Sorghum offers
(Continued from Page E 6)
virtually the same program
provisions as corn. The supports
for sorghum have been set using a
relationship to those for com,
usually a cost of production index
or the 95-percent feed-value
relationship.
Today’s Problems. “Production
in 1984 exceeded 800 million
bushels, not too far below the
record of 923 million set in 1973,”
Collins says, citing December
USDA estimates. That, plus the 250
million bushels of stocks carried
into the season, equal an overall
1984/85 supply of almost 1.1 billion
bushels. This season, domestic use
and exports are forecast to take
only about 710 million bushels.
Translated into leftover stocks,
this means there will very likely be
about 350 million bushels carried
over into next season.
Except for 1982, when ending
stocks equaled 400 million bushels,
such large stocks have not oc
curred since 1964’s 566-milhon
bushel carryover.
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“Today’s problem is magnified
because, while U.S. areage and
production are up, so are
production costs, and domestic and
export demand have leveled off,”
Collins says. Current forecasts
indicate that 1984/85 season
average farm prices may be down
20-35 cents a bushel from prices in
1983/84.
These factors will probably
result in considerable financial
stress for some sorghum
producers who have struggled with
increasing production costs since
1978. And there’s always the issue
of government costs which were
$989 million in fiscal 1982 and $Bl4
million in 1983. Costs were only $75
million (estimated) in 1984, but
fiscal 1985 will probably be another
year of large government ex
penditures on sorghum price
supports unless, of course, demand
somehow increases.
“Demand may increase some
this year,” Collins says, “but
certainly not enough to take care of
the supply that will be available.”
Domestic demand has been flat
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for several years because the
competition among feed grains has
been more intense. Recent wheat
surpluses have left pnces
on a feed-value basis-about equal
to prices for sorghum and corn.
Consequently, wheat has become a
strong competitor with sorghum in
cattle feeding, especially in the
Plains where wheat is plentiful.
Exports are the industry’s hope,
but Collins expects only slight
increases. Promising signs of
global income growth and rising
meat consumption are matched
against credit and debt problems
in less developed nations.
Questions also remain about the
competitiveness of U.S. pnces
partly determined by the U.S.
sorghum loan rate and the foreign
exchange value of the dollar.
What’s next for sorghum? “Like
every agricultural commodity,
sorghum will be scrutinized during
the upcoming debate on the new
farm bill,’’ Collins says. Un
doubtedly, the large government
expenditures on the sorghum
program will get some attention.
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If you grow corn, you are
aware of how devastating an
insect infestation can be. Com
borers, rootworms, armyworms
and more. They all eat into your
profits while they get fat on
your valuable com crop.
Furadan® insecticide is la
belled for a broad spectrum of
corn insects. It is the proven
choice at planting time because
it controls most of the soil in
sects that infest com crops. And
it reduces populations of first
generation com borers.
So Furadan will give you a
good return on your investment
because it protects your corn
crop, and increases your yield.
FMC Corporation, Agricultural Chemical Group, 2000
Market Street, Philadelphia. PA 19103 Furadan and fMC
are registered trademarks of FMC
Corporation Read and follow label
directions e 1985 FMC Corporation B ■ m 881
FURADAN. IT GETS THE
BUGS OUT OF CORN FARMING.
Furadan
Ag schools note sharp
drop in enrollments
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - When
Don Hegwood says the real farm
crisis is academic, he’s not just
using a figure of speech.
Hegwood, dean of the College of
Agriculture at the University of
Maryland College Park, says that
current agricultural problems are
creating a decline in collegiate
enrollments in agricultural
colleges nationwide, with some
colleges suffering shortfalls of 50
per cent or more. This decline
poses grave problems for the
future of agri-business, warns
Hegwood.
“This year, almost 8,000
agriculture jobs will go unfilled or
will be filled with people who need
additional specialized training,"
says Hegwood, “and the 51,000 jobs
that will be filled won’t necessarily
be filled with the college-educated
students that the industry
demands.”
r:'
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 20,1985-E7
What Hegwood sees as the most
important indicators of the trend
away from agriculture education
are freshman enrollments in
agriculture, down over 10 per cent
in the last year, with serious im
plications for the graduating
student market four years hence.
To make matters worse, the
colleges of agriculture themselves
and research institutions such as
the U.S. Department of
Agriculture face the prospect of
losing 35 per cent of their
educators and scientists to
retirement within the next decade,
with no new crop of young
professionals to take their places.
To put it bluntly, says Hegwood,
farming and food sciences may be
academically bankrupt in the near
future.
Job openings in farm production
and farm management require
only 6,100 of the 59,000 graduates
needed annually, according to
Hegwood. An almost equal
number, 6,000, are required for
farm administration and finance.
The two largest employment needs
are for 15,163 graduates each year
to sell and service agricultural
products and programs and for
21,125 professionals and scientists.
It’s here that the greatest shortfall
is expected to occur.
Several factors may be
responsible for the decline,
suggests Hegwood. One prime
target; media portrayals of agri
business as ah unprofitable relic of
a bygone era in the case of small
farms, or as commercial
conglomerates that ride roughshod
over the natural environment and
smaller farmers alike in the case
of large agriculture firms.
“These negative media por
trayals of family farming and agri
business are at least partly
responsible for the current decline
in agricultural enrollments,” says
Hegwood. "To paraphrase the old
son, ‘How do you keep them down
on the farm after they’ve seen the
morning paper?”
Also at fault are outdated
agricultural curricula, obsolete
teaching facilities caused by
financial neglect, and excessive
delays in incorporating new
knowledge gained through
research into the curriculum, the
University dean says.
“Research and scientific ex
pertise are the underpinnings of
American agriculture,” says
Hegwood, “and that expertise
evolves from our undergraduate
curriculum.”
“It’s encouraging to know that
several states have made major
commitments of resources to
support agricultural education,”
notes Hegwood, “but ag colleges
did not arrive at this situation
alone and most certainly won’t be
able to extricate themselves and
upgrade their curricula without
assistance from both state and
federal governments.”
“Our failure to recognize up
coming shortages of food science
and agricultural science expertise
will surely weaken the future of
U.S. agriculture, a decline that
begins in the undergraduate
classroom of today,” Hegwood
says.
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