Al6—Uicaster Farming, Saturday, January 31,1981
Cattlemen get
LANCASTER Cat- about a three and a half
tlemen from Lancaster and week’s supply Coupled with
five surrounding counties this is the fact that the
turned out 160 strong for the federal government plans to
Lancaster Cattle Feeder’s export 2.6 billion bushels of
Day, held Tuesday at the com despite the shortage
Farm and Home Center potential
Specialists and experts in These factors will keep the
the field spoke to the group corn prices strong, Moore
about the economic forecast said A 7 7 billion bushel
of the cattle industry, latest harvest is needed in 1981 to
research, and best puh the corn supply out of
management practices for the hole And with water
profit-making operations shortages already on the
“The decade of the 1980’s horizon for 1981, Moore said,
is one of increasing un- “I’m not optimistic about
certainty for the meat in- this year’s gram crop ”
dustry,” stated Louis Moore, Cattle numbers are up
Penn State Extension only 3 percent nationwide, he
economist said And with the current
Some of the reasons population growth, the beef
behind this uncertainty, he supply will continue to be
listed, are the new power under demand. This will
base in Washington; the result m a rise m beef prices,
Russian gram embargo; the with the 1981 retail price
sharply lower US. gram forecast to reach $2.70 a
harvest, inflation; the high pound on the average,
cost of energy, with gasoline This high price in retail
prices predicted to hit $1.50 a beef, Moore explained, will
gallon this summer; and the load consumers to purchase
lower consumer buying cheaper meat, like pork and
power. chicken. “There’s nothing
“We’re living in a tune of we can do about that except
stagflation,” he explained, produce more beef,” he
“Our economy is stagnant stated,
and inflation continues to °‘The uncertainties in the
increase , cattle feeding business get
“In 1978, food prices rose
10 percent while the con
sumer’s disposable income
rose 12 percent. The forecast
for food prices m 1981 call for
a 12 to 15 percent increase,
with disposable income only
coming up to 9 percent.
“What this means is the
consumer is going to scream
about food prices; and as a
result of higher prices,
eating habits are going to
shift.”
Moore told the cattlemen
the outlook for cattle prices
in 1981 is for a stronger
market. However, he also
pointed out the cost of
producing beef will also be
on the rise.
Some of the factors behind informed the cattle feeders
his prediction included the statistics show feed costs
high price of corn. make up 60 to 70 percent of
After the 1980 harvest, the cost of raising beef He
which was down 19 percent, pointed out com is hard to
he said cattle feeders are top for total energy per acre
cautious about putting the as livestock feed,
high-priced gram through “Whole plant corn silage is
cattle. The corn carryover “king”, Harpster said. “If
for next year is only forecast y° u feed only the gram.
to be 544 million bushels you’re losing 50 percent of
16 HP., 3 PT. Hitch Front & Rear,
Hydraulic Lift Front & Rear - Many
Other Features Similar to The Big
Tractors at a Price You Can Afford!
PP ALLEN H. MATZ, INC.
505 E. Main St., New Holland
BQpni Ph; 717-354-2214
SERVING THE COMMUNITY
111 THIRTY-ONE YEARS
LANC. CO'S OLDEST FORD DEALER
greater every year,” Moore
conceded. One bright
glimmer from his “crystal
ball” was his futures
prediction that fed cattle
prices will be higher by next
fall, going from $67.50 next
month up to $69.00 in April,
then leveling off to around
$75 00 in August through
October
“With the high corn prices,
we’ll be seeing more cattle
coming off grass and
heading for the packers,”
Moore concluded “This will
eliminate those Yield Grade
4’s and s’s that the packers
don’t want anyway ”
Animal scientific Harold
Harpster, of Penn State,
At Lancaster Cattle Feeder’s Da
scoop on
the potential dry matter ”
Some disadvantages of
harvesting corn for silage,
Harpster pointed out, are
the limited resale potential
of silage, its short hfe when
removed from the silo; the
cost of handling the water in
the 35 percent dry matter
products; and the lower dry
matter intake than hay.
A plus for silage, however,
is the less risk of weather
damage to the corn, he said,
along with silage’s
maximum nutrient level and
its ideal ration-mixing
quality.
Harpster discussed the
latest research develop
ments in beef feeding He
cited studies on buffers,
recently claimed to increase
weight gams in cattle, which
do not confirm that the
“antacids” are significantly
effective in putting on
pounds He noted positive
results were found most
often in cattle fed a high
concentrate ration and on
Introducing
THE ALL NEW SHARON 2-CAR GARAGE building
• tXCtniOHAUY STRONG
• [AST TO [RKT
• VIRTUAUY MAINTENANCE FR EC
21' x 28' x 8' with (2) 9' x 7* Framed OH Openings
-26 Gauge White enameled . _
Steel Sheeting >OAOAOO
- All Bolted Steel Construction
CONTACT jack McMullen 7177611863
market, management
Harold Harpster
stressed calves mu, uu,.v.s
work best when fed early in
the fattening program
Concerning the growth
supplement, Rumensin,
Harpster commented,
“Rumensin is extremely
beneficial. Anyone feeding
cattle should be using it ”
Along with its effect on
decreasing the dry matter
intake and decreasing the
amount of food for each
pound of gram, recent
studies by the University of
Pennsylvania show Rumesm
also has a protein sparing
effect, lowering the protein
requirements of the animal
Harpster concluded by
bringing the cattlemen up
to-date on the benefits of
feeding distillers’
byproducts. He stated
distillers’ dried grains,
distillers’ solubles, and a
combination of the two all
have a 30 percent protein
value One problem in
feeding the byproducts is the
amount of water that would
GARAGE SALE
"s:
OR WRITE: SHARON METAL BUILDINGS
1500 STATE ST., CAMP HILL. PENNA. 17011
be handled and taken m by
the livestock, he cautioned.
K.C Williamson, VPI
Animal Science Marketing
Specialist, spoke to the
group about the university’s
attempts to develop an
electronic marketing system
for slaughter cows He noted
the USDA-supported venture
has not succeeded at the
present time due to technical
meins and market
reluctancy.
Wrapping up the day was a
panel discussion by feeders
and one packer about their
efforts in the industry
l^ancaster County’s David
Buckwalter, R 3 Lititz and J
Glenn Wissler, R 1 Ephrata,
spoke of their experiences in
raising beef market
animals Both stated their
intentions to feed more
roughage to their cattle than
in years past because of the
high cost of corn and the
consumers’ dislike for fat
‘ ‘Our modern-day fast food
chains demand lower quality
beef,” said Buckwalter, "so
I’ll feed roughage to produce
a lean carcass. I can’t feed
$4 corn to 65 cent steers It
takes 8 to 15 pounds of gram
to produce one pound of
beef”
Wissler agreed, stating.
“You can get more tonnage
of beef by feeding the whole
corn plant ”
Mike Silverberg, of Moyer
***o+
Packing, reinforced the
feeders’ sentiments on the
market place demanding
lean beef when he told the
group Moyer was
discounting yield grades 4
and 5 by 15 cents at the
market that day
‘The packer is looking for
leaner beef with less mar
bling,” he said He pointed
out the federal grading
standards .for beef are
calling for lower quality
beef, in the Good grade, to be
in the Choice bracket once
the proposed revisions are
adopted ‘ This should allow
less heavy cattle to grade,”
he said. ‘You cattle feeders
got rid of your gas-guzzhng
cars now get nd of your Y
-4’s.”
Silverberg also noted
packers are looking for
cattle weighing around 1000
pounds
“Those 1300 pounders are
too big Chain storey want
cattle no more than 1225
pounds and prefer them
around 1050 pounds ”
Silverberg, who em
phasized the packer is on the
side of the cattle feeder,
urged the group to learn how
to yield grade their cattle on
foot He concluded by asking
them to market fed cattle all
year round. “You market too
many cattle from May
through August ”
F. 0.8. Plant