D2o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 31,1981 Two items that crossed my desk last week caused me to stop and wonder about the future of farming. One, a short report in Farm Journal, summarizing some Penr State in formation that says it really doesn’t pay to get mto far ming anymore The other, a more detailed report in The Furrow (John Deere’s farm magazine), that tells how a Montana cattlemen is selling all of the beef he can produce directly to consumers and doing pretty well at it These two stories really aren’t related, and yet they are The Pennsylvania story tells me that the traditional approaches to agriculture just aren’t viable options to the beginning farmer anymore. And that the more creative approaches, like the one under way in Montana, may offer some hope for the new farmer Farm Journal quotes Virgil Crowley, a farm management expert who says that if you want to go into the dairy business you’ll need between 20 and 29 cows, and total assets of over $183,000. With that kind of investment and time com mitment, you can expect to make about $lO,OOO a year Virgil doesn’t say this, but it’s obvious to even the beginning economics student that if you take that same $183,000 and invest it at 10 percent, you’ll earn $18,300 a year and you won’t have to milk any cows. If you prefer beef cattle, the typical beef operation would require about 100 cows and would cost $140,000 plus the land to run them on-add another $200,000-and you would still make only $lO,OOO a year. Even a broiler production facility would require $250,000 to yield a $lO,OOO annual income There aren’t many people with huge piles of money wanting to get into farming, and even when they do they expect larger returns. Consequently, there aren’t many new farmers and there are many old farmers getting out and the net result is a decline in the number of farmers Meanwhile, there are farm types like Lloyd Schmitt, of Stanford, Montana, who’s described as ‘ Montana’s maverick meatman” He dares to be different He thinks the government meat grading system is wrong, that most beef producers put too much fat on their animals and they they lose their profits by selling wholesale He feeds bulls and heifers rather than steers, strives for just the least amount of Farm Talk Jerry Webb marbling on the meat he produces, and doesn’t like to slaughter animals weighing any less than 1300 pounds In fact, he prefers his bull to weigh 1700 pounds before they go for slaughter Schmitt’s been in the beef business since the early fifties, so he’s not a new farmer, but he is marketing his beef in a new way While most producers take what the market will give them on the hoof, Schmitt operates a totally integrated beef production system that includes 800 brood cows, 30,000 acres of grass, a small slaughtering facility, a consumer’s beef club where his meat is retailed, and a little red delivery van with a license plate that says “meatman.” Each week a few ranch hands slaughter eight to 12 beef animals in a federally inspected plant The car casses are hung for a couple of weeks, then are moved in a refrigerated trailer to the cutting shop where two full tune butchers process the meat into standard cuts All meat is individually wrapped and labeled with a tag that includes cooking instructions, and it’s all quick frozen. Then it’s ready for distribution through the cattlemen’s beef club-1200 consumer families who belong to this exclusive group. Any member can order at any tune, but he must order more than one cut- no “steaks only” or ders It has to be an assort ment and there’s a minimum of at least 60 pounds per order. Orders are then boxed and delivered directly to the consumer’s kitchen on a specified day of the month' Prices are established each September 1 based on Schmitt’s cost of production energy resource center* < 458-8011 po box 24 uwchland pa 19480 and Uil> re guaranteed for 12 months. After about a year and a half of operation the meatman figures his prices average about 30 percent below supermarket prices and he still makes a reasonable profit. Consumers must like the idea also because he has a waiting list for club mem bers There aren’t many far mers ready to go from pasture to kitchen table with their meat animals, but there may be some who could do that and there are plenty more who could find other ways to maximize there share of the consumer food dollar. Machine Work fw Farm Supplies Hardware 3Lul - * D S. MACHINE SHOP 3816 E NEWPORT RD., RDI GORDONVILLE, PA 17529 1 Mite East of Intercourse on Rt. 772 Write or Try and Call - 717-768-8569 (Outside Phone) • Victor or Meco Cutting Torches • Lincoln Welders • Hog l> Cattle Gates • Custom Built High Pressure Washers • Coal Fired Bucket-A-Day Stoves • New & Used Structural Pipe If a beef club with 1200 members can operate in Stanford, Montana, then the opportunities for innovative farm marketing must be limitless here m the ur banized east. No doubt within the next few years the number of farms will continued to dwindle and as the predic tion goes, 50,000 farmers will be producing three-fourths of our food supply by the turn of the century. But that doesn’t prevent innovative, resourceful, hardworking, risk-taking agricultural entrepreneurs from profitably producing part of that other one-fourth. SAVE $ ON BEDDING COST • Chop litter for cattle • Electric or 7 HP Gas • Simple to run & easy to handle • Use to bed your strawberries ★ CATTLE & HOG MINERALS ik CUSTOM CANVAS WORK MUON S. 6ROFF t SON FARM & DAIRY STORE RD3 Ephrata. PA 17522 (Hmkletown) Ph 717-354-4631 Store Hours 7AM to 9 P M Closed Tubs , Wed 4 Sat at 5 30 P M
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers