Dl4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 10,1983
Tbe
- Oairy
* ‘ Business
Newton Bair
I’ve promised to report on some
first hand observations of French.
Swiss, German and Netherlands
agriculture. My wife and I were
hosts to a group of Lebanon
Countians who spent 12 days
touring central Europe, during
which we visited farms and saw
much of the agricultural coun
tryside. I’ll cover them one at a
time.
FRENCH AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is the major in
dustry of France. Since France is a
member of the European
Economic Community (EEC),
production and pricing of farm
products is closely controlled by
the Government. Strange as it may
seem to us, France is considered to
be the breadbasket of Western
Europe.
Travelling through northern
France, on the way from Brussels,
Belgium to Paris, the farmland
closely resembles our flat or gently
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To help you plan your building and write your own specifications,
a professional Snavely field representative is ready and willing to
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area farmers. Snavely’s factory fabricated panels, walls, trusses,
etc. not only make erection easier and faster but also save you
considerable money. For a no-charge, no-obligation consultation
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I am interested in
I plan on building about
Name
Address
City
State
Phone Number /
rolling land in southern Penn
sylvania. The soil is derived from
limestone, well drained and very
fertile. There is not much evidence
of rock outcrop, and it looks to be
fairly easy to farm. The big dif
ference is the design of the farm
buildings and farmstead layout.
Many of the larger farms, over 50
hectares (a hectare is equal to
2.471 acres) have a set of farm
buildings right on the farm.
Older homesteads still have the
main barn and the living quarters
all in one unit under a single roof,
but many newer buildings, built
since the war to replace those
plundered or destroyed, are built
separately. Most of the smaller
fanners are congregated in small
villages, where the house and bam
is a single unit bousing the family
as well as the animals.
At the end of July, the French
fanners were just beginning to
harvest wheat. They were ex-
PLACE
(Type of building)
.County
Zip
porting a good crop, and this was
quite evident from the very heavy
straw and large heads we saw on
the wheat. They average nearly 85
bushels per acre, with yields as
high as 90 bushels. How can they
get these high yields?
They are using fungicides for
disease control, hormone treat*
'ments to keep the straw short, and
heavy Nitrogen fertilization for
high yields. Every field has per
manent tracks that have been
made by the spraying and fer
tilizer equipment. The fields are
free of weeds and we seldom saw
any lodged grain. The extra cost of
achieving maximum yields is
borne by the French government
Why can’t we get yields of wheat
as high as European farmers? The
answer is, we can. With the use of
fungicides like Bayleton, and
growth regulators, we can fertilize
more heavily with Nitrogen
without fear of lodging. The new
materials will be approved for
general use after they are
thoroughly researched and ap
proved in the U.S. A.
(Date)
Most of the cattle we saw in
France were dual purpose breeds.
The Pie Rouge (mixed red) breed
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is quite evident. This breed is
derived from the Swiss heavy
cattle originally bred in the Simme
Valley. Similar offshoots of these
cows are all over Europe, and go
by different names in other
countries. A well known relative is
the Fleckvieh in Austria and
Germany. There has been a lot of
mixing and selection for the kinds
of cattle most suited to the local
and national purposes.
An occasional herd cf Holsteins
can be seen. Many of the herds are
using American and Canadian
bulls and semen to increase milk
production. We saw herds that
radically changed both production
and type in Just one generation by
using imported semen from
American bulls. French farmers
are not too conscious of color. A
casual glance at their cows will
often fool you. Many Holsteins are
red, and since the other dual
purpose breeds are also red, you
have to look a little closer to see the
difference between dairy breeds
and the dual purpose beef and
dairy breeds. Many of their dairy
cows are more ‘beefy’ than we like
to see our cows.
French farmers appreciate high
test in their dairy cows. For this
reason, they are turning to the
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DON’T DRINK WATER
Our travels took us through the
eastern part of France unknown as
Burgundy. Beside the heavy
historical aura of this region, it is
best known for it’s vineyards. They
don’t refer to the crop as grapes.
The common term is to grow Wine.
Burgundy is famous for its wine,
and I must admit that a traveller in
France had better do as the French
do-drink wine instead of water,
you’ll stay healthier!
We Americans are accustomed
to drinking lots of cold, fresh
water. But in France as well as
other European countries, water is
for irrigation, sailing, canal travel,
and occasionally for taking a bath!
But its too dangerous to use for
drinking! You practically have to
beg for a drink of ice water, no
matter how thirsty you are. Of
course you can find Coke and other
expensive beverages, including
bottled mineral water, but they
really push the wine. At least it's
pure, and seems to be less likely to
upset the travellers digestive
system. So. in Burgundy do as the
Burgundians do, drink Burgundy!
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