*■*• 



{ THE OUnOOk: 

 HOGS SAME NUMBER 

 BUT FEWER CATTLE 



THE old-timers in the hog producing 

 and feeding business are going to 

 produce just about as much pork in 1944 

 as they did in 1943. 



That's the way C. H. Jackson, well- 

 known Mercer county livestock man, sees 

 the picture for the coming year. 



Jackson markets about 800 to 1000 

 hogs a year and he expects to carry on 

 his plans about the same way this year. 

 However, he has cut down his cattle 

 feeding operations. 



In mid-March Jackson had 102 heifers 

 in his feed lot as compared with 500 'he 

 would normally be feeding. He also has 

 about 78 head of steers which he brought 

 in during the last of February to clean 

 up silage that won't be used up by the 

 heifers. 



The 102 heifers are those left from 207 

 he bought last October through the Chi- 

 cago Producers at $11.25 per hundred- 

 weight. They weighed around 700 

 pounds when he got them, and he 

 marketed 105 of them during the first 

 of March for $14.25 at an average 

 weight of 938 pounds. He doesn't 

 know how he will come out on this op- 

 eration until he markets the remainder 

 of the lot. 



Jackson pointed out the only reason 

 he is in the cattle business this year is 

 to use up the roughage on his acreage. 



C. H. laclcson. prominent Mercer county 

 livestock ieeder, is keeping his pork pro- 

 duction plans about the some as 1943 and 



He plans to get about 250 500-pound 

 steers June 1 and will grass part of them. 



Before the present market situation de- 

 veloped Jackson used to feed calves, but 

 under current margins he has turned to 

 yearlings. He is still buying a good 

 grade of feeders, however, as he believes 

 that they make the most economical 

 gains. 



On his hog operations, Jackson hasn't 

 altered his plans much from other years. 

 He had 22 sows farrowing from Jan. 

 3 to 5 with 195 pigs, and 11 sows far- 

 rowing during the first of March with 

 104. There were 23 sows still to far- 

 row in March and 95 sows are to far- 

 row in June. 



Jackson figures on having most of his 

 pigs ready for market in six to eight 

 months. Pigs farrowed last June went 

 to market seven months later at average 

 weights of 270 to 285 pounds. He usually 

 has his pigs feeding in from three to 

 four weeks, starting them in on hulled 

 oats. He is using oats sparingly now, 

 however, because they are too expensive 

 a feed even for a pig starter. 



reducing his cattle operations this year. 

 Here ore some of his 95 sows that will 

 i arrow in June. 



At the present time Jackson is operat- 

 ing about 600 acres in Mercer county, 

 having started out with 160 acres before 

 the first world war. Through his live- 

 stock operations and the application of 

 limestone and fertilizer he has built his 

 corn yield up to more than 100 bushels 

 per acre. Last year he had 180 acres in 

 corn and 75 acres of Boone oats. Some 

 of his land should go into oats this year, 

 but with the demand for more corn, he 

 probably will not increase his oats 

 acreage this year. All of last year's oats 

 crop was sold for seed. His rotation is 

 two years corn, one year oats, and one 

 year clover. 



All of his land has been limed, even 

 his pasture, and he has used 2-12-6 fer- 

 tilizer on his corn. 



"I've found that it pays to put back 

 into the land what you take out," Jack- 

 son says. . ' 



Operations oi C. H. Jackson's cattle ieed- 

 ing plant near loy in Mercer county are 

 reduced in 1944, but he is still making a 



substantial contribution to the country's 

 meat supply. Loading up the feed bunks 

 are Victor Eckert and Claude Duncon. 



Farm Labor Tightens 



With Spring Season 



Indications that the farm labor situa- 

 tion is becoming tighter as the spring 

 season draws near are found in the re- 

 ports coming to the emergency farm 

 labor office of the agricultural extension 

 service of the U. of I. 



G. T. Swain, Kankakee county farm 

 adviser, reported early in March that 

 "the demand for farm help has taken a 

 decided increase in the past week. The 

 situation would be better if more farmers 

 would obtain a house and order married 

 men. We have now 1 1 openings for 

 married men and 21 for single men, with 

 just 3 married men available." 



"Our supply of farm help seems to be 

 exhausted and with orders for hired 

 labor coming in daily, it appears our only 

 available source of supply will be the 

 victory farm volunteer workers," says D. 

 M. Chalcraft, Boone county farm ad- 

 viscfi 



APRIL 1944 



17 



