13. Making available to farmers suitable land now idle (or that may 

 become idle) should assist in maintaining a supply of farm products in New 

 England at a lower cost than may otherwise be the case. 



14. Many individual farmers, especially those on small farms and young 

 men short of the capital to start farming, have opportunities to gain through 

 the use of some idle land. 



15. Many individual owners of idle farm property have opportunities 

 to obtain current income, reduce ownership costs, or improve the sale value 

 of their property by making it available for suitable farm use. 



Recommendations: 1. Individual farmers, particularly established 

 operators of small farms and those seeking to get a start with limited capi- 

 tal, or seeking to help sons get started, should study the possibilities in the 

 active, moderately intensive use of rented land. 



2. Individual owners of idle or semi-idle land should study the possi- 

 bilities for increasing current income, decreasing current expenses, or main- 

 taining the value of their investments through having their farm land more 

 actively used. 



3. Idle and semi-idle places need to be listed, their farm resources in 

 land, buildings, etc., indicated, the owners' willingness to sell or rent deter- 

 mined, and the list made available to interested farmers. The information 

 might be compiled in each town by the selectmen and made available through 

 the County Agent's office. A similar list of interested farmers might be made 

 available to interested nonfarmer owners. 



4. Agricultural agencies, especially the Agricultural Extension Service, 

 should publicize the opportunities in renting, the essentials of good renting, 

 and aid in working out agreements in individual situations. Nonfarmer 

 owners and would-be renters should feel free to seek the aid of these agencies, 

 usually beginning at the office of the County Agricultural Agent. 



5. Interested local agencies, such as town planning groups, might 

 participate in listing idle land suitable for agriculture, interesting owners in 

 making it available to farmers, informing farmers of its availability, and. 

 possibly with the aid of agricultural specialists, working out suitable rental 

 or sale agreements. 



W. K. BURKETT 



The Economics of Dairy Herd Replacements. 



The current embargo on shipments of cattle from Canada into the United 

 States calls attention to a problem of long standing in New England: How 

 best to obtain the many replacements needed each year in the dairy herds 

 of the area. New England has been supplying only 79 percent of its own re- 

 placement cattle during the past ten years. Southern New England has been 

 particularly dependent on imports of dairy cows. Net inshipments during 

 the past 10 years have accounted for 45 percent of the total replacements. 

 Northern New England, however, has been practically self-sufficient and dur- 

 ing 1951 had a net outshipment of 7,143 head. 



New Hampshire has been raising enough replacements to satisfy its 

 needs and to provide some surplus cattle for shipment to other states, par- 

 ticularly to those in Southern New England. The embargo on Canadian cat- 

 tle has eliminated about 25,000 head of cattle normally shipped into Southern 



