Efficiency - A Must Dairy Program Theme “Efficiency - A Must" has been selected as the theme for the 10th annual Southeastern Dairy Con ference scheduled for February 4th at the Guern sey Bam on Rt. 30, Lan caster. Sponsors of the event who include: Curtiss Breeder’s Service, John W. Eshclman and Sons, New Holland CATUmtN ... We Specialize in shipping fever medications. Intrj-N. and Intra-Muscular Vaccine We offer a complete medicatio.l program . Cattle off feed, poor appetite, worms, bloat, diarrhea, lice, toot rot. and respiratory conditions. Ir Service & Sales. STOCK PRODS BATTERIES WOOD CANES ANIMAL CLIPPERS BLADES COW TRAINERS TMBENZOLE WORMER PELLETS —BOLUSES HEATED LIVESTOCK WATERERS, FARM GATES, AND HOG FEEDERS. ZIMMERMAN'S ANIMAL HEALTH SUPPLY & fa /jh C- rlpS* R.DJ4, Utitz. Pa. 17543 Phone 717-733-4466 3 miles W. of Ephrata along WOODCORNER ROAD LOW COST MACHINERY STORAGE I ■- OPEN FRONT $ 3,940. CONTACT THESE REPRESENTATIVES FOR ADDITIONAL HELP IN PLANNING YOUR NEW Supply and the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, chose the theme since the constantly changing times and economic conditions call for the utmost efficiency especially for dairymen. Eugene C. Meyer, Managing Editor of “Hoard’s Dairyman” will be the keynote speaker. Meyer has traveled extensively i i I 1 * - T 30' x 48' x 12' throughout the United States as part of his editorial responsibilities with “Hoard’s Dairyman,” a national dairy farm magazine published in Wisconsin. Meyer is well known to the dairy industry as he was active in the FFA and 4-H dairy program and majored in dairy science from lowa State University. He is presently working with the magazine’s dairy herd in Wisconsin. ORDER YOUR SPRING FARM SODS NOW Cert. Pennscott Red Clover Pa. Grown Red Clover Cert. Ladino Clover Cert. Garry Oats Cert. Pennfield Oats Cert. Clintland Oats Cert. Cfintford Oats Erie Spring Barley GRASSES Maine Grown Certified Seed Potatoes DeKalb Com Cert. Iroquois Alfalfa Cert. Saranac AR Alfalfa Cert. Cayuga Alfalfa W-L3OS Alfalfa W-L3ll Alfalfa Cert. Vernal Alfalfa Cert. Buffalo Alfalfa Thor Alfalfa P. L. ROHRER & BR0„ INC. Smoketown. Pa. WILMER MARTIN Home Phone (215)445-5652 MELVIN STOLTZFUS Home Phone (717) 392-0066 SUPPLY CENTER Eugene C. M,,.. 1027 DILLERVILLE ROAD, LANCASTER, PA. PHONE 717-397-4761 Meyer Sudax 717-29921 ll K ! !Vi Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Feb. 1.1975 Beef (Continued from Page 1) eight animals a week go from the Groff herd directly to a nearby butcher shop. "tast year, we figured we made about $5O more per head by selling direct,” Jim said. "The butcher pays the trucking, which is usually about $5, and we didn’t have to pay any commissions which is usually another $35. And we averaged a bother $lO per head because our buyer always pays the top market price.” Their outlet likes his cattle finished to choice and prime,i and that’s what the Groffs aim to supply. And they do it entirely with homegrown feed. “Our only feed pur chase, which figures out to around $2.50 per month per animal, is liquid protein supplement,” Jim said. The IPS is fed free choice to all the animals in the herd. Actually, there are two herds of about 220 animals each. When the 'steers first come into the operation, usually at around 500 pounds, they are put into a starting group of animals and fed com silage and LPS. "We figure it takes about a year to get a steer from 500 to 900 pounds on our feeding program,” Jim said. “When BUILDING. they’re up to 900 pounds or so, we move them from the fccdlot on the farm where I live to the lot on the farm where Carlton lives. There they get 15 pounds of shelled corn a day, along with LPS. It takes about 120 days to get the steers from 900 pounds to market weight. They gain about two-and-a-half pounds a day on finishing ration.” Feed efficiency is boosted with Ralgro implants, two on each animal. When the steers arrive in the first feedlot, they're wormed, they get a nasal IBR vac cine, and a Ralgro implant. The second implant comes a year or so later when the steers are moved to the second feedlot. The Groffs expect to do better this year than last. “Last winter, when we were buying 61-cent feeders,” Carlton said, “we needed 48 cents to break even. The feeders we have now came a lot cheaper than that. About a third were put in at 40 cents and the rest at 30 cents. So our breakeven point is down a lot from last year. It wouldn’t be a good idea for us to sell our com, because 39-cent cattle are just as good to us as $3.40 com.” “We did sell some com out of the field this year for $3.40,” he went on to explain. “It cost us $1.50 a bushel to grow it, which includes seed, fertilizer, tases, lease rent and equipment depreciation. There’s very little labor included in that cost. So, $3.40 a bushel looks pretty good. But in addition to the cost of planting, we had to pay trucking and drying out of that $3.40, and that was about 80-cents a bushel. 1 doubt that we’d be better off selling com.” In the coining year, Carlton expects to see a shifty which would be even more conducive to feedihg com rather than selling it. “If $1.30 is a realistic figure today for growing a bushel of com, then it’s going to cost 35- to 40-cents more this spring. There’s no way a farmer can grow com shell it and dry it for less than $2.25 this year. But I see mighty cheap com next year, maybe even under $2.25. Especially if we get good weather, and if the seed quality is there, and if farmers can get the fer tilizer. We’ll have a big crop. And there won’t be any animals around to eat it, either.” The Groffs had an ex ceptionally good com crop in 1974. They shelled some 165 acres, and averaged 150 bushel yields. They sold some of the shelled com, but put most of it in a Har vestore. They chopped another 120 acres, which was stored in an conventional silo. Sometime in the spring, they usually find themselves running out of silage, so they feed rye chop instead. Besides the com, they grow about 80 acres of small grain, and have another 60 acres in orchards. In the spring, they like to buy an extra hundred head to take advantage of the rye chop and pasture. “If you can put them on pasture and feed,rye chop too, they’ll gain a pound a day,” Jun said. Feeders are bought from a (Continued on Page 24] TRY A CLASSIFIED AD! 17