i ' 





As MANY tarmers already had 

 suspected, a brome grass-alfalfa 

 mixture is fully as good as alfalfa 

 alone during the first year of 

 swine pasturing. This was borne 

 out in tests conducted by University of 

 Illinois animal scientists and explained at 

 Swine Growers' Day held at the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois Gillege of Agriculture 

 last month. 



Interest was focused mainly on animal 

 nutrition as four swine feeding experts 

 bombarded 1500 farmers with facts and 

 figures to prove their conclusions. 



Their experiments show that dried 

 corn distillers' solubles give better re- 

 sults when fed with soybean oil meal 

 than when fed with meat scraps as a 

 hog's pasture supplement. 



Distillers' solubles as 50 per cent of 

 the pasture supplement can be used 

 without affecting the rate or efficiency 

 of gains. It also made little diflference 

 whether the supplement was fed as a 

 meal or pelleted. 



It also was pointed out that pigs need 

 1.4 milligrams of riboflavin (one of 

 the B vitamins) per pound of feed. 

 Lack of riboflavin stunted pig growth 

 and developed abnormal feet, legs, and 

 hocks. 



Sufficient riboflavin is contained in a 

 10 per cent diet of good quality alfalfa 

 hay or meaJ. Pigs get enough in good 

 pasture. Cereal grains are low in ribo- 

 flavin. 



Another highlight on the nutrition 

 program was the announcement that baby 

 pigs will grow faster on an artificial 

 milk than on sow's milk. The artificial 

 milk is made of casein, sugar, mineral 

 salts, and lard. 



It is expensive and too complicated for 

 the average farmer to make. It is being 

 used experimentally to learn what nutri- 

 ents speed up or slow down their growth. 

 On the artificial milk, the University has 

 grown pigs to a weight of 45 pounds at 



eight weeks. On sow's milk pigs do 

 well to weigh 30 pounds at eight weeks. 



For about two hours in the morning 

 farmers, and an unusually large number 

 of vocational agriculture students toured 

 the swine pens on the south farms of 

 the College of Agriculture listening to 

 lectures on experimental feeding on 

 many types of pastures and a varied 

 diet of supplements. 



Others poked around among the feed 

 lots and farrowing pens looking for 

 some suggestion that might help them 

 improve their own hog production. A 

 discussion of the latest developments in 

 swine nutrition followed at the Univer- 

 sity auditorium. The crowd was unusu- 

 ally large and many complained about 

 the lack of parking facilities at the 

 University. 



Reporting on a study of reduced 

 fertility in female swine, A. V. Nalban- 

 dov said that preliminary conclusions 

 showed that out of 921 breeding females 

 tested 57 were sterile. Nalbandov sug- 

 gested that low fertility may be an 

 inherited trait and recommended that 

 low fertility animals be culled as soon 

 as they are recognized. He warned 

 farmers not to use hormones on animals 

 with reproductive troubles. 



A double-barreled new pricing plan, 

 explained by E. F. Ferrin, University of 

 Minnesota, has eliminated 83 per cent 

 of the pricing errors in buying hogs, he 

 said. The new plan, now being tried 

 experimentally, is based on more accurate 

 pricing of live hogs, and grading the 

 carcasses on the rail in the packing plant. 



"True, there are difficulties in selling 

 hogs by carcass weight and grade," Ferrin 

 admitted, "but the possibilities are so 

 good they deserve more study." 



In discussing parity price support, E. 

 L. Butz, Purdue agricultural economist, 

 declared, "There is some prospect that 

 American agriculture may move toward 

 nationalization in the next 10 years." 



A system of artificially high fixed price 

 supports would produce huge food and 

 fiber surpluses, he said, and strict gov- 

 ernment control would result. 



"If this situation occurs," Butz said, 

 "there will be no "voluntary' controls. 

 Everything must be compulsory." 



Butz urged farmers to favor a moder- 

 ate range of support prices, within the 60 

 to 90 per cent of parity bracket. 



"The future of American agriculture 

 lies in more efficient production and 

 reasonable selling prices in an ever- 

 expanding market," Butz stated. Prices 

 maintained at artificially high levels can 

 be only a temporary stimulant. The 

 hangover will make one wonder why he 

 took the drink in the first place." 



lAA Trippers to Hold 

 Picnic on Aug. 21 at 

 Bloomington Park 



THE lAA Trippers picnic will be 

 held Sunday, Aug. 21 at Miller 

 Park at Bloomington, 111. 



lAA Trippers are farm folks who 

 made either the lAA-sponsored western 

 tour to the AFBF convention in San 

 Francisco in 1946 or the lAA-sponsored 

 eastern and southern tours to the AFBF 

 convention in 1948. 



Many of the men and women struck 

 up enduring friendships during the 

 tours and discussed means of meeting 

 again and renewing old acquaintances. 

 The lAA Trippers picnic is the result. 

 Last year a large crowd turned out for 

 the picnic at Decatur. 



The picnic will be potluck with 

 everyone requested to bring his own 

 picnic basket. Chairman of the event 

 is Adrian L. Phillips of Tuscola in 

 Douglas county. j 



I. A. A. RECORD 



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MAY 



