OS— Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, February 9,1980 INCOME-MINUS OUTGO = WHAT’S LEFT One of the most important equations in all mathematics is used by just about everyone. It can be ex pressed in many forms and expanded to cover a lot of variables, but always works out to the same critical answer. The quality of life for you and your family will depend on the profits from your business, after the expenses are paid. Why discuss anything so obvious? Mainly, to try to get a handle on what factors have the most affect on dairy farm ujcome and profits. Most important, how to get a good grip on the handle so we can control the aim. The pace of milk has a major influence on dairy income, obviously. But it is pretty well regulated and we don’t have a lot of control over it. So, let’s take a look at some things we can control, such as size of the herd, production per cow, milk produced per worker, and the farm debt load. An analysis of 1467 dairy farms by Penn State Farm Management Specialists last year listed herd size, production per cow, labor efficiency and farm business liabilities as having the biggest influence on profits. ALASKA KODIAK WOODBURNERS FIREPLACE INSERT • Fits into your existing fireplace complete with ail parts, including blower and instruc tions for easy installation. • Specifications (Large) Burning time 10 to 12 hours. Heating ca pacity with blower, 2,500 Sq. ft., without blower 2,000 Sq. ft. Fireplace minimum opening 23 , / 2 ” high x 32 , /4" wide x 15 3 /«" deep. MANY OTHER MODELS AVAILABLE CHESTER B. NOLI 30 S. Hershey Ave., Bareville Leola, Pa. 17540 717-656-6898 STORE HOURS: Closed Mon. & Tues. Open Wed., Thurs., Fri. 10 to 8 Sat. 10 to 4 Other hours by appo Tlje Dairy Business By Newton Bair This is not necessarily the order of importance, however, since there are variable limits to all of these on every farm. For example, take herd size. Herds with 20 to 29 cows listed average assets of $167,684, liabilities of $34,364, leaving a net worth of $133,320. But averages don’t mean much because nobody is really “average”. It’s the range of values that opens your eyes. In this herd size group, the range in milk sales ran from a low of $14,547 to a high of $54,822! And cash expenses ran from $10,182 to nearly $64,000. Highs and lows in income and expenses are not necessarily matched, so a low income farm can also have one of the higher ex pense ratings, leavmg a rather narrow margin of profit to live on. Farms with 90 to 109 cows produced the highest family labor and management income - $18,845. Compare this with the family income on the smaller farms, which averaged $2,127. Of course, the larger farms also had a wide range of income; from $73,000 low to $226,000 high. Expenses on the 100 cow herds ranged from $63,000 to $lBB,OOO per farm. Size alone is not the answer to profits 1 •intment Much more important to the profit equation is overall production when measured per acre, per cow and per man. About 93% of all cash receipts on a dairy farm comes from the sale of milk. Regardless of cow numbers or farm size, it isn’t hard to see the vast differences m income per cow between a 10.000 pound herd and one producing 16,000 pounds per cow. At $12.00 per hundred, that’s a difference of $720 income per cow. Income alone is only part of the equation. The real clincher is profit. Dairy Herd Improvement figures are reported as profit over feed cost. Using records from a few random herds, we see a profit over feed cost of between $5OO and $6OO, for a 10,000 pound herd. For 16.000 pound herds, the figure is $1,200 to $1,300 - more than twice as much profit per cow. And then there is the matter of labor efficiency. Here is where the real dif ferences between small (20- 30 cows) and large (100 or more cows) herds show up. The management income per hour on the smaller herds is 80 cents compared to $4.99 for the large herds. ! This is obtained by dividing 7-.*. S t" - t-* iffy* >Z< t *J\ V’ > . <v „ ■*>' * ■■ v - £ w*-,**’ V v ' ~' < ' ' f V r \ • Maybe it's time you switched fertilizer tanks Switch to a Calumet Vacuum Tank Commercial fertilizer sup plies probably won’t in crease during the next de cade. But it’s a safe bet their prices will That’s why it makes sense to take advantage of the one source of fertilizer that won’t run out—manure When 500 hogs can save over a thou sand ddHars in commercial fertilizer costs, manure is just too valuable to waste A Calumet vacuum tank with a 4-shank soil injector lets you make the most of manure’s nutrients Soil in jection can help retain four USED TANKS (i)V22&)CLAY (DVISOO CLAY WITH 2 SHANK INJECTOR . C K E t T h F. ERNEST SNOOK DISTRIBUTOR RD 3 - Box 84, Mifflinburg, Pa. 17844 -Phorte: 717-966-2736 Basic nutrition series offered MEDIA - Fats will be the the Penn State Extension calories from fats. In ths>j topic of the third of a series Service. Greta C. Vairo, U.S. Dietary Goals it is of meetings on basic Extension Home Economist, suggested that the per nutrition being offered by says that this talk which is centage of fat be decreased open to the public will be from the present 40 to 30 held from 10 A.M. to noon on percent of total calories. At Friday, December 7, in the this talk you will learn about Toal Building Auditorium, saturated, and unsaturated comer of 2nd & Orange fats and why it is important Streets, Media. Parking is to limit use of foods con available in the county taining cholesterol. Are you garage at 3rd and Olive aware that many of these Streets. fats are hidden 9 There is no Many nutritionists feel charge for this meeting. The that the American diet is public is invited to attend the made up of too many entire series. DIO YOU EVER SEE rIBEIwT^^ the family labor and management income per man equivalent by 3,000 hours. Pounds of milk sold per man is a very meaningful measure of labor efficiency on a dairy farm. When you get to the bottom line, it’s the combination of herd size and production per cow that indicates a true measure of efficiency. We must admit that the profitability of a dairy en terprise depends on many related factors. Low income, for example, can result from too small a business, low production, high feed cost, expensive buildings, too much machinery, a high debt load, or any com bination of these. The “what’s left” side of the equation can be a pretty mce figure if these combinations are balanced up properly. (You can get a copy of the latest Pennsylvania Dairy Farm Business Analysis report from any County Extension Office. Ask for Form Management 61.) 's''s'Al—:-j'A l — : - j ' '^S-":-^BmI ' *<?*''' **t' •>, % **A#V!f£rs > *< i • ■>,< gfr': r-n. 'i&X'C ..: >4i ,j ~-*j* : times the nitrogen that’s usually lost with surface spreading—in addition to reducing odor and run-off problems Calumet vacuum tanks, in capacities from 1180 to 4500 gallons, are available with a choice of two vacuum pumps. Both engineered to load fast and stay cool. Heavy duty steel alloy tanks, coated .$3OOO $lBOO with epoxy resist corrosion Double reinforced A-frames and support skids add strength All vacuum tanks are backed by Calumet’s 12-month warranty Call for information on the value of manure—and some good reasons why you should switch fertilizer tanks. Look For The Right One! The Calumet Co Inc SEE US AT THE KEYSTONE PORK CONGRESS FEB. 13 & 14, Host Farm, Lancaster ‘
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