—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 2, 1975
10
Farm Commentary
Life on
The envelope I was fingering never
contained good news, and this one, I
knew, was worse than any ever
received before Just seeing it made
me feel weak and I wished all this was
only a dream
But it wasn't Printed in big, red,
bold letters near the top of the
message were the words “SECOND
WARNING.”
What followed was a brief
description as to why the warning
was issued, and what the next course
of action would be for the Baltimore
City Health Department, (BCHD).
The next morning, shortly after the
milking was done and the barn was
being swept up, a light green Dodge
pulled up around the barn. On the
side of the door were the initials
“BC.H.D.”
Watching the man step from the
vehicle out of the corner of one eye, I
prayed weakly and silently and
pushed the broom to the center of the
barn and out towards where the silos
were I continued my sweeping there,
pushing the broom in short, brisk
spurts and thinking only about the
possible consequences of this visit by
the health department inspector.
Feeling disgusted, discouraged and
weak for the rest of the day, I worked
carefully and slowly, all the while
clinging to a little bit of hope for
favorable results.
Forty-eight hours later, Tom Moore,
fieldman for Maryland Cooperative
Milk Producers, turned his light-blue
Volkswagen on to the gravel driveway
leading around to the barn The
sound of tires on loose stones alerted
me and suddenly that weak, deflated
feeling was with me again.
Farm barometer unveiled
In its August 1975 issue of
Agricultural Situation, the United
States Department of Agriculture
furnished a chart which illustrates
the economic plight of the farmer.
The publication also indicated that
Farm Food Market Basket 1
Retail cost (1967=100)
Farm value (1967=100)
Farmer s share of retail cost (percent)
Farm Income
Volume of farm marketings (1967=100)
Cash receipts from farm marketings (sbil )
Realized gross farm income (Sbil )
Production expenses (sbil)
Realized net farm income (Sbil )
Income and Spending
Disposable personal income (Sbil )
Expenditures for food (Sbil)
Share of income spent for food (percent)
Prices
Consumer price index all items (1967=100)
Food (1967=100)
Agricultural Trade
Agricultural exports (Sbil )
Agricultural imports (Sbil )
Farm Employment and Wage Rates 3
Total employment (1967=1001
Family labor (1967=100)
Hired labor (1967=100)
Wage rates (1 967=100)
Farm Debt, January 1
Farm mortgage debt (sbil )
Short term debt excluding CCC (Sbil )
CCC loans and guarantees (Sbil )
Farm Real Estate
Total value March 1 (Sbil )
Value per acre March 1 ($)
'Average annual quantities per family and single person households bought by wage and clerical
workers 1960 61 based on Bureau of Labor Statistics figures
'Annual rate seasonally adjusted first quarter
'Seasonally adjusted
‘lndexes based on quarterly survey adjusted for comparability to monthly data
''Preliminary
By Dieter Krieg
the farm
Item
The news was good and bad, and m
this case the bad prevailed Samples
of milk taken out of the bulk tank two
days earlier by the BCHD official
showed that the leucocyte count was
high for the third consecutive time.
The penalty for that was a three day
suspension from the milk market.
A high leucocyte count is usually
associated with udder inflammation
and infection mastitis which
troubles every dairyman in the
country in varying degrees from time
to time. In this case the problem had
lingered for months at tolerable
levels and suddenly spread to
epidemic proportions.
According to a report published
several months ago in the Holstem-
Fnesian World, at least 50 per cent of
the nation’s dairy cows become in
fected with mastitis, and of those that
do, the National Mastitis Council says
three out of four will be infected for
75 per cent of their milking lives.
The Council figures that the
disease costs the dairyman $lOO per
cow per year. That’s a figure which is
hard to comprehend because much of
mastitis goes unnoticed. But when it
strikes hard, and the results force the
health department to take serious
action a three day suspension
the costs add up rapidly and in a way
which isn’t at all hard to comprehend
At today’s prices, the value of the
milk lost during that episode of Life
on the farm adds up to over $4OO
That’s only the value of the actual
milk produced, not counting the lost
potential in milk production and the
added medical expenses encountered
to fight mastitis
“family living expenditures cost the
average farmer $10,786 in 1973, or
about three and a quarter times as
much as in 1955." The figures speak
for themselves, but are they loud
enough?
1973
1974
142
167
46
162
178
43
116
88 6
97 0
64 7
32 2
116
95 0
102 0
74 8
27 2
979 7
164 5
168
903 7
143 6
15 9
147 7
161 7
133 1
141 4
17 7
8 4
22 0
102
89
86
92
176
89
86
89
157
35 6
37 3
1 8
41 3
42 1
324
310
259
247
1975—latest
available data
March
March
168
171
39
March
102
90 6
98 0
76 5
21 5
1 017 4
177 4
174
April
April
158 6
171 2
March
March
‘B5
April
April
April
April
*B3
*92
MB9
47 4
45 9
370
354
A DIET FOR
THE MIND
Lesson for August 3,1975
Background Scripture:
Philippians4;4-9; Colossians
3;1-17.
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 40; 1-8.
Several years ago the
administrators of one of our
national parks decided that
one of its areas had suffered
so much from campers,
picnickers, and sightseers
that it should be closed down
several years so that it could
rejuvenate.
Soon, however, they had a
problem: what would they do
about the bears in that area
of the park? The bears had
become so dependent upon
the hand-outs of campers
and picnickers that they had
forgotten how to hunt for
themselves.
Following Their
Food
Obviously the bears would
have to be moved to another
part of the park, but that
would be expensive, time
consuming and even
dangerous. The higher
echelon of the park
management worked on this
problem with no solution.
At last a park ranger came
up with a simple solution:
they would move the bears
into other areas by using
trails of food. Since there
would be no tourists in this
area for a while, the bears
would hungrily follow the
trails of food from one
section to another.
Now, this shaggy-bear
story is a kind of a parable
for us: there is a principle in
life that living creatures
always follow their food.
Anyone who’s ever tried to
picnic outdoors knows that.
Put down your blanket and
food and you will suddenly
discover all kinds of animal
and insect life!
The same thing applies
also to events and ex
periences. In a sense, they
too are living things and they
also follow their food. It is
out thoughts that are the food
upon which feed many of the
experiences and events of
our lives. Unwittingly, many
of us attract negative ex
periences because we leave
behind a trail of food upon
which these experience can
feed.
Just as some people seem
to be “accident-prone,”
some people are “unhap
piness-prone.” There is
something about their whole
atmosphere of thought that
continually draws them into
unhappiness. There are
others who are “failure
prone,” people who seem to
have some uncanny knack of
always turning every good
opportunity into disaster.
Others are “fear-prone,”
“pessimistic prone,”
“tradgedy-prone,” etc.
Think about these
things!
As the late Emmet Fox
said, “Fear thoughts,
gloomy and critical
thoughts, selfish thoughts,
are the food of unhappiness,
sickness, and failure.” When
you supply this kind of food
in abundance, you can be
sure that these things will
come into your lives because
they seek their food
What we need to do, says
Fox, is to try what he calls a
• •
*
To Insulate
Buildings
Due to the energy
situation, both in relation to
supply and cost, it has never
been more important to
consider ample insulation in
all types of homes and farm
buildings. More often we
think of good insulation to
keep the building warm in
the winter months; however,
this same insulation will help
keep the building cooler in
the hot summer months.
There are many types of
insulation and many folks
consider the thickness of the
material in proportion to the
insulation value; however, it
is the “R” value that is
important the ability to
reduce the passage of either
hot or cold. Finally, don’t cut
corners on insulation
because the energy saved
will more than pay for the
material in a few years.
To Be Careful
When Grazing Legumes
Some livestock and dairy
producers may pasture their
later cuttings of alfalfa or
clover instead of making it
into hay. This type of forage
makes good grazing but
there is danger of bloating
from the legumes if con
sumed when they are wet.
This is especially true with
alfalfa. I’d suggest that
animals be controlled on
these areas and not be
allowed to graze when the
forage is wet, and also, be
given other forage or dry
matter before going to the
legume pasture. We have
known of herds that have
gotten along fine for a while,
then all of a sudden a
number of the animals are
found severely bloated.
Careful herd management is
needed when grazing
straight legume pastures.
Farm Calendar
Saturday, August 2
Chester-Delaware Sheep
Show at the Goshen Fair
Grounds 10.00 a.m.
Tuesday, August 5
Lancaster County Guernsey
Field Day at the Fred
Kreider farm in Not
tingham beginning at
10 30 a.m. A chicken
barbeque dinner will be
held at noon with meals
at $2.00 per person.
Wednesday, August 6
Lancaster County Con-
“seven-day mental diet,” a
concentrated program to
form a new habit in thinking,
a whole week devoted solely
to building a new mind. For
one whole week, Fox advises
us to keep out of our minds
all negative, destructive
thoughts.
In writing to the church at
Philippi, Paul said much the
same thing: Finally,
brethren, whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is gracious, if
there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these
things (4;8). Why not try this
diet for the mind for just one
week’ It could change your
whole life!
NOW IS
THE TIME. . .
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone :i'H-(iSsl
To Flush the
Ewe Flock
The practice of giving the
ewe flock some extra grain,
or turn them to very good
pasture, several weeks
before the breeding season is
known as “flushing” and is
strongly recommended. A
ewe that is in a gaining
condition at the time of
service is more likely to have
twin lambs than one not in
good physical condition.
Also, experience shows that
straight grass pastures are
more desireable for the
breeding flock than one high
in legume content. The extra
grain ration may contain
only corn and oats in order to
unprove the health of the
flock. Ewes that have not
been treated for stomach
worms this year should get
this treatment prior to the
breeding season. Healthy
ewes will usually give more
lambs per ewe and return
higher profits.
To Not Buy Trouble
There is always danger of
buying disease or infection
along with new livestock.
Regulations and inspectors
are designed to help prevent
the spread of disease but
they cannot be everywhere
and there is always a person
that is trying to get around
these regulations. All buyers
should insist on authorized
health certificates with
every animal. Also, the
practice of segregating the
animal for 30 days to permit
time for test to be made, is
strongly recommended.
Verbal statements that
animals are clean and
healthy are not sufficient.
Extreme care when buying
new animals to be sure they
are disease free is only good
management and will
prevent serious losses.
servation District
meeting at the Farm and
Home Center 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 7
Ephrata Young Farmers
fishing trip to Rock Hall
Lancaster County Holstein
Field Day at the farm of
Shelley Shellenbergers
Mt. Joy Rl. A chicken
barbeque will be held at
noon.
Saturday, August 9
Ephrata Young Farmers
Peach Ice Cream Social
at the Glenn Wissler farm
at 6:30 p.m.
E-Town Young farmers trip
to a baseball game in
Philadelphia leaving at
5:30 p.m.
Youth
Calendar
Wednesday, August 6
Annual Tour in the Ephrata
Area for the Lancaster
Red Rose Baby Beef
Club Will also be touring
the New Holland area.
Monday, August 11
Entires due for the 4-H
Queen Contest.
Beginning of State 4-H Days