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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1957)
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE THREE Livestock, Poyfay Met Moflfoim Dim Friday. April 19, 1957 Aire Enterprizes Bring In 30 Per Cent of Agricultural Income (Editor's note: How is agriculture doing in Jackson county? What is its future? How does it stack up as com pared to the past? What are the major items of income? (The following is one of a series of six articles, prepared Ly the Mail Tribune in cooperation with the county agricul tural extension office and others, in an attempt to answer these questions'.) Between 30 and 35 per cent of the annual agricultural in come in Jackson county comes from livestock and poultry en . terprises. Last year. Income from these totaled $5,901,010. Of this, $2, 651,000 came from dairy enter prises: $2,042,050 from beef cat . tie; $268,260 from sheep, $76, A600 from swine; $101,400 from miscellaneous livestock (includ ing rabbits, goats and bees); and $727,700 from poultry. In the last 35 years, the local livestock and poultry picture has experienced as much overall change as most phases of agri culture, and more than some, Marbpet variations and improved management have , been instru mental in bringing about these changes.' This can be well illus trated by the case of the dairy Industry. First Purebred' Cattle The late W. C. Myer. whose greaVgrandson, John Billings, now resides in Ashland, drove the lirst purebred cattle, a herd of Jerseys, to Jackson countv in the 1860's. He imported the ani mals from Jersey island, off the coast of England, and from the east coast of the United States. By 1920, there were about 3,765 producing cows here. Until about 15 years ago, Jerseys and Guernseys were the dominant breeds of dairy cat tle. Milk from these cows was high in butterfat content. But terfat was in great demand for such products as butter, ice cream and cheese. Cheese fac tories were in full operation at Eagle Point, Central Point, Med ford and Ashland, and some but terfat was shipped to California markets. Then, with the advent of but ter substitutes and popularity of low-fat foods, consumer de--mand for butterfat products de ' creased. Several local cream eries closed down completely. Dairymen shifted their atten tion, to Holsteins, which produce more fluid milk and less butter fat. Holsteins are still the dominant- breed here Strong Market The market for Jackson coun ty milk is considered strong, especially in Eugene and Rose burg, where about 120,000 pounds are being shipped daily. Ten years ago, no milk was be inz shipped out of the county. ..This might seem strange in view' of the fact that there are now about 9,500 producing cows here, as compared with about 13,000 in 1946 and 18,586 in 1935. Although there are fewer cows now, individual production is higher. Earle Jossy, county agriculture agent, lists the fol lowing reasons for the current production increase: 1. Dairymen are using feed ing methods designed to obtain higher milk production. 2. The Dairy Herd Improve ment association has helped de termine which cows are not pro ducing profitably and should be culled from the herd by the owner. Production Records 3. Dairymen are making use of cost and production records in a more efficient manner than ever before. 4. Artificial breeding is being used to good advantage to pro duce high quality cattle. Beef cattle, totaling about 19,000, far outnumber dairy cattle here. Yet, gross returns from beef cattle are lower than returns from the same number of dairy cattle. This is because the dairyman sells much more labor with his products. Farms which will support less than 100 cattle will come nearer supporting a family if dairy cattle are kept. Farms with room for 100 or more cat tle will make satisfactory re turns with beef. One-year-old calves represent most of the beef sales in this area. Cattlemen have found sell ing young animals is more econ omical than paying long-term feed costs. Shift in 10 Years Jossy pointed out there has been a shift in the last 10 years in methods of selling beef ani mals- Local cattlemen previous ly sold many of their animals to representatives of large com panies who would travel to in dividual cattle ranches. In the last 10 years, however, they have made more use of cattle auctions in Medford and Phoe nix. Most cattle shipped from Jack son county are transported by truck, though a few are shipped by rail. Rail shipments of cattle have significantly decreased in the last 25 years. Jossy says this is because trucking is more con venient and rates are lower in many cases. When cattle are shipped by rail, they must be transported by truck from the tram to their destination. Truck shipments from the point of ori gin to the destination cuts out this need for additional handling. Marketing Is considered the number one problem facing the beef industry today. The retail value of meat consumed nation ally showed a decrease in 1955 and 1956, and bears a lower re lation to consumer's income than it did several years ago. Thus, the beef cattle sub-committee of the county agricultural council (as well as the beef industry throughout the nation) is en couraging stronger advertising and promotion campaigns in order to increase consumer pur chases of beef. Cross-B reeding Most of the beef cattle here were developed by cross-breed ing short horn dairy cows with Herefords. Eventually, this re sulted in development of good Hereford cattle. Jossy says Jack son county 4-H club members have done much to improve beef steer quality in the last 15 years through effects of county and state fair competition. In 1920, there were an esti mated 10,278 beef cattle in the county. In 1946, there were an estimated 10,000. During the last 10 years, this figure has al most doubled. Sheep came to western Ore gon in the last 30 years and this enterprise locally has shown somewhat of a decline recently. In 1920, there were an. estimat ed 20,267 sheep; in 1946, there were about 9,000; and in 1956, there were about 7,000- Sheep are grown here mostly for meat and Jossy says wool sales are regarded as a bonus. Small farm flocks are recom mended now, largely because they are able to utilize feed which might otherwise be wast ed or marketed inefficiently. Producers of sheep list their major problems as marketing, parasites and disease, and pred ators and dogs. Residents of Jackson county eat comparative ly little lamb. This necessitates shipment of lambs to San Fran cisco or other markets. High freight rates make shipment of less than a truckload of lambs unprofitable. Stomach worms, liver fluke and white muscle are regarded as the most serious sheep dis-' eases, although growers who fol low recommended disease con trol .procedures have not suf fered great losses. Sheep grow ers are not alone in seeking bet ter dog and predatory animal control. They are now urging higher bounties or hiring of ad ditional professional trappers to control the coyotes. Swine Growing Jackson county has never been a major swine growing area, according to Jossy. "Swine rank first in market instabil ity," Jossy said, "And the swine market is subject to sudden, drastic changes." In 1920. there were 11,827 swine being raised here; in 1946 there were 5,300; and by 1956, there were only about 2,700 Swine need lots of grain or similar feed, Jossy said. Pro duction of grain is currently lim ited here and growers must im port it. Consequently, high ship ping costs make swine growing impractical unless waste pro ducts can be used for feed. Miscellaneous livestock are re garded as relatively unimport ant in this area, Jossy comment ed. There are about 5,000 rab bits in the county now- Rabbit production was conducted on a larger scale at one time, but they require expensive feed and returns are not sufficient to war rant expanded production. The future in goat raising also seems limited. There are about 1,100 goats here now, compared with about 2,000 in 1946 and none in 1920. The goat commit tee of the county agricultural council stated "The market for goat milk is not good in Jack son county. Growing angoras for production of mohair has not proved to be very successful. Therefore, the committee recom mends growing of goats be con fined for the most part to use in clearing brush or furnishing milk for the family on small farms." Bee Production Bee production is a small but fairly important industry, Jossy noted. There is a large number of beekeepers in the county, in cluding about five or six major ones, who rent their bees for pollinization purposes to farm ers here and in various other areas. Records since 1920 indi cate beekeeping is on an up swing. In 1920, there were about 1,168 hives, in 1946 there were 3,700 and in 1956 there were 6,000. Bees are raised here both as pollinizers and honey pro ducers. The poultry picture in Jack son county is not a bright one. Present markets are poor for eggs, broilers and hatching flocks. The poultry committee of the agricultural council said, The one bright spot in local poultry conditions exists in the expansion of turkey breeder hens. How long this condition will exist is doubtful . . . Tur keys raised for market locally are in competition with birds shipped in to the state and only a slight market drop can prove disasterous as the profit' margin per pound is slight." There were about 220,000 lay ing hens and broilers in the county last year, compared with 160,000 in 1946; 123,964 in.1925; and 72,232 in 1920- There were 23,000 turkeys here in 1956, compared with 42,817 in 1930; PERSISTENT Boston (U.R) Thrice in six weeks State Trooper James L. Killoran arrested the same mo torist for driving after revoca tion of his licenses. The third of fense resulted in a four-month jail term and a $125 fine. and 60,000 in 1920. Jossy says outstanding needs of the livestock and poultry in dustries include more irrigated land and more cultivated land, greater efficiency in manage ment, greater use of records, and selection of fast growing animals which make efficient use of feed. Another problem facing live stock and poultry growers, as well as other farmers, is that of obtaining a block of land large enough to maintain an efficient operation. Jossy noted that so much land has been divided and sub-divided in recent years that there is relatively little left m large enough farms for good use. Not the least of problems fac ing livestock growers is that of disease. Agricultural council committees have made this ob servation of the situation: "With cattle being transport ed longer distances and living becoming more complex, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep cattle isolated from varying and sometimes disaster ous bovine ailments . . . Among the controls now used, testing and vaccination are among the most important." Some of the common animal diseases local ranchers are troubled with are brucellosis, edema and redwater. 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