Consider Alternatives In Future HERBERT C. JORDAN Associate Professor of Poultry Science Pennsylvania State University Poultry producers should keep in mind the following “owner’s goals” for the 19905: • Avoid fastest growth or fat tening rate. Strive for carcass composition, excellent part yield, quality and healthiest, most mark etable growth rate. Caveat: Fastest growth rate usually includes extreme or excess fat, waste tissue, and water unless you select breeders for trim offspring that still excel in weight gain. • Forget heaviest live weight; remember most marketable live or dressed pounds at a profitable age. Interview 100 poultry buyers in a supermarket and discover what constitutes useful or most salable or purchasable weight or quality. • Demphasize earliest market age; remember most productive market age. The young bird, with few exceptions, has less natural flavor, a higher bone to meat ratio, higher water content, and more waste in processing, which the consumer must pay for and few people like. • Do not use highest tonnage of live meat birds per pen; remember highest repeatable (net) income per pen. Caveat: Most tonnage of live weight per pen may mean more condemnation, downgrades, sick buds, cannibalism, mortality, and less uniformity and quality for repeat sales. Shoot for highest ton nage Grade A marketable meat per pen. This usually means we must give birds more space or room, even if it is vertical space or a platform to roost on. • Avoid highest number of birds started per pen; remember the highest number of marketable Grade A birds per pen sold, paid for and re-ordered at an agreeable price. Remember, any young bird before 5 weeks of age may need double or quadruple the floor space per pound of live weight bird than an adult needs. Most people say turkeys use floor space more effectively than other species. • Stop using highest acceptable mortality per pen; remember, a zero to low percent mortality which happens at the right time is less expensive and shows manager most about future bird health or carcass quality. “Never” allow many older, heavier birds to die, for it is quite costly and they are next to impossible to dispose of inexpensively and safely. Older meat birds which die heavier than flock average cost you big money. • Refuse excessive use of drugs, chemobiotics, and vac cines: remember, a hospital pen of sick birds treated naturally may tell you exactly what disease to treat, prevent, plan for, or avoid. Give a sick bird time in a hopsital pen to get well or die of a disease you can identify and manage. Many birds’ symptoms today are - confusing and show more than one disorder when you first see them, so give the manager time to discover the treatable disease. • Beware of lowest labor cost; remember, hired person cost that is paid for by improved bird per formance and marketability of all final products. A competent tech nical person is a high value item in the poultry industry; train them, educate them, chat with them, and keep them healthy, happy and working safely. • Do not use lowest housing cost; t remember, environmental cost paid for by a higher number of marketable birds at higher net income is due to high consumer acceptance. Fresh air with low air pollution is necessary for birds, along with adequate living space and a comfortable environment. Animal welfare people ask the question, “Do animals feel pain and do they suffer?” We can do our part by responding to animal behavior. • Beware of high interest rates. Borrow enough money at an acceptable rate of interest over a reasonable time to do the job bet ter for consumer acceptance and net cash flow, or borrow none at all. A responsible banker who cares and insists on disciplined borrowers is a real asset to the industry. • Avoid high energy costs in best use of electricity, fuel, insula tion, and adequate ventilation; remember to plan a return for each dollar invested in these factors. Energy wasted pollutes our envi ronment. Money spent on energy which is not used widely is a total waste! • Use none or few weed or bug killers; remember to mow weeds before they are seeding to convert them to mulch. Our soil needs organic matter. • "Forget the high cost of living and give up the cost of high living.” (A quote from egg pro ducer Carl Walters in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1966.) ROHRER'S CROP PROTECTANT PRODUCTS Agrox D-L Plu» 1.8 oz. Pk. $ 2.60 Benlate 50 DF 2 Lb. Bag *34.50 ....5 Lb. *13.75 ... 4 Lb. $ 27.00 .. 1 Gal. *76.50 .. 5 Gal. *27.50 .4 Lb. *31.80 .. 1 Gal. *25.95 3% Lb. *18.38 8 Oz. *9.90 3 Lb. *20.25 4 Lb. *7.80 4 Lb. *lB.OO Plyac Spraad/Stlckar ...1 Gal. *25.95 Ridomil 2E 1 Qt. *39.50 ...s Oz. *5.95 101 *11.50 AV-70 Plus Algaeclda Gal *18.50 Carbamate 76 5 Lb. *18.75 s Lb. *23.50 Isotox Seed Captan SOW.. Dacthal 75W.. Dlquat Dormant DM. Devrlnol SOW Frost Guard Guthlon 35W. Lannate Lorsban 50 Malathion 25W Marlate SOW Streptomycin. Unformer Imldan SOW i Lb. *7.95 ,4 Lb. *22.00 .... 3 Lb. *7.35 1 Lb. *10.95 ...i Lb. *9.95 Treater (F) Karmex DF Manzate Orthene 7SW. Orthene Tobacco Ortho Gro Starter 5 Gal. *34.75 1 Gal. $ 21.50 Pyrenone Crop Spray. Qt. *59.50 Roundup Qt. *43.50 1 Gal. *87.50 .5 Lb. *14.75 at. $ 9.95 1 Gal. *13.90 .1 Qt. *67.50 We carry many more produeta than listed. Sol (8-16-8) Pramitol Roundup. Sevln SOW Dlpel Weeder 64 Rublgan STORE HOURS 7:30 A.M. 5:00 P.M. Saturday 7:30 A.M. to 3 P.M. • Do not be concerned about the high cost of equipment: remember the cost of equipment per unit marketable output of equipment. Keep high value, safe equipment busy. If processing equipment is used daily, measure its output of high quality product. • Do not worry about high cost of an animal like a replacement pullet, meat chick, parent stock, or fertile egg; remember animal unit cost per unit of net income from a useful breed, strain, or variety. Select the animal carefully. • Be thankful for high feed price; remember feed cost per unit of marketable dozen eggs, pound of bird, ton of marketable manure, or byproduct sold. Caveat: Do not always blame the feed—it is your greatest effective value so allow your feed man time to help you. Other than selecting a better bird or flock supervisor, selecting a better feed quality is more important. • Analyze high processing cost; install more effective processing methods, procedures, and time THE COMPLETE SEED STORE Farm--Garden--Flower--Lawn Grass Seeds EC 1 lb box 31b box 1 lb. box 3 lb. box ATHLETIC LAWN GRASS SEED 1 lb box *2.25 25 lb. bag *32.50 3 lb. box *6.25 50 lb. bag *63.00 SHADY LAWN GRASS MIXTURE Best For Shaded Areas ILb Box . *2.95 10 Lb Bag . . *21.50 3Lb Box. . ~*7.95 25 Lb Bag *48.25 Highland Pasture Mixture soib. ». 9 5 90.00 Waterway Grass Seed Mixture so ib. d. b $ 62.50 Horse Pasture Mixture so ib. b*g $ 98.50 P. L. ROHRER & BRO.. INC. Smoketown, PA savers that allow consumer accep tance and re-purchase at high net income. Use processing equip ment and product that does not pollute the feed, food, soil, air or water. Flies, odor, crop toxicity, or aesthetic pollution are the most frequent complaints from neighbors. • Study high marketing cost; remember net income from long term logistical support of market ing by an effective method. Study your marketing system one hour each day and improve it. Take our correspondence courses on turk eys, poultry, or rabbits. (Corres pondence courses may be pur chased form The Pennsylvania State University, Box 3207, 128 Mitchell Building, University Park, PA. 16802; CC 106, Produc tion of Market Turkeys, $14.95; CC 92, Poultry Keeping, $17.00; and CC 109, Rabbit Production, $11.75. Be sure to specify the course title and number on your request. Checks should be made payable to The Pennsylvania State University.) ROHRERS FANCY LAWN GRASS FOR A GREENER, FINER LAWN g.rr. 25 lb. bag $ 7.95 50 lb. bag $ 94.50 ROHRER’S GOOD TURF LAWN GRASS SEED GOOD GENERAL PURPOSE MIXTURE 1 LB. COVERS 250 SQ. FT. *2.60 25 lb. bag *40.50 *6.95 50 Ib. bag *79.00 CROWNVETCH y a Lb, .. $ 14.00 Per Lb. 10 Lb. Or More $13.50 Per Lb. Innoculation Included 1 To 9 Lb.. $ 8.95 PH. 717-299-2571
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers