i- 



W Cow is Loss 



Unless 



it Produces 



4000 its of Four 



Per Cent Miiic 



ANY COW in a dairy herd which 

 cannot yield at least 4,000 pounds 

 of four per cent milk per year is a 

 low producer and therefore un- 

 profitable, according to Alex Reed, as- 

 sistant professor of agriculture at 

 Southern Illinois University. 



Moreover, he said, according to the 

 1945 U. S. Census, the average pro- 

 duction of all cows in the 16 southern- 

 most counties of Illinois was only 3,536 

 pounds per year. 



"This proves that there are a number 

 of cows producing much less than 

 4,000 pounds of milk per year," Reed 

 said. 



Any cow in the farmer's dairy herd 

 which cannot produce enough milk to 

 show a good profit over and above all 

 expenses — including feeding, housing, 

 milking and handling the product — 

 should not be kept on the farm. Reed 

 believes. 



A cow must produce about 4,000 

 pounds of four per cent milk or l60 

 pounds of buttertat per year to pay all 

 expenses, he explained. Cows produc- 

 ing less than this are kept at an actual 

 loss. 



Besides, he added, the margin of 

 profit widens as production goes up, 

 ror the value of the product increases 

 about three times as fast as the in- 

 creased cost of keep. 



For example, the average return 

 above feed costs of cows producing 

 only 200 pounds of butterfat per year 

 was |80, out of which other production 

 costs — housing, labor ana manage- 

 ment — must be paid. Reed said, using 

 figures from the Dairy Herd Improve- 

 ment Association of Illinois. Cows 

 producing an average of 300 pounds of 

 butterfat per year returned $162 above 

 feed costs. 



In other words, the 300-pound pro- 

 ducer required |12 more feed, but 

 yielded $82 more milk. Moreover, a 

 400-pound producer required |16 more 

 feed and returned an additional $78 '^ 

 in products. 



Reed advises checking the produc- 

 tion of each individual cow, and the 

 disposal of any animal yielding less 

 than 4000 pounds of four per cent milk. 

 "You can save feed and actually real- 



ize a greater profit per herd with fewer 

 cows," he asserts. 



"The only method of determining 

 the profitable and unprofitable cows in 

 the herd is by weighing and testing the 

 milk of each cow," he says. "Some 

 dairymen are in a dairy herd improve- 

 ment association but many do not have 

 large enough herds to feel justified in 

 joining such an association. 



"It is a very simple job to weigh the 

 night and morning milk of each cow 

 once a month and calculate her produc- 

 tion on that basis. In many com- 

 munities the vocational agriculture de- 

 partments in schools will cooperate 

 with the farmer by making the butter- 

 fat tests for him." 



No Ciianges . 



to iie Made 



in Offitiai 



Soyiiean Standards 



At Present 



THE U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture announced early in August 

 that no changes will be made at 

 present in the official grain stand- 

 ards of the United States for soy- 

 beans. 



Proposals had been made by eleva- 

 tor and producer groups in Illinois 

 and other soybean states to amend 

 standards relating to dockage, foreign 

 material, moisture and "splits." 



Informal hearings were held in June 

 in Chicago and Decatur, 111., Toledo, 

 Ohio, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to afford 

 interested parties a chance to express 



their views on the proposed changes. 



George Iftner, lAA director of grain 

 marketing, represented the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association at the Chicago 

 hearing. 



The lAA proposed to combine dock- 

 age and foreign material, and to allow 

 a three per cent tolerance for this fac- 

 tor. Under present law, dockage is 

 anything that passes an 8/64 inch diam- 

 eter sieve and foreign material any- 

 thing other than soybeans that would 

 not go through the sieve. 



Under present grade standards, a 

 certain amount of dockage material 

 goes through the sieve at the time the 

 beans are brought to the elevator. The 

 farmer is not paid for this material. 



If the beans are put in storage at the 

 country elevator, material that does not 

 go through the sieve will dry out and 

 shrink, and will pass through the sieve 

 when the beans are loaded out of the 

 elevator and sent on to the terminal 

 market. 



Processors settle on the basis of the 

 dockage removed. This means that 

 with the present high prices for beans, 

 elevators might easily lose more money 

 on dockage than is received for storage 

 and handling charges. 



The Illinois Agricultural Associa- 

 tion also believes that there should be 

 a reduction in the moisture content for 

 No. 2 beans. This grade is bought 

 on the basis of 14 per cent moisture and 

 no premium is allowed where the mois- 

 ture content is below 14 per cent. 



In its announcement the USDA said 

 that careful attention will be given the 

 grading of the '48 crop to permit an 

 appraisal of the results which may be 

 expected if any or all of the changes 

 are adopted later. 



The chief reason given by the USDA 

 for making no changes in soybean 

 standards this year was that most soy- 

 beans are marketed before Nov. 1. No 

 changes in the standards could be made 

 before this date. 



Goorge iftner, llllnel* 

 Agricultural Attecia- 

 tion director of groin 

 marketing, spealcs on 

 behalf of the lAA 

 and county farm Bu- 

 reoas on propeted 

 changes In soybean 

 grading standards. 

 The hearing, in Chica- 

 go, was one of sev- 

 eral held throughout 

 the nation under tlie 

 direction of the 

 United States Depart- 

 ment of Agricwhore. 

 Man crt right, se ated, 

 was in charge of Mie 

 bearing for the USOA. 



SEPTEMBER, 1948 



17 



