Farm Show’s Jr. steers?
(Continued from Page Al)
right way to go right now,”
he said.
Frank Darcey, president
of the Polled Hereford
Association voiced his
concern, stating the Angus
and Hereford steers “can’t
compete with zoo animals ”
“I support keeping a lid on
the weights Let’s give the
meat buyers what they want
an 1150 pound steer,” he
said
“It’s a cardinal sin to
teach our youth to raise
something the market place
doesn’t want University
people are guilty of this to
some extent,” he continued
“Lifting the weight limit is
ATTENTION
FARMERS...
FREE
ESTIMATES
ON RODENT
CONTROL
RODENTS carry diseases which
can endanger the health of your
flocks. Your business is raising
the flocks. Ours is protecting
them.
Since 1928
Pest control is too important
to trust to anyone else
We Have A Skilled Crew
Available For Erection if Desired
against economics and whaj.
the cattle industry wants ”
According to
the problem with Farm
Show is it’s held at-the wrong
time of year. He echoed
Burdette’s sentiments when
he said, “The kids can’t hold
these steers and have them
grade choice Really they
should be marketed in
August through October
after the county Roundups ”
Bob Kimble, manager of
the Meat Animal Evaluation
Center at Penn State agreed
that Farm Show is an off
season for lambs and cattle
He said the weight ranges
for these youth project
animals should be kept
1278 Loopßd.
Lancaster, Pa. 17604
717-397-3721
COMPLETE BUILDING SYSTEMS
FOR ALL COMMERCIAL NEEDS
,1
wr'*
within reason to what the
industry is doing
“Angus and Hereford
crosses finish out at a lighter
weight and can grade choice
at around 900 pounds But
these exotic crosses might
only grade choice at 1200
pounds, 1300 1400 pounds
and that’s under feedlot
conditions with good con
ditioning and management
It means these steers are not
suddenly held back
“The grand champion
Farm Show steer is not a
good comparison of what a
breed can do necessarily,”
Kimble said
Kimble conceded he had
no solution to the problem of
getting these larger framed
steers to grade choice at the
present weight limit
“You change the shape of
an animal, you change the
composition With more and
more consumers using
hamburger, having volume
of red meat is desirable A
steers not all steak
Kimble went on to say club
kids have no alternative but
to buy a calf at the fall feeder
sales and watch its progress
There is no way of
knowing how fast an animal
will grow Some can be
pushed hard,” he said
An interesting point made
by Kimble is the packer
makes the most money on
the higher cutting carcass
“The packer says he wants
a steer to grade, and yet he
won’t pay the higher price
for a lower yielding steer ”
“The point is, all these
steers can be used for
something,” Kimble con
cluded
And, all the 1981 Farm
Show steers were sold This
year's prices paid for the
champions dropped,
however, (probably a
reflection of market trends
rather than published
opinions)
*
• DAIRY • BEEF • POULTRY • SWINE
• HORSE BARNS • ALL PURPOSE BUILDINGS
★ MINI WAREHOUSES
★ GARAGES
★ SHOPS
★ PACKING HOUSES
★ SMALL BUSINESS
BUILDINGS
CALL FOR ESTIMATES ON OUR LOW PRICED,
HIGH QUALITY BUILDINGS
i \i
WICKES LUMBER
Rt. 272 & Garden Spot Road
Ephrata, PA 17522
The judge of the steer
show, Doug Parrett of
Illinois, said he had read the
Pennsylvania Farmer story
prior to judging the show
Parrett said he purposely
checked the market reports
last Tuesday before the show
and noted, “The difference
between steers grading low
choice and high good was
about $2 The difference
between a leaner yield grade
3 and a wastier yield grade 4
steer was about $l5
“The packers don’t care
about feedlot efficiency
They just care about what
little bit of the beef industry
they’re involved in
“Packers say they want
lean meat that grades
There’s a gray area on what
makes quality grades For
every lean steer that doesn’t
grade choice, I can show you
a fat one that doesn’t grade
choice either
“Consumer’s don’t un
derstand quality grading,
and what does it matter
since half the meat that’s
marketed is ground ”
Parrett, too, said the
Farm Show steers are not
fed under proper feedlot
conditions in order to grade
choice and that the kids have
to hold the steers back
When placing the class of
heavyweights, Parrett
explained he couldn’t
criticize the top steers
because they grew fast and
got too heavy (What of the
three steers that were
disqualified for being
overweight’) It was the first
place heavyweight, shown
by Lancaster’s Ernie Frey,
that went on to be tagged
reserve grand champ
When asked about his
steer’s feeding program,
young Frey stated, “I
coasted him to Roundup
After Roundup I pushed him
with silage, corn, oats and 14
percent protein supplement
According to Greg Snyder,
Lehigh 4-H leader, feed
salesman and Polled
MERVIN MILLER -717-626-5204
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 24,1981 435
Cecil lists DHIA top 10
NORTH EAST, Md Following are the top ter dairy herds
for Cecil County which are on test with the Cecil County Dairy
Herd Improvement Association This information is compiled
from records received in the Cecil County Extension Office
during this penoo
Killdee Farms 33
Cherry Valley Farm 96
J B Carson, Jr 51
Fred Schrader 76
Pioneer Valley Fm 141
Carl Stafford & Son 74
T Howard England 55
BSC Yurkanm 25
R D Dempsey 74
Mt Ararat Farm 111
Vegetable growers
to meet Tuesday
LANCASTER - A day
long meeting for vegetable
growers in Lancaster and
York counties will be held at
the Farm and Home Center
on Tuesday beginning at 10
a m
The session will open with
a movie on pesticides, ac
cording to Extension agent
Arnold Lueck
Hereford breeder, “showing
defeats the purpose of
teaching a 4-H’er how to feed
a steer ”
In a similar train of
thought, Tony Dobrosky
said, “The 4-H program is to
help develop a youngster’s
responsibility We can’t
forget the kid and con
centrate only on the project
The project should only be
the crutch to get the 4-H’er to
a goal ”
Dobrosky urged cat
tlemen, club members,
parents and leaders to let
their opinions on the Farm
Show steer, lamb, and hog
weight limits be known to
him or other Farm Show
Youth Committee members
before March 5 when the
resolutions will go before the
Farm Show Commission
Or
The remainder of the
morning program includes a
session on soil management
to improve vegetable
production at 10 15 a.m by
Peter Ferretti, Extension
vegetable specialist, insect
control with emphasis on
sweet corn and cole crops at
10:45 am by Robert
Tetrault, Extension en
tomology specialist, ob
servations on a cauliflower
variety test at 11 15 a.m by
David Miller, York County
grower, and tomato disease
control costs at 11 30 a m by
Alan McNab, Extension
plant pathology specialist
After a luncheon break,
the program resumes at 1
p m with a discussion of new
vegetable varieties by
Ferretti; melon disease
control and costs at 1 30 p m
by Mac Nab and a closing
panel discussion on weed
control beginning at 2 p m
by John Fitz and Ronald
Markey, York County
growers, and Ferretti
The session is scheduled to
end at 2 30 p m
717-738-2401
717-394-9325