Farm
(Continued from Page D 2)
is a major dealer in grain futures
through another subsidiary.)
Some observers think the
competition in the beef business is
good that the big four are
struggling with each other and that
farmers benefit because of
premium prices offered to lure
new customers.
But in the long run, only a few
big companies will survive while
hundreds of small packers go out
of business. And when that hap
pens, those few survivors will be in
a position to decide what they pay
for beef on the hoof and what
consumers will pay for the finished
product.
Farmers m the Corn Belt are
already feeling the impact of the
big processors. For example, lowa
Beef Processors buys up to 25
percent of the fed cattle in the Corn
Belt. And in large multi-county
areas surrounding its major
plants, it may buy as much as 80
percent of the fed cattle.
That means cattle producer have
few alternatives. It’s a long way
between markets and with the
growing cost of transportation
cattle feeders are almost captives
of the big processors.
Government sources say it’s
already difficult to find any
competition for the very large
boxed beef plants. They offer
virtually the only market for cattle
producers 100 mile radius of these
plants.
A few years back when there
were many small packers, a cattle
producer had a choice of where to
ship. The producer could check
around for the best price within
GET THE VERSATILITY
4 DIFFERENT SETTINGS
1. Automatic Fan Only: fan only runs when the natural
air will dry grain.
2. Manuel-Fan Only: Fan runs ail the time by passing
automatic controls.
3. Automatic-Fan & Heater: fan runs continuous. Heat
er is normally off, but will add only 7% of heat when
natural air will not dry grain.
4. Manual-Fan & Heater: fan runs continuous. Heater is
operated by the thermostat located underneath the
floor of the bin.
SECONDARY SALE ON GRAIN
BINS. FLOORS, FANS &
HEATERS
In Warranty - Slight
Imperfections, Limited Quantity
Talk
easy travel distance and maybe
have three or four bids. But now
it’s either sell to one of the biggies
or travel great distance at high
cost. And that eats mto profit.
The Packers and Stockyards
Administration, an agency of the
Department of Agriculture, has
tested the monopolistic trend m the
beef business but hasn’t gotten too
far. An injunction request filed
against lowa Beef Processors in
1977 was turned down by a federal
judge. A government source says
that was / because of a poorly
prepared case and an un
willingness of local cattle
producers to testify.
If the meat business continues to
evolve, you can bet there will be no
more than two or three big firms
that will control it all by the end of
this decade. If that meant two or
three companies competing
against each other in any given
market it might be all right, but
that isn’t the way it works.
Chances are pretty good that
those big companies would carve
up tiie territory and that would
mean one bid, one price to the
farmer for beef and pork, and it
could also mean that consumers
would have fewer brand choices
and the potential for prices even
higher than they would need to be.
It seems to me it’s time for the
Packers and Stockyards Ad
ministration to take another hard
look at the meat business. No doubt
there are unbearable pressures
being applied to let things follow
their present course. But that
course sounds like a meat
monopoly and I don’t think con
sumers or farmers would benefit
romthat. _
MARTIN DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
Rl, Lebanon, PA 17042
Phone 717-866-4906
or 717-866-4555
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Com
mercial apple growers should pay
heed to the hard lessons being
learned by the U.S. automobile in
dustry concerning efficiency and
compactness, says Arthur H.
Thompson, professor of hor
ticulture at the University of
Maryland and a research coor
dinator for the Maryland
Agricultural Experiment Station.
Thompson is a nationally known
teacher and research worker m
tree fruit management. He-recenP
ly delivered first Batjer
Memorial Lecture at the annual
meeting of the Washington State
Horticultural Association in
Yakima, Wash.
The Maryland, horticulturist
noted both the orchards and fruit
trees of tomorrow will be more
compact than those of today. The
trees themselves will be free
standing, i.e. they will not be
supported by trellises or posts a
trend which seemed promising in
the 1970’.
Apple trees in commercial or
chards of the future will vary in
shape and configuration, depen
ding on market and growing
conditions, Thompson predicts.
“Phyto-engineering” will enable
agricultural scientists to develop
fruit trees with the proper shape
for easy machine harvesting.
Thus, little or no hand pruning will
be required. This feat is possible
YOU NEED FOR AIR
MARTIN
LOW
TEMP
CONTROL
“•s.
◄ LOW TEMP CONTROL
PLENUM THERMOSTAT
WITH PRESSURE
GAUGE►
ADVANTAGES OF USING THE MARTIN
LOW TEMP SYSTEM
1. Dry the way you want with just the flip of a switch.
2. Electric is not wasted by running the fan when the
natural air is not drying grain.
3. Cost of LP gas heat is 3 times cheaper than electric
heaters or electric drying bulbs.
4. At any time more heat can be applied by the turn of
a valve to remove excessive moisture which is giving
a problem.
5. Static pressure gauge reveals volume & air going
through the grain.
‘ Big ’ changes ahead
for apple growers
because of two recent develop
ments in plant research, Thomp
son explains.
One development involves
creating genetic mutations by
bombarding detached shoot
growth with gamma radiation.
Buds so treated are then grafted to
rootstocks, and grown to suitable
size for evaluation of horticultural
characteristics such as com
pactness of growth habit and
fruiting ability.
Coupled with the “induced
mutants” process is the recent
development of mass-propagation
of plants by tissue culture. This
process offers potential for asexual
production of millions of plants
from a single parent.
' The advantage of tissue culture
is that it could enable nursery
growers to propagate, for
example, a compact mutant of the
HARRISBURG Placements of
broiler chicks in the Com
monwealth during the week ending
May 2 were 2,473,000, according to
the Pennsylvania Crop Reporting
Service.
The placements were seveni
percent above the corresponding
week a year earlier and one per
cent above the previous week.
Average placements during the
past nine weeks were two percent
DRYINRWIIH A:
WAREHOUSE SALE
Prices Limited to Items In Stock
New Mix Mill Soybean ___
And Corn Roaster *3,900
New 40 ft Elevator *1,500
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 16,1981—03
Broiler placements up
{Name
| Address
I City
j State
Delicious apple on its own roots,
Thompson explains. Thus, the
high-labor tasks of grafting and
budding would be eliminated.
Along with the increased use of
mechanical harvesting, com
mercial apple orchardists in the
United States might thus be in a
better position to meet the ever
increasing need for production
efficiency in a highly competitive
world market.
A good-sized share of this
economic squeeze is being forced
on U.S. commercial apple growers
by political and social decisions at
the federal and state government
levels which make it continually
more difficult to obtain an
adequate supply of harvest
laborers at reasonable cost, the
Maryland research worker
declared.
above a year ago.
Placements in the 21 key poultry
producing states were 85,791,000,
slightly above the previous week
and four percent -above the same
week a year ago.
Broiler-fryers slaughtered in
Pennsylvania under federal in
spection during the week ending
April 22 totaled 1,460,000 with an
average liveweight of 3.88 pounds.
FREE
INFORMATION
PLEASE SEND
INFORMATION t PRICES
ON THE FOLLOWING
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