difficult as you might think Materials are readily available along with instructions organization with headquarters in Akron, Pa., will can the meat from the Lebanon County calves. It will be used to feed hungry people in Honduras and Africa. Three area butchers slaughtered the animals and butchered them. Burkholder Wood take it That’s why they use Renta treated clear yellow pine in every New Idea Spreader box. Every New Idea spreader in the line has wood sides, bottom and end . . . because wood can take it. Wood battles against damage. Wood won’t bend, can't rust... and fights corrosive acids better than any other spreader box material. Warranty On Wood That’s why only New Idea says, “In the unlikely event that any of the wood components in your New Idea Manure-Spreader rot through, Avco New Idea will make replacement, no charge. Replacement will be made without cost to you, the original purchaser, at your nearby New Idea dealer... no charge for wood, no charge for labor or freight.” We make your job a little easier. UMBERGERSMILL RD4, Lebanon (Fontana) 717-867-8221 A. L. HERR&BRO. Quarryville 717-786-3521 CHAS.J. McCOMSEY & SONS Hickory Hill, Pa 215-932-2615 STOLTZFUS FARM SERVICE Cochranville, Pa 215-593-5280 A.B.C. GROFF, INC. New Holland 717-354-4191 Meats, Myerstown, took 70 animals, John Martin, Scheoneck got 30, and KralTs Meat Market, Schaef ferstown, took the rest. The butchers charged |S apiece for slaughtering, but Hoff man said he expects these costs will be covered by donations. can 1 ROY H. BUCH, INC. Ephrata, R D 2 - 717-859-2441 LONGENECKER FARM SUPPLY Rheems 717-367-3590 N.G. HERSHEY & SON Manheim 717-665-2271 LANDIS BROS., INC. Lancaster 717-393-3906
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers