Grain markets - catastrophe that didn’t happen BY DICK WANNER Staff Correspondent PARADISE The grain catastrophe that didn’t happen has left grain producers and dealers alike stunned and happy. President Carter’s January 4 embargo on shipments of feed grains to Russia stopped the sale of 13 million tons of corn and 4 million tons of wheat. The Embargo stirred up a near panic in the grain trade. The slap on the collective Soviet wnst, many felt, would have no effect on their Afghanistan conquest or the Russian diet, but it would hurt U.S. farmers and YOU’VE HEARD THE TALK. There’s a better way to dry grain. It’s called CHILLCURING' U because it means CURING without heat. Here’s what the talk is all about. THE GRAIN Every kernel of gram is alive when it comes out of the field. It is a seed, able to grow because it has the ability to take on moisture. Likewise, it can be kept in a state of preservation by removing the moisture already in it. But by heating the gram to dry it, the seed life is destroyed By removing heat and moisture from the gram, it becomes dormant, and stays alive. Then it can ripen to full weight, losing only water while keeping valuable protein, starches and sugar. THE SYSTEM It’s simple. Grain goes from the field right to the bin. With the unique AIRFRAME " and AIRFLOOR " the gram rests on a solid bed that allows maximum ventilation. Clean dry air is the best curing medium for the gram. GRAINLAMPS" provide electric sunshine, cleaning and drying the air beneath the floor, before it passes through the gram Fans force air under the floor Rising through the gram, this dry outside air carries away moisture and heat. At the peak of the bin a jumbo 40” turbine, the WHIRLCOOLER", puts nature to work for you. Wind and rising air keeps it turning, venting the system naturally. A special HARVESTAT" Control System monitors the curing process. A simple setting controls the GRAINLAMPS™ to make use of free, natural air. could even put some country elevators out of business. John J. Hess, 11, president of a feed mill here that bears his name, said on Monday morning, Jan. 7, he figured he would lose some $20,000 on the gram he had in his inventories. On the afternoon of Thursday the 17th, he was confident he hadn’t yet lost anything as a result of the embargo. “Carter was right,” Hess said. “Nobody, me included, believed that the govern ment could keep the price from sliding to the bottom. But they did it.” Feelings m the business community ran strongly against the embargo. A report in BUSINESS WEEK crucified the ad ministration for the move, pointing out that even if prices recovered quickly, it would take years to regam the trust of the Russian gram buyers. On the other hand, the WALL STREET JOURNAL this week quoted a Chicago gram trader as saying, “Prices broke too badly on too much baloney about all the fears.” He was referring to the pnce break on the first two trading days after the em bargo, and the fact that the market was making up this week for what it lost last week. Joel Coleman, a Chester County farmer who har vested 260 acres of com and 60 acres of wheat in the fall, said he was upset when he heard of the embargo. Much of his gram is still m storage, waiting to be sold. “But it was probably the best thing we could have done,” Coleman said. “Another possibility would have been to sell them the gram, but at double the price, and use the extra money to start up alcohol plants. “I do think that it’s going to be a couple of years before everything is straightened out in the gram market. But right now, it hasn’t hurt me.” In Milford, Del., Burt Westman, manager of the Milford Gram Co., said the 2. CHILLCURING™ has been tried and proven m 17 states on over3ooo farms. The research is in. CHILLCURING™ WORKS' 3. The CHILLCURING™ system uses only the electricity to power fans and lights, using about IV2 KW hrs. per bushel. Compare that cost to other systems that use increasingly expensive fuels to get disappointing results. 4. The gram goes from the field to the bin and stays there till you need it. Save time and money at harvest with the one step HARVESTALL CHILLCURING™ and storage system. 5. If you’re in the market for grain storage, you owe it to yourself to look further into HARVESTALL GRAIN CHILLCURING™. Check With Us For Our Early Season Discounts embargo had so far had no impact on their business. The firm is a for-profit storage facility owned and controlled by a number of gram farmers in the Milford area. “We’ve made some sales smce the embargo was announced,” Westman said, “but they were soybeans and the prices were actually a little better than they were before the embargo. Our farmers are sitting tight, waiting to see what the Franklin extension to elect new directors CHAMBERSBURG - The Annual Meeting of the Franklin County Agricultural Extension Association has been set for Friday, February 1, at the Kauffman’s Community Center, near Kauffman’s Station, according to James L. Wilson, President of the Association. All citizens of Franklin County are automatically members and are invited to participate at the meeting in the election of new directors from five town ships....Letterkenny, Lurg an, Metal, Montgomery, and Peters. Tickets for the event are available thru January 25 from all Association directors and at the Franklin County Extension Office, 191 Franklin Farms Lane, Chambersburg. Advanced Ag Product RD 2 Box 174 Elverson, Pa. 19 215-286-9118 THE FACTS l.You can’t beat Nature. HARVESTALL GRAIN CHILLCURING™ uses the same elements that ripen and preserve gram if left to itself: free flowing air and infra red rays (sunshine) Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 26, i 960—019 market will do. They’re certainly m no panic to sell.” It all seemed too good to believe, except for Joe McDavid, a public relations spokesman for USDA in Washington. Prices didn’t drop because of the programs and the actions by the ad ministration,” McDavid said. “When the sale to Russia was stopped, the govern ment said they would not allow any of the corn back The event will get un derway with a Social Hour at 6:15 p.m. with dinner being served at 7. Manon Deppen, Assistant Director of Ex tension, at Penn State, will address the topic, “Land and Energy: Issues and Prospects”. County Extension Director, John Z. Shearer, will present a slide illustrated talk on his recent award tnp to Holland and Switzerland. Various awards and presentations will also be made. Present directors of the Association include: Richard W. Harshman, Chambersburg; Mrs. Edith Doyle, Dry Run; Stanley J. Burkholder, Chambersburg; Mrs. Joyce Armstrong, Chambersburg; Robert Stouffer, Chambersburg; Gerald Hammond, Cham bersburg. into the domestic market at less than $2.40 a bushel, which is what the price was on the Friday of the an nouncement. And we’ve set up storage and loan programs to protect farmers against losses,” he said. “It just took the trade a few days to realize exactly what we’d done, but I think the markets are now getting back to where they should be,” the USDA man con cluded. Also P. Joe Musser, Newburg; Robert A. Woods, Fannettsburg* Marvin E. Hissong, Lemasters; John R. Stoner, Mercersburg; Harold C. Gayman, Waynesboro; Mrs. Betty Wingert, St. Thomas; Harold L. Wenger, Ship pensburg; Donald Keefer, Mercersburg; Andrew S. Fitz, Waynesboro; Mrs. Jane Goshom, Dry Run; Mrs. Doris Meyers, Chambersburg. And, John R. Rotz, St. Thomas; Stanley J. Helman, Chambersburg; Mrs. Lillian Gayman, Orrstown; Mrs. Wilma Mickey, Cham bersburg; Harold Hoffeditz, Mercersburg; James Wilson, Lemasters; Kenneth Myers, St. Thomas; Mrs. Janet Deardorff, Fayet teville; Mrs. Jean Wengert, Chambersburg; and Mrs. Ethel Barnes, Mercersburg.
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