CB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 7,1981 Can a small farming operation BERNVILLE Does it pay the small to medium-sized farmer to purchase a corn picker, or is it better to have someone come in and custom combine the corn? Most farmers who put the pencil to this question will conclude it does indeed pay to own their pickers, even when the cost ot owning one, cash flow, is con sidered. One Berks Countv farmer who attests to this cost analysis is Rodney Garrett of Bernville. Garrett farms 60 acres of shale farmground which lies next to a small stream called Plum Creek He grows 13 acres of sweet corn, 22 acres of wheat and 25 acres of field com on his land. This year, says Garett, rather than hiring a custom machine to harvest his corn, he will be using his own one-row New Idea corn picker. "I sat down and figured the cost of having my corn custom combmed versus buying my own com picker, and 1 was surprised,” he explains. What convinced Garrett that his small operation could afford a new piece of equipment? Scratch papers covered with lines and columns of figures analyzing costs and savings not only for one year, but for several. Garrett determined that if he went back to luring a custom machine to do the harvesting, it would cost him $20.50 an acre. At that price, it would cost him $512.50 to have the 25 acres of field corn picked. Then, in order to dry the corn down to the point where spoilage would not be a factor, Garrett figured it would cost 25 cents a bushel. Anticipating a yield of 3,000 bushels, drying costs would be an additional $750. Garrett also estimated his losses for selling the com directly out of the field as opposed to storing it on the farm at 15 cents a bushel, or $450. Altogether, the cost for custom picking tus corn came to $1,712.50, based on his calculations. And, figuring the custom machinery may not arrive at the optimum time to harvest tus corn, Garrett says he had to figure additional expenses for field losses. How much loss is difficult to determine, according to Garrett. For his calcualtions, he referred to field studies from various universities that demonstrated how late harvesting losses amount to 4-17 bushels per acre. “1 chose the low side of field losses so as not to kid myself on the economics of justifying my corn picker pur chase,” Garrett points out. Using the 4 bushel loss factor, Garrett determined he would be losing an additional $325 for the hazards of late harvest, bringing the total to $2,037.50 tor the 25 acres. Garrett admits that no har vesting unit can harvest 100 per cent of the corn in the field. However, he points out that the 4 bushel loss he used in his cost dilui) i>l«i cuilic ii uili Ji* curred during field shelling along with some downed corn due to late harvest When considering the alter native to custom hiring the purchase ot a corn picker Garrett found that a new machine cost about $5,000. Along with the picker, Garrett figured he’d need to buy a used wagon, a 25-foot elevator, and a shelter tor a cost ot $l,OOO. Storage space for 5,000 bushels of corn already was available in the form ot corn cribs, so no financial outlay was necessary tor that aspect. Anticipating that he could get the entire $O,OOO he needed tor the picker and other equipment from Production Credit Association at an average interest rate ot lb percent over 5 years, Garrett pushed hi*? non*’ ll determine the PHILADELPHIA - Dr. William J. Donawick, a veterinary surgeon who developed a system for storing the heart of an animal in another species during transplantation, has been named to the newly created Mark Whittier and Lila Griswold AHam Professorship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. The chair, which was created with a gift from Mrs. J. Maxwell Moran of Paoli, honors another distinguished veterinary surgeon and the Veterinary School’s for mer dean, Dr. Mark W. Allam, emeritus professor of surgery, and Mrs. Allam. Dr. Donawick, who first came to the University of Pennsyvlania is an instructor of veterinary medicine in 1964, trained at the University’s School of Veterinary Medicine and its School of Medicine in surgery and tran splantation biology. By 1970 he was developing techniques for storing an animal heart in another species, experiments which have im plications for human as well as animal transplantion. He discovered that the hearts of goats could survive in calves if the animals’ natural tendency to reject foreign tissues was sup pressed with drugs. By 1975 he had successfully transplanted goat hearts into calves for storage up to two weeks before returning them to other goats. Techniques that Dr. You’ll want to hear David K. Sauder, President, Trade Tech Management, Inc. and Lancaster Farming Columnist as the guest speaker at the Pennsylvania Farmer's Assn. Annual Meeting for their Marketing Conference. Here’s a quote; "If time lasts, we are now at the end of a 510 year cycle for Western Civilization. We have some very critical choices which must be made. It's either radical change or revolution and poverty. It will be one or the other. And it will come within the next 20 years." You as a farmer will have something to say about that." Hear the remainder of this speech next Monday at PFA Annual Meeting, Suites E-G, Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, PA. Time is 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. For more information about the convention or for additional printed quites from this speech, write to Trade Tech Management, Inc., 1020 Stony Battery Road, Lancaster, PA 17601. Or Phone: (717) 898- 0139. financing cost would be $1,832.4b per year, paid to PCA after each season’s* corn was sold. Since he’d be operating the corn picker hunselt, the cost of tuel would now be his expense rather than the custom operator’s, Garrett notes. To determine what his fuel expense would be, Garrett checked in with several of his neighbors and found that they claimed they could pick #-10 acres of corn per day when conditions were right. "1 figured it would take me 30 tractor hours to pick my corn and that figure was on the sate side,” recalls Garrett. He deter mined his 50 HP tractor would use about 75 gallons of fuel. Based on a price of $1.38 a gallon, fuel costs worked out to be $lO2. Figuring the cost of financing and operating the corn picker. Penn vet is first Dona wick pioneemed may one day be used to store human hearts in other primate species until a human patient is identified and prepared to receive it. Dr. Donawick has served as both chief of staff and chief of large animal surgery at New Bolton Center, the Veterinary School’s large animal facility at Kennett square where he was a member of the team that produced the first “test-tube” calf bom in June, 1981. Currently, Dr. Donawick is doing research on “colic” which is one of the most common, feared and deadly diseases in horses. Colic is usually caused by a blockage m the intestine which may be surgically removed providing the horse is in condition to have the surgery performed. Dr. Donawick and his colleagues are studying the effects of blockage of the intestine on the movements of water, sodium and potassium across an intestine that has been temporarily obstructed. Their hope is to develop a method for regulating the water balance between the body and the intestine, which in turn would give the horse a better chance for survival. Dr. Donawick received his B.S. from Cornell University and his D.V.M. from "New York State- Veterinary College at Cornell University in 1963. He is currently president-elect of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (a specialty college founded by Dr. TRADE TECH MANAGEMENT, INC. afford a corn picker? Garrett calculated the cost of m.iiiiig Ills ow i cquipuit-itl to be $1,035.46 toi the lu st year. Looking at what might happen to the cost of custom picking during the length of his 5 year loan, the Berks County farmer said he could foresee at least a 5 percent jump in price each year. At the end of 5 years, his investment m someone else’s tune and equipment would come to $11,258.51. For both the custom and owner calculations, the net costs were determined after tax savings, including the investment credit for the puchase of the harvesting equipment, Garrett stresses. His analysis showed that he would come out ahead of the game financially over 5 years if he opted for his own picker. Allowing for a $5O increase in the cost of tuel each year, plus a total ot *2OO m repairs * Allam ’ professor HEAR THE REMAINDER OF THIS SPEECH NEXT MONDAY AT PFA by David K. Sauder Allam) and a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Transplant Society. He lives with his wife, Bonnie, and their two children in West Chester, Pa. The chair to which Dr. Donawick has been named honors Dr. Mark W. Allam, who was dean of the Veterinary School from 1952 to 1973 and is widely credited with developing the school into one of the finest m the nation. “This chair permits me to ex press my long admiration tor the work ot Dr. Allam,” said Mrs. J. Maxwell Moran. “It is through his efforts that the Veterinary School has grown to us current prominence and New Bolton Center has become a reality. ’' Under Dr. Allam’s leadership, the University of Pennsylvania became the first veterinary echo''! move away from DON'T BE SLOW Call Now To Place Your CLASSIFIED AD Ph: 717-3*4-3047 or 717-424-1144 to the equipment over the period, the cost of owning his corn picker totalled $10,477.30. This gave Garrett slightly less than $l,OOO margin between custonung or owning a corn picker. But his mind was made up when he figured the resale value of the corn picker at the end ot 5 years would be $3,000 for a net difference ot $3,781.21 m favor of owning the harvesting equipment. What rights ot ownership will be granted to Garrett with the pur chase of a new corn picker ? . For one, he will have more control of when his corn will be harvested. And, he can sell the corn either on the cub or shelled. Above all, he can sell the corn when he chooses. Garrett says he calls it his market flexibility program.’ the old agricultural and vocational mode of education to become a branch of the medical sciences. He made the school into a center for comparative medicine and fostered the development of specialties in veterinary medicine parallelling human medicine. A distinguished veterinary surgeon. Dr. AUam was the first veterinarian to do graduate work in surgery in the School of Medicine. Also he pioneered in treating animal tumors with radiation and developed several diagnostic devices and surgical techniques. His many honors in clude the title Veterinarian of the Year by both the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association and the American Animal Hospital Association. Dr. AUam and his wife live in Media. CONTACT US For MANURE HANDLING EQUIPMENT Semi- and Liquid Spreaders - Ground Driven - Easy Running Priced Reasonably PIT ELEVATORS COMPACT ROTO BEATERS ALLIS CHALMERS AND WISCONSIN POWER UNITS PLATE SHEARING - BRAKE WORK SMUCKER WELDING & MANUFACTURING 2110 Rockvale Road Lane, PA 17602 PH-(717) 687-9198
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