Fobto
'
NEW HEN HOUSE-This is one of the new
hen houses being constructed on the Elmer
Korner ranch in Sams Valley. Korner plans
to expand his flock from 4,000 layers to
Valley Egg Producer Views
Egg Market With Optimism
Bv JOE G. COWLEY
Mail Tribune Farm Editor
"Egg prices can't go any
lower so they have to go up!"
Elmer Korner, Sams Valley
egg producer said Tuesday.
He and his family are back
ing an optimistic viewpoint on
the egg price outlook. Elmer
Korner and his wife plan to
house 7,200 hens in the near
future. They now have 4.000
egg layers of the D e m 1 e r
strain or white Leghorn.
Their long, open steel roofed,
wood frame cage sheds could
house 4,800 hens.
Not only are the Korners
planning for expansion but
their' son plans to go into the
business at a time when many
people are leaving it due to
low egg prices. Generally, Pa
cific Northwest egg producers
are selling eggs for 3 to 4
cents a dozen less than they
cost to produce.
Designed For Efficiency
.Everything on the Korner
chicken ranch is designed for
maximum production at a
minimum of labor-from the
bulk feed tanks to. the cage
system of chicken housing, to
the operation of the egg room.
The Korners clean 2,500 eggs
a day and candle and erade
at the same rate. Following
the cleaning the eggs are
placed in the cooler room
overnight to ensure their
freshness then candled and
graded the next day.
Automation? No! Korner
emphasized. With 100,000
birds it might pay. His hen
houses are designed to use
the automatic system complete
with moving belts to pick up
the eggs as in the automatic
system of production. How
ever, Korner belives this
would make him too big. He
likes to know everything that
is going on in the hen house.
An owners and operator
loses that close personal con
CANDLES AND GRADES-Mrs. Elmer Korner, Sams Valley,
is shown candling and grading eggs on the large automatic
grading machine. The eggs roll over a light which illuminates
the eggs for a check on any possible defects. Then they move
through the machine which rolls them down into sections for
the various sizes. The Korners estimate that they clean 2,500
eggs a day and candle and grade the same number a day
after they have been kept in the cool room overnight.
. QUACK
WITH DOWPON
Keep grass from creeping
into your best land. Simply
sprinkle or spray DOWPON
on your thickest grass and
watch, it wither away. Kills
roots too!
naauiraMnnntuHn
free sample available
covkbssisbq.pt.
KEDFOnD FEED & SEED CO. i
v 330 North Fir ' -r
, Medford, Oregon ' . '-
DEALERS FOR DOW WEED. GRASS, AND BRUSH KILLERS'
(Siinidl
tact when an operation be
comes too big, Korner and his
wife explained. Then lots of
things go wrong. The birds,
naturally skitterish, aren't
used to having a human
around, for instance. And Kor
ner cited the case of a rela
tive operating a huge chick
en ranch down south. His
newly hired foreman mistak
enly sold pullets for cull hens.
A substantial financial loss
resulted
Korner's operation is differ
ent from the standard egg
operation where the chickens
nest on the floor. As men
tioned before the hens are
kept in cages measuring about
3 by 6 feet, according to in
side dimensions, and about 30
birds to a cage when housed.
The bottoms of the wire
cages are slanted so the eggs
roll down to a long trough
in the front. Their droppings
fall to litter underneath the
raised cages. Korner merely
runs a tractor along with an
especially designed blade and
scrapes up the chicken
droppings. Sold as fertilizer
this more than pays for cost
of operating the tractor. This
cleaning operation takes about
one day whereas it would take
much longer with hard labor.
The chicken houses are also
sprayed periodically to kill
flies,, lice and mites.
Backing up the henhouse op
eration are reserves of 1,200
young chickens kept in the
brooder house. When they are
three months old they are
moved as a unit to a chicken
house where they start pro
ducing eggs. The Korners will
move in another 1,200 chicks
into the brooder house in
July. The Korners don't keep
any hens longer than one
year at lay. The drop in egg
production after the moulting
doesn't make it practical. The
old hens are sold to local proc-
v r f ? -f ' " v
7,200. His egg producers are of the Dernier '
strain of White Leghorn. Like many eggt
producers who plan to stay , in the business ...
Korner emphasizes quality for higher sales.
essors.
Feeding from the two bulk
tanks makes it possible to
service all four chickenhouses
in 20 minutes. Korner uses
a small cart and shovels the
feed into the troughs. Water
is continually pumped into the
watering troughs from two
good wells.
Production and Processing
It takes a half hour to col
lect the eggs. They are collect
ed three or four times a day.
Fifteen watt light bulbs strung
every six feet are kept burn
ing all night. This keeps the
birds producing and quickly
reveals four or two-legged
prowlers. However, the Kor
ners say they haven't yet had
trouble with chicken thieves.
The egg house is supervised
by Mrs. Korner, a tall, slight,
smiling - blue - eyed woman.
Two machines, one for egg
cleaning and one for candling
also speed up the processing.
Mrs. Korner estimates that
each egg is handled five or
six times. It would be much
more than tha.t otherwise, she
said. ""
The egg cleaning machine
is something to delight a
Rube Goldberg. To the ama
teur eye it resembles the back
of a piano. Eggs are moved
along on rollers and against
brushes. Small jets squirt sani
tizing powder mixed with wa
ter. Hot air dries the eggs
as they move along the sec
ond section of the machine.
They are carried to the cool
er for an overnight storage.
The next day they are can
dled and graded as a machine
automatically sorts them ac
cording to weight. The ma
chine is rated at five cases
a hour.
People' viewing the Korner
poultry ranch are apt to get
enthusiastic over the egg pro
ducing business. Then the
Korners are prompt to tally
up all beginning expenses
which often discourage the
prospective egg producer.
When the Korners started out
it cost them $15,000 before
they had their first egg.
They have been on their
present Sams , Valley ranch
about 2te years., They chose
the 40 acres because it is far
from any poultry ranch and
is comparatively cheap land.
They did have a small farm
in Sams Valley where they
raised "a little of everything."
A small operation doesn't
pay, they discovered. So, they
returned to Los Angeles for
eight years. They saved their
money while he worked as an
inspector for an aircraft cor
poration and she worked as
a private secretary. They both
left good jobs but they like
liked slow moving country liv
ing and being their own
bosses. ...... . .... .
They report they are mak
ing some profit in these days
of many profitless poultry op
erations. They ensure this by
carefully charting the egg pro
duction in each hen house on
graphs. They know what goes
on in each hen house.
Agents Advises
Lygus Bug Check
Alfalfa seed producers are
reminded by Gene Winters,
Jackson county extension ag
ent, to examine their stands
for lyus bugs. r
Agents recently making ly
gus bug counts in alfalfa fields
found more than one adult or
nympth in each sweep of an
insect net. Control measures
are recommended .when the
the count averages one lygus
or nympth per sweep in ten
sweeps, Winters said.
. Lygus bugs' are now feeding
on alfalfa buds which soon
die preventing1 the formations
of seed. YThe green of alfalfa.
attracts -these pests from dry
vegetation or when fields
have been cut for nay, the
county: agent said.
Applications of insecticides
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Of.
A Thursday, June 25, 1959
Tenth of Farmers
Of Local Area
Work with ACP
.-.Oyer one-tenth of Jackson
county's farmers joined hands
with the government last year
to carry out needed conserva
tion practices on their farms.
The annual report from the
local county agricultural sta
bilization and - conservation
(ASQ office shows that on 174
farms in the '.county soil or
water . conservation practices
were carried out under agri
cultural conservation program
(ACP) in 1958.
'.. Under the ACP, a farmer
and the government share the
cost ' of needed conservation
work, the report pointed out.
Last 'year! Jackson county
farmers put up over $42,000
in carrying out approved con
servation practices on around
43,000 acres, . T .
1 Uncle Sam then matched
these payments to help farm
ers conserve valuable crop
lands, woodlots, grazing areas,
orchards, and agricultural wa
ter for use by future genera
tions. A total of 17 different con
servation practices were used
by Jackson county farmers un
der the 1958 ACP, the report
indicated. Practices most pop
ular with local farmers last
year included land leveling,
reorganization of irrigation
systems, "building irrigation
dams, and tiling for drainage.
Pool Agreements
Through pooling agree
ments allowed under the ACP,
some of the county's farmers
banded together to do conser
vation jobs they couldn't carry
out individually. In five pool
ing agreements , 33 Jackson
county farmers were able to
reorganize irrigation systems
and line irrigation ditches.
ACP assistance is made
available to farmers to help
them carry out conservation
practices they wouldn't be
able to carry out themselves.
During 1958 Jackson county
farmers paid 65 pe?r cent and
the government paid 35 per
cent of the cost-with the gov
ernment's share an indication
of the interest of all the na
tion's people in protecting and
conserving our farm and ranch
lands to insure future supplies
of agricultural products.
Every farmer with a con
servation problem is eligible
to apply for ACP aid. More
information on the program
is available at the Jackson
county ASC office in the
Court House Annex, Medford.
Bee Owners Urged
To Register Bees
Salem-Bee owners in. this
county who have not regis
tered their colonies for this
year may do so by contacting
the local deputy state bee in
spector, Samuel D. Dawson,
box 172, Jacksonville, who is
working in Jackson and Jose
phine counties this summer.
Or they may contact the state
department of agriculture
headquarters at Salem.
The objective of this in
spection program is protec
tion of the Oregon bee indus
try . against American foul
brood, a highly contagious
bacterial disease which de
stroys bees. The bacteria caus
ing this disease are hard to
destroy and for that reason
any colonies infected with
American foul brood are
burned and buried below the
plow line. t
Without this control mea
sure, which is written into
the state apiary, law, Oregon
would have a greatly reduced
bee population much to the
detriment of thousands of
acres of crops primarily de
pendent upon the bee for pol
lination. The Oregon . law requires
all beekeepers to register
their bees, whether they have
one colony or 500 colonies.
The annual registration fee
is ?1 which covers up to six
colonies, and 15 cents for each
colony over six.
Last year 27,254 colonies of
bees were registered by 1,361
beekeepers in Oregon, accord
ing to Kenneth E. Goeden,
Salem, who supervises this
program for the department.
should be made in early
morning or late evening to
protect pollinators.
Three, difrerent materials
are recommended for lygus
bug control at least 2 pounds
of actual DDT per acre or 3
pounds of actual toxaphene
per acre or one-half pound of
actual dieldrin per acre if dif
ficulty has been experienced
with control of lygus with
DDT and toxaphene and if
applied before the alfalfa is in
bloom. Toxaphene is least
harmful of the three to pol
linators and will also control
grasshoppers.
Foliage treated with DDT,
toxaphene or dieldrin must
not be fed to dairy animal or
animals being furnished for
slaughter, the agent cautions.
mil
: ' By JOE COWLEY
Mail Tribune Farm Editor
Next time you eat breakfast why not have something else
beside the usual "coffee and growl"?
How about ham and eggs? And just before you prepare
that egg for eating take a good look at at. Are you' getting a
top quality egg? If you don't know, then what's the use of
the local egg producers taking all the trouble to carefully
wash, candle and grade their eggs?
. Since many egg producers are aiming at a quality market
they want you to know what makes a good egg.'A man who
knows, an egg-producer, tells us that an egg should be clean,
ai good shell quality-no cracks,
ties. Hold the egg up to the light to see if the air cell at the
large end of the egg is small or large. If it is comparatively
large then you are getting an older egg. And look to see if
the eggs are in a cool or refrigerated case in the store when
you buy. : . -
In color, the white eggs
brown ones a uniform dark brown. Other things to consider
are whether the air cell is movable, meat spots, blood spots,
amount of thick and thin albumen and condition of the yolk.
The albumen should be firm and the yolk dimly visible. Eggs
must be free from meat or blood spots and germ develop
ment. A blood spot will show as a dark or foreign substance
in the albumen, ...
Good quality eggs will have a firm, thick albumen that
is compact. The yolk , will stand up above the white and be
round in appearance, y
Invitations will go out soon
in Jackson county and Klamath
tional meeting of an area egg
be modeled on the Emerald
tion of the Lane county area,
Some of the main objectives will be to serve as a contact
agency between the producers and market representatives,
help control and eradicate disease, improve the quality of
egg, breeding stock, chicken, and improve the quality, effi
ciencyi distribution and consumption of Oregon 'poultry prod
ucts, to collect and disseminate news of the poultry industry,
and to coordinate the activities of the hatcherymen, poultry
producers and allied industry.
Farmers need a bargaining agency which will represent
them to the wholesalers and retailers. The fact that they are
learning that is shown by the formation of a milk producers'
bargaining agency for dairy farmers of Oregon, southwest
Washington and northern California, by various commodity
promotion groups and now by plans for area egg producer
groups in the state. On the national level the National Egg
Council of the American Poultry and Hatchery federation
will hold its first annual meeting in Stx Louis, Mo., July 23.
Supply and demand normally set the price. According to
June 22 reports from Corvallis supplies in the poultry busi
ness are declining which should give a boost to the much
needed price rises.
There are these indicators:
eries nroduced 10 per cent fewer chicks in May than a year
earlier. Compared to last year,
were down 4 per cent. Egg-type chicks produced dropped zu
per cent. Smaller June hatches than a year ago are predict
ed. Hatchery output of egg-type chicks nationally during the
period of January through
from a year ago. By the end of May last year, tnree-iourins
of the 1958 egg-type hatch had been completed.
Also, at Portland, producer prices on Grade Double A
Large advanced 2 cents during the past two weeks. Grade A
Large eggs remained steady. Grade Double A Mediums ad
vanced orie cent a dozen. Grade
strength, advancing 2 cents a
weeks. This information comes
poultry marketing specialist.
Another lamb pool for this
day, July 1. Those producers who want to join this shipment
should contact Earle Jossy, Jackson county extension agent,
at the courthouse. ;
This could be an easy prediction-but we figure the price
of milk in this are will also
correspond to the recent price
producers, for a change, will
rise. And it's needed! The experets figure that the cost of
producing milk in the Rogue
per cent higher in May man
' Factors causing that cost
up 60 per cent, labor is up 4 per cent, taxation is up 8 per
cent (overall taxes). The startling thing, according to the
dairy experts, is that replacements are up 23 13 per cent
than they were last year. This includes machinery and re
placements of dairy stock. The cost oi dairy concenxraxes is
up, also. The bad dry pasture situation hasn't helped the cost
price picture for the dairymen, either.
A dairyman who recently made a general tour of the
state reports that the hay situation is tight. In the Hermiston
area, for instance, the hay crop is short. Both quality and
quantity there is usually good. Price contracted for July de
livery was $25 a ton in the field against $18 or $19 a ton
last year. The current price levels in all areas this farmer
visited last month are from $6 to $8 above last year.
Farmers in all of the southwest areas are watching care
fully the water supplies which in many areas over the state
are less than sufficient. An alarming thing in the dairy busi
ness is that most hay crops were cut much later than in the
last 10 years-it was about two weeks late this year. This
means that later on the second cutting will be delayed and in
a great many places there will be no third cutting at all.
Anyway, while you're stewing over this picture-have
some eggs and bacon or ham for breakfast with a tall glass
of milk. It's good for you!
Seed Fields Gel Close Inspection
One phase of the see'd cer
tification program in Jackson
county has been completed
according to Gene Winters,
Jackson county extension
agent.
Fields of seedling alfalfa,
ladino clover, lotus, wheat,
and grasses eligible to pro
duce registered or certified
seed were recently inspected
by Oregon State college Ex
tension seed certification spe
cialist. . Ten county farmers made
application for seedling in
spection of 123 acres of Tal
ent and 20 acres of Lahontan
HUM IE
Right After Hay Cutting, When Ground it Firm,
is an Ideal Time to Apply Lime.
Call Us far Quotation Delivered and Spread en
Yeur Field.
Phone UL 5-1245
Agricultural Lime Distributing Co.
Gold Hill, Oregon
GMT
checks or any other deformi
should be chalk white and the
to commercial egg producers
Falls to attend an organiza
producers association. This will
Empire Egg Producers' associa
we understand.
Nationally, commercial hatch
broiler-type chicks produced
May, 1959 is down 4 per cent
Double A Smalls also snowed
dozen during the past two
from Charles M. Fischer, OSC
area is scheduled for Wednes
increase in about a month to
rise in the Portland area. Milk
share in this cent-a-quart price
River valley has gone up 11
tor ine same period a year ago
rise are price of alfalfa hay is
alfalfa. Three fields inspected
have isolation problems. Al
falfa varieties , and classes
must be specified distances
apart to prevent cross pollina
tion. Two growers had 64
acres of ladino clover inspect
ed. One field of granger lotus
eligible to produce Founda
tion seed was examined.
Nearly 150 acres of grain
for seed were also inspected.
Varieties grown are Merion
Kentucky bluegrass, Newport
bluegrass, Penncross bent
grass and Pennlawn Red fescue.
Observer Notes
Fewer Dairymen
Br EARLE JOSSY
Jackson County Extension
Agent
June is dairy month for
fewer and fewer dairymen.
There aren't as many of them
as there were awhile ago.
At the close of World War
II there were 2,400,000 dairies
in the United States. Today,
more than half of these have
quit. Pretty much of this same
thing has happened in Oregon
and in Jackson County. The
best guess of the economists
indicate this trend will be
continued. Why are dairymen
selling their cows?
There are a number of rea
sons. Most important is the
price cost squeeze. The price
paid dairymen for milk has,
not increased for several years
-in fact it has been reduced
twice in the last year. About
per cent each time. A 10
per cent cut in income hurts
but at the same time labor
costs, higher taxes, and espe
cially higher cost of - invest
ment in . needed equipment
have cut into the margin. In
order to have enough money
to pay the bills some dairy
men are milking more cows.
Those who cannot or do not
want to increase the size of
their herds are selling out.
The cow numbers are reduc
ed much less than the number
of dairies. The dairies are sim
ply larger and fewer.
Trend Not "Undesirable
This trend is not entirely
undesirable. It makes practi
cal the Use of labor saving,
efficient machinery, pipe
lines, bulk tanks, efficient
milking parlors and is part of
the trend toward total bulk
handling from the cow to the
bottle.. On the other end of
the business largeness makes
practical the use of bulk stor
age and mechanical feeding of
the animals. It makes more
efficient use of manpower.
Studies show it takes 147 man
hours per year to take care of
each cow in a ten cow herd
while 62 hours will suffice for
the cow in a 35 cow herd.
Efficiency in production is
extremely important - much
more so today than 10 years
ago. Dairy markets are con
stantly threatened with inva
sion. Not only by fluid milk
from other more efficient pro
ducing areas (modern tank
trucks make hauling great dis
tances practical) but from
newly developed products
such as instantly reconstitut
ed dried milk, low moisture
milk concentrates, and a host
of products which are not
milk at all but which provide
much of the nutrition of milk
and compete for the house-
wive's dollar.
Cost Cuts Important
Bigness in itself does not
insure efficiency. Management
must make every effort to cut
costs and increase income. A
poll of successful dairymen rt;
veals that the first and most
essential need is tot maintain
accurate records. Records not
only of production but records
of costs and returns. Number
two is to keep high producing
cows. The average cow in the
United States produces 6,200
lbs. of milk per year. She pro
vides her owner with a return
of $9 over costs of feed and
care. The average cow in the
standard dairy herd improve
in e n t associations produces
FRUIT GROWERS ...
Rogue River soils are acid!
VIKING SHIP CALCIUM NITRATE helps
combat soil acidity . . . supplies bene
ficial nitrate nitrogen.
Acid soijs like those in the Rogue River
Valley are low in calcium and subject to
water saturation that can cause serious
damage to fruit tree roots.
When it comes to protecting trees from the harmful effects of
excess acidity, the kind of nitrogen fertilizer you choose can be vitally
important.
Viking Ship Calcium Nitrate is the choice of experienced growers
because it contains:
20 water-soluble calcium
that can help reduce excess acid
ity and improve soil structure for
better penetration of water and
nutrients.
Viking ShipCalcium Nitrate
FROM NORWAY 7T
Distributed by WILSON
10,000 lbs. of milk per year
and returns her owner a prof
it of $51 above the cost of her
keep. It would take more than
five ordinary cows to equal
one good producer in net in
come. The above figures are
cited by Ralph E. Hodgson,
Agricultural Research Serv
ice. . .
Dairymen in Jackson Coun
ty are keeping step with these
trends. Our neighbors on the
dairy farms are keeping more
cows. They are becoming
more and more efficient
they have to, to stay in busi
ness. They and their cows are
converting our irrigated pas
tures, hay, and grain into dol
lars which they scatter all
through the stores and busi
nesses of Jackson County.
June is their month. It's a
good time to use more dairy
products - the benefits are
better health and more finan
cial stability.
Gardening Tips
By DON BERRY
County Extension Agent
JUMPING OAK GALLS
, A numbr of home owners
have been concerned with the
tiny mustard-seed-like galls
which they find on their pat
ios and under their oaks.
These little galls have a
tendency to jump like a Mex
ican jumping bean. This char
acteristic is imparted in them
by a tiny insect which is in
side. As the galls ripen and fall
from the undersides of the oak
Reaves, the larvae throws it
self within the gall causing it
to jump considerable distances
probably in an attempt to
find seclusion in a crack or
crevice for hibernation.
The following spring tiny
black wasps emerge and rein
fect the oak leaves in the area.
This is a common pest which
is occurring in epidemic pro
portions this year. They work
only on oak leaves, and there
is no known control for them,
but they are seldom consid
ered a serious problem. .
There are 54 mountains in
Texas with an altitude of
more than 6,000 feet.
MODERN ARTIFICIAL BREEDING
with
FROZEN SEMEN
FROM AMERICAN BREEDERS' SERVICE
jp1
ROGUE VALLEY PROVED SIRE SERVICE
beneficial
For the nitrate fertilizer that conditions
call your dealer and order. .
& GEO. MEYER & CO., Portland .
Smut Controls
Told by Agent
By EUGENE WINTERS'
County Extension Agent
The unusually heav infis
tation of smut in Jackson
County barley fields this
spring is probably due to last
year's weather condition.
Cool wet weather furnisheg)
conditions favorable for , S
velopment of sled infctk)g
by loose smut organisms, oJ
of the seed barley usefi dig)
year was from tbe 1951 csofl.
Smut heads collected ft"J4)
different varieties of brltg
throughout the county
identified by Oregon Sfrto
College plant pathologies, S)
the species of -smut which egn
be controlled only by thsj ted
ious soaking method. In th
field spores of this smut infect
healthy head? through the
flowers and the fungus grows
into the young barley kernels.
Since this smut is seed
borne, growers need not b
concerned about planting bar
ley in fields infecd this year
if smut free treated seed is
used. Volunteer plants may
be smutty. '
Control measures for this
disease suggested by the ag
ent are to plant certified seed
or seed which is known to
have been grown in fields free
of loose smut. Seed should
be treated to control c$her
loose smuts carried on the
Seed or under the hull and
covered smut.
1
HERTZ
TRUCK RENTAL
Available
at
HOPKINS RICHFIELD
SERVICE
McAndrews at Court
Phone SP 3-9068
Proved Dairy Bulls
performance tested
Beef Bulls.
The finest service
we have ever
offered at the -lowest
prices wt
have ever offered.
SP 2-4093
C. C. Williams
CALCIUM'
NITRATE
NORSK HYDRO A
nitrate nitrogen
I
readily available to tree roots
without conversion delay. Nitrate
nitrogen is not held in upper soil
layers but moves with water to
the root zone
acid soils,
.
San Francisco