Center Releases Boar Sale Results
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture’s Meat Animal
Evaluation Center wishes to
announce the results from the 17th
Performance Tested Boar Sale.
Charles and Mark Hall con
signed the top indexing pen of
boars. The top boar in this pen of
Yorks sold to James Mathis and
Jeanne Beyer of Julian, for $525.
The second highest indexing
pen of boars bred by Neutzel
Yorkshires sold next and started
off with the highest individual
indexing boar. Charles Hall, Rat
tlesnake Mountain Farms, was the
successful bidder at $1,175, the
top pice of the day. The second
boar in this pen then sold to Hill
side Acres of Lenhartsville, for
$9OO. The 13 Yorkshire boars
averaged $560.
Baum Family Landrace had
consigned the only entries in this
breed, but the entrees were a good
representation for their breed and
they were in demand. The highest
selling Landrace, out of this pen,
sold to Roy Jamison of Chambers
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Quality equipment from
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3-Spindle, 48”,
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48” Through 120”
48” Through 120”
48” Through 96”
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burg, for $1,000: Kenneth Jones of
Danville, bought the second boar
out of this pen for $9OO. The four
Landrace boars averaged $656.
Penn State University had the
top indexing pen of Durocs. The
top indexing and top selling Duroc
boar came from this pen. This
boar was purchased by Hillside
Acres for $5OO. The three Duroc
boars told averaged $467.
The four Hampshire boars aver
aged $4Bl. Carl Rabenold and
Franklin Feeser each sold a
Hampshire boar for $5OO. These
boars sold to Hillside Acres and
Brian Hege of Fayetteville,
respectively.
The 24 performance .tested
boars sold averaged $551.
The center is accepting pens of
progeny pigs for our fall-winter
testing program. The next boar
testing program will begin in
March 1994. The next perfor
mance tested boar sale is sche
duled for Wednesday evening,
August 17, 1994,
For more information on Pen; ,
42” Through 96”
PULVERIZERS
48” Through 84”
5555,
OVER SEEDERS &
PRIMARY SEEDERS
34” Through 76"
*tftk»A4LßO
nsylvania’s performance testing
programs, contact Glenn Eberly,
director of the Meat Animal Eva-
(Continued from Poo* business, you must have a certain
‘Besides, who can continue to level of volume. With declining
operate with 1993-level operating numbers of family fanners, there
expenses on a 1980-level income? is just less dollar value available,”
Some 70 percent of our farmers he laments of the trend.
now depend on some or almost all
of their living to come from off
farm jobs,” Flaharty continues. “It
doesn’t paint a very good picture
down the road.”
William Sprenkle. Jr., at the
York offices of Abbottstown
based Hoke Mills, Inc., like Fla
harty, has watched numerous
county feed firms close over the
years.
“Feed companies operate on a
very low profit martin; to stay in
MONDAY
FRIDAY
7:30-540
SATURDAY
7:30-1240
Last York County
tN '
rnC^
Built for big capacity delivery and heavy duty operation. One-fast
roll operation gives more capacity with less horsepower, provides
self-cleaning action with wettest material. Also available with blower
discharge on direct drive from roll shaft
luation Center, 651 Fox Hollow
Road, State College, PA 16803,
(814) 238-2527.
“Equipment advertising is so
widespread now that Lancaster is
getting York’s business,” flatly
insists Jim Waltemyer, owner of
Waltemyer’s Sales and Service,
Red Lion, the sole remaining full
service John Deere dealership in
York County. Like other agri
business firms, Waltemyer verbal
ly ticks off a list of York County
equipment dealers that have
closed their doors in the last two
decades, easily a dozen he figures.
MORE CAPACITY
MODEL ATG-A
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 16, 1993-A37
“Those that are still here are
likely to stay - but you’re not
going to see any new ones starting
up,” Waltemyer is certain. While
fewer full time farmers have
impacted sales of equipment over
the years, “weekend" farmers con
tinue to be an increasing factor for
dealers who, like Waltemyer,
serve the lawn and garden
business.
“If the government wants to
jump-start the economy,” suggests
Waltemyer, “they should put
another dollar on com, beans,
milk. If farmers get more money,
it bumps right up through the rest
of the economy. Three-quarters of
our sales in recent years is for
equipment that farmers absolutely
must have and simply can’t put off
buying any more.
“If fanners got a little more
return for what they produce, we
couldn’t get enough equipment to
supply die demand to replace
what’s wearing out.”
Both federal and state
ag census data on file at
the York County Exten
sion Office depict in
numbers the continuing
loss of farms and farm
land in the county.
The 1982 Ag Census
notes 282 dairy farms in
York County, averaging
S 2 head per herd, and a
total of 14.748 dairy
cows. Pennsylvania Ag
Statistics data for 1991.
by comparison, counts
215 dairy farms of an
average 67 head totall
ing 14,300.
Inventory of beef
cattle and calves in 1992
was at 51.000, down
from the 1982 count of
53,400. Hog numbers
were up, with an esti
mated 101,700 head
marketed in 1982 to a
1987 estimate of
135,000.
Cropland planted in
major grain and forage
crops in York County
dropped from 204,000
acres in 1980 to 182,000
acres in 1990, according
to John Rowehl, York
Extension agronomist.
“The only crop that
has shown an increase
has been soybeans,”
adds Rowehl. noting
that bean acrage in York
County increased from
18.000 acres in 1985 to
a current estimated
32.000 acres. Com grain
acrage decreased from
93.000 acres in 1980 to
65.000 acres in 1990,
while wheat also
dropped from 30,000
acres in the early 1980 s
to the low 20,000-acre
level a decade later.
“Feed crop acres tend
to run with the dairy and
livesrtock industry; the
rest appears to be in a
steady decline, except
for the increase in
beans,” the agronomist
notes. Reflecting that,
alfalfa acreage has
remained relatively
level in the last ten
years, about IS.SOO
acres, while acres in
other types of hay
dropped from 31,000
acres to 24,500 acres.
Com silage, in’ Row
il’s estimate, fluctu-
jtes considerably with
drought yean,* ranging
frorii 10,000 to 15,000
"res.