POSTWAR READJUSTMENTS IN AGRICULTURE 



29 



1S41 



194£. 



T94-3 



1044 



194-5 



Chart 4. Wartime Trend in the Number of Chickens on Massachusetts Farms and Eggs 



Produced, 1941-45. 

 Source: BAE. 



The extent to which Massachusetts producers will be able to retain these gains 

 will depend on their continued effort to improve the production s>stem and to 

 adopt the best methods advanced by modern science. Undoubtedly some de- 

 cline in production will come about through the removal of a number of small 

 flocks which came into existence through wartime exigencies. The great major- 

 ity of Massachusetts commercial poultry producers have maintained their 

 competitive position in the market through better knowledge of handling their 

 enterprises, learned by long experience, and the adoption of the most advanced 

 methods. In the postwar period these ad\-antages will have to be pursued to 

 an even greater extent than in the preceding period, since competition is likely 

 to be keener, because of the expanded poultry production throughout the countr\'. 



As it stands now producers in Massachusetts have adopted on a considerable 

 scale sanitation and health methods which hold mortality of birds at a compara- 

 tively low level. Efforts along these lines will have to be further intensified to 

 prevent poultry diseases prevalent in some other sections of the country from 

 gaining a foothold in this State. Likewise, breeding and feeding methods have 

 been constantly improved, so that productivity per bird ranks among the highest 

 in the country. Nevertheless, these efforts should be further strengthened if 

 the competitive position is to be maintained. 



Specialization in producing chicks and hatching eggs is likely to remain most 

 productive and there is even a possibility of some further gains. For this, con- 

 tinued emphasis should be placed on the strains of dual-purpose varieties. 



It should be constantly kept in mind that the poultry industry in Massachu- 

 setts is maintained on purchased feed, and it is always cheaper to bring in the 

 finished product in the form of eggs or meat rather than the grain to produce it. 

 Massachusetts poultrymen, therefore must produce a superior product at a cost 

 which should not be at too great a differential from other producing areas. 

 While land resources are of less importance in poultry production, the improve- 

 ment of farm lands as presented earlier in the discussion would be of benefit also 

 to this t\pe of farming. 



