Frank Lambrich. left, Wayne County Form Kimmel. discuss the current egg market. 

 Bureau member, and Farm Adviser L. B. Lambrich has been selling to a hatchery. 



30c Dozen ^^Minimum For 



Production ^ — Poultrymen 



IT TAKES at least 30 cents a dozen to 

 stay in the egg production business 

 with feeds at their current price levels. 



That's the general opinion expressed 

 by Wayne county producers and they 

 ought to know because the county ranks 

 in second place in the state in egg pro- 

 duction and first in the number of 

 chickens on farms. 



There are not so many large laying 

 flocks in Wayne county, but every farm 

 has some chickens and the receipts from 

 poultry and eggs represents an important 

 part of the farm income. With some of 

 the land unproductive for corn, wheat, 

 clover, etc., Wayne county farmers turn 

 to eggs, chickens, milk and cream for 

 increased income. 



It is not surprising therefore that the 

 recent collapse in the egg market hit 

 farmers in Wayne county harder than 

 in some other areas of the state. Eggs 

 dropped as low as 18 to 20 cents a dozen 

 during the last week in March as com- 

 pared with 32 and 35 cents a year ago 

 when feed prices were lower. 



Here are a few reactions of Wayne 

 county farmers and their wives re- 

 ceived in inter\'iews during early April: 



"When prices go below 30 cents that's 

 ridiculous," said Mrs. Homer Fleenor 

 who has a laying flock of 250 Barred 

 Rock-New Hampshire Reds hybrids. 

 "Our price went as low as 20 cents on 

 March 28, and you can't feed chickens 

 at that level. If egg prices stay down 

 there are going to be a lot of flocks 

 going to market. I don't know what 

 agency is to blame, but it's a bad situa- 

 tion." 



Mrs. Fleenor also reported that she 

 paid |2 per 100 more for her pullets 



this year than she did last year when 

 egg prices were higher. She had con- 

 tracted ahead for her chickens and the 

 drop in the egg market didn't affect the 

 price. 



The price of pullet chicks didn't drop 

 as much in Wayne county as in other 

 counties because one large hatchery 

 failed to open this season due to the 

 labor shortages, and this reduced the 

 supply. However, the price on roosters 

 dropped as low as $2 when the egg 

 market declined. 



Mrs. Jerome Molt expressed a pretty 

 general sentiment of her neighbors when 

 she said. "We were promised 30 cents 

 a dozen by the government, but we 

 haven't got it." Mrs. Molt and her 

 daughter, Ellen, handle the poultry busi- 

 ness on the farm and keep pretty good 

 records on their income and expenses. 

 Ellen reported that currently they are 

 doing little better than breaking even 

 on the cost of feed and other production 

 items. 



This is the experience of the Molts 

 even though they received a premium of 

 8 cents a dozen over the local market 

 price by selling eggs to a hatchery. 

 Since the middle of March a number 

 of hatcheries have discontinued buying 

 eggs. The Molts have a laying flock of 

 215 Barred Rocks and production has 

 been running around 10 to 11 dozen 

 per day. 



Mrs. Ernest Gregory who has a laying 

 flock of 150 also believes that it takes 

 at least 30-cent eggs to break even. 

 "Laying mash is high and so are other 

 feeds when you compare them with egg 

 prices. I know because we had to buy 

 some corn the other day." 



Frank Lambrich, who has a fine flock 

 of 265 Minorcas, has been able to get a 

 premium by selling his eggs to a Decatur 

 hatchery, but even with that he finds 

 the outlook discouraging. However, he 

 points out that after a producer has set 

 up equipment and spent some years in 

 the poultry business, he can hardly af- 

 ford to sell his flock. 



Other Wayne county producers, how- 

 ever, who haven't bought their chicks 

 indicated that they would cancel their 

 orders unless the market improved. 

 None were impressed with the govern- 

 ment supjxjrt price of 26 cents a dozen 

 announced early in April. When this 

 announcement was made, egg prices in 

 Wayne county rallied to 24 and 25 

 cents. 



One suggested that it might have 

 been better if the government had 

 stayed out of the egg and poultry mar- 

 ket altogether. 



Mrs. lerome Molt, Wayne county, says. 

 "We were promised 30 cents a dozen by 

 the government for our eggs, but we 

 haven't received it on our local markets." 

 Helping her mother prepare a shipment of 

 eggs is Ellen Molt. 



Prodncen Dairy Worker 



Dies After Plant Blast 



One person was fatally injured and 

 four were hurt by an explosion of un- 

 determined origin in the basement of 

 the Producers Dairy Company plant in 

 Springfield April 18. 



Mrs. Evelyn Tarr, 37, a laboratory 

 worker, and wife of the Producers 

 plant manager, received severe body 

 burns and died several days after the 

 accident. 



Four others who were injured by the 

 blast included Mrs. Virginia Cryder, 

 Ezra May, Fred Blakely, and Carl De 

 Frates. May and De Frates suffered 

 serious burns to their eyes caused by 

 releasing of ammonia gas in a condens- 

 ing machine. 



,: 



Fl 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



