V 





1 V 





i 



Cow is Loss 



Unless 



It Produces 



4000 lbs of Four 



Per Cent Milk 



ANY COW in a dairy herd which, 

 cannot yield at least -i,000 pounds 

 of four per cent milk per year is a 

 low producer and therefore un- 

 profitable, accordint; to Alex Reed, as- 

 sistant professor of a,t;riculture 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 ol Illinois was only 3.5.Vi 

 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 UO 

 pounds of butterfat 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, 

 for 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 and manage- 

 ment — must be paid. Reed said, using 

 figures from the Dairy Herd Improve- 

 ment Association of Illinois. Cows 

 f reducing an average of 300 pounds of 

 utterfat 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 $"8 

 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 lewer 

 cows. ' he asserts. 



"The only mctliod of dcterminint; 

 the profitable and unprofitable cows in 

 tlic herd is by weighing and testing tlie 

 milk of each cow." he says. "Some 

 dairymen are in a dairv herd improve- 

 ment association but many do not ha\e 

 large enough herds to leel justified in 

 joining such an association. 



"It is a very simple job to weigh (lie 

 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 Chonges 



to be Mode 



in Off idol 



Soybeon Standords 



At Present 



HE U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture announced early in August 



T 



■ that no changes will be made at 

 I present in the official grain stand- 

 ards of the United States lor 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 Chuago 

 hcarini.'. 



i he I.AA proposed to comliine duck- 

 age -ind foreign material, and to allow 

 a tiirce j^cr cent tolerance for this (ac- 

 tor. Under present law. dcKkage is 

 anything that passes an S 64 inch diam- 

 eter sieve and foreign material any- 

 tliinc other than sovbeans that would 

 not go through the sieve. 



Under present grade standards, a 

 (.er!.ii;i .iir.ount of (lockage material 

 goes through the sieve at the time the 

 beans arc brought to the elevator. The 

 larnier is not paid for this material. 



If the beans are put in storage at the 

 countrv elevator, material that does not 

 CO through the sie\e will dry out and 

 -brink, antl \xill pass through the sieve 

 when the beans are loaded out of the 

 I- levator and sent on to the terminal 

 .•narket. 



Proce^^ors settle on the ba^is of the 

 iloikage removed. This means that 

 with the present hieh prices for beans, 

 elevators might easily lose more money 

 on dockatre 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 '-!8 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. 



George Iftner, Illinois 

 Agricultural Associa- 

 tion director of grain 

 marketing, speolcs on 

 behalf of the lAA 

 and county Farm Bu- 

 reaus on proposed 

 changes In soybean 

 grading standards. 

 The hearing, in Chica- 

 go, was one of sev- 

 eral held throughout 

 the nation under the 

 direction of the 

 United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 

 Man at right, seated, 

 was In charge of the 

 hearing for the USDA. 



SEPTEMBER, 1948 



I? 



