MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, ORE
TUESDAY. MARCH 28, 1961
-CHIT CHAT-
By JOE COWLEY
Mail Tribunt im Editor
What produces 246,000 pounds of meat a year fronva
house 40 feet by 200 feet on a lot 70 feet by 600 feet?
Before you answer, we might add this is the equivalent
of the meat produced by 265 1,000 pound steers. It's amaz
ing, out true. nis is the amount of meat 20,000 broiler type
chickens will produce from four broods a year.
Poultry experts report that chicken consumption has just
about doubled from 1940 to 1960. Most of it consists of
broilers or fryers. And chicken is racing hamburger in
the meat counter sales. Meat buyers and butchers admitted
It last Thursday night during the dinner meeting of the
Rogue Valley Broiler Growers association.
This was one of those delightful meetings when you re
ceive plenty of food for thought and for the stomach.
Golden brown fried chicken was served on heaping plat
ters at North's Chuck Wagon. Apparently, the management
wants to be sure its patrons do a lot of serious eating. The
rustic-type of chairs are the clinging type. Once you sit
down they don't let go very easy. This, of course, puts the
emphasis where it belongs, on the food, for this type of
chair firmly anchors the would-be after-dinner speaker. In
fact, It appeared Thursday that one of the more robust
speakers might have trouble separating himself from his
chair as he attempted to bounce to his feet.
Purpose of the meeting was to convince those people
dealing with meat sales in this valley that it pays to push
chicken. Several fryer point-of-sales ads were displayed
around the banquet room. The newest is one which gives
an easy to prepare recipe on low calorie fried chicken. With
the slim silhouette the goal of every woman 16 to 60, this
Is sure to make a hit. Another new recipe is corn-crisped
chicken. Eight to nine ounces of ready-to-eat meat per two
pounds of bird is a good ratio, it was pointed out. The
housewife's slogan has shifted from "Ready to Heat" to
"Ready to Eat." With both man and wife working, this has
become a necessity. (We know!)
But why Oregon Fryers? Shelf life of a fryer is seven
days. If the fryers are shipped in from out-of-state sources
this means at least three days en route. That leaves four days
of shelf life. The housewife buys the bird or birds on Thurs
day and frys them on Sunday four days later.
: This means the fryer is right on the ragged edge of pos
sible spoilage. So, look for the green and white label-"this
fryer grown in Oregon." It's your guarantee of freshness.
Otherwise, the only sign of approaching spoilage is separa
tion of the meat from the bone. And this can't be seen from
looking at the outside.
- Dal Ferry, chairman of the Oregon Fryer commission
(a self-help organization for promotion of broiler sales)
pointed out that five years ago only three growers attended
a broiler growers' dinner here. They represented the local
fryer industry. Thursday night approximately nine broiler
growers attended the monthly dinner.
What does the broiler industry mean to the Rogue val
ley? The valley produced 1 million fryers last year with
a gross profit of $600,000 to $750,000. This means $125,000
In new money, it was reported. It represents a half million
dollars spent on feed, $130,000 on chickens, $300,000 in
processing.
Another way to look at it is that every broiler ranch is
a small factory. For instance, Ray Elliott, Grants Pass, presi
dent of the Rogue Valley Broiler Growers association, plans
to have 90,000 birds this spring. That means he will use
220 tons of feed a year. It takes 2V4 pounds of feed to
produce one pound on a fryer. The broiler industry has
probably one of the more efficient farm factory systems.
Formerly, it took the growers nine weeks to feed out a
young fryer and ready it for market, then eight weeks, and
five days, and now eight weeks and two days. The quicker
the bird goes to market the less chance of disease and a lower
mortality rate. This also means a better feed conversion.
The broiler growers prefer a hybrid "red" bird such as
the Nichols 108 for the female and the White Rock Cornish
bred for the male.- This is probably the most rapidly chang
ing farm' industry with new developments every day. Auto
matic waterers and feeders are developments of recent years.
Constant experiments are going on at Oregon State colllege
and other poultry research centers to develop more of a meat
type bird.
Local advantages for the broiler industry are Inexpensive
building materials, dry, mild climate. To help lick the high
cost of feed corn is now being growing more extensively
in the Mid-Columbia valley and freighted down by barge
on the Columbia river. More corn is also being grown in
the Willamette valley plus soybeans.
Fryers are finding wider U.S. acceptance, it was pointed
out. In 1934 the United States had 34 million fryers. In
1961 there are 2 billion. During that time, consumption of
fried chicken per person has risen from 1V4 ounces to 30
pounds. However, broiler growers like everyone eke have
been caught in the cost-price squeeze. Four years ago aver
age receipts to growers were 25 cents a bird. Now it is 10
cents a bird if a grower is lucky. Ultimate goal of each
grower is to develop a three-pound broiler from a 24-ounce
egg.
One of the highlights of the meeting Thursday night was
the research in the broiler industry conducted by Charles
M. Fischer, OSC poultry marketing specialist. His researchers
conducted a market survey of 520 families in July and
August last year.
His people found these main facts: Consumers associate
fryers mostly 'With the Fourth of July, Labor Day, guests
and birthdays. Fifty-five per cent had purchased fryers with
in the last seven days. Less than 3 per cent said they never
cook fryers. Approximately 46 per cent bought from inde
pendent stores and -51 per cent from chain stores. Three
main reasons for purchasing fryers were like them, price,
and ease of preparation. Things buyers look for in pur
chasing fryers were appearance, size, color, Oregon grown
and price.
Other things learned were: Sixty per cent considered
fryers every day food, 20 per cent for holidays and 14 per
cent saw no difference. Most of the fryer buyers pan fried
the birds, 42 per cent oven fried them and 23 per cent baked
them. Most of the consumers preferred 2V4 to 3 V4 pound
birds.
Western Oregon
Weed Series Set
On March 28
Salem - Eight western Ore
gon towns will be focal points
for weed meetings scheduled
between March 28 and April
7 by the state agriculture and
highway departments and
Oregon State college.
Keyed around highway em
ployees who use herbicides
(chemical weed killers) and
soil sterilants, sessions will be
open to others interested, in
cluding licensed chemical
spray applicators and .anyone
else engaged in these opera
tions.
The schedule of meeting
places, with 10 a.m. the open
ing hour:
Eugene - March 28, court
house auditorium basement
south of the county court
house proper.
Roseburg-March 29, court
house auditorium.
Medford-March 30, Bigham
hall, fairgrounds.
Klamath Falls - March 31,
lecture room, fairgrounds.
Portland - April 4, recrea
tion room, Banfield mainte
nance station, 5821 NE Glisan
St.
Hillsboro-April 5, upstairs
in city hall.
Tillamook-April 6, YMCA
auditorium.
Salem - April 7, conference
room, state department of
agriculture, 158 12th, NE.
With the exception of lo
calized weed problems which
will be described by the re
spective county agent presid
ing at each session, the same
program features will carry
through the series.
W. H. Kosesan and J. F.
Svinth of the state highway
landscape section at Salem
will describe vegetation con
trols and seed and mulch for
erosion and vegetation con
trol. Rex Warren of' the ex
tension service, Corvallis,
will give a review of chemi
cals and spraying. Ray Kelso,
herbicide control supervisor
for the state department of
agriculture, will talk on the
herbicide application control
law and review damages re
ported the past season.
An examination period will
conclude each session. Dur
ing this those who desire may
take the state applicator
tests or renew their licenses,
Kelso states.
These sessions to help sprays
ers keep abreast have been
held annually since 1954 and
alternated between eastern
and western Oregon in the
last few years.
Fewer But More, Hatcheries Show Throughout State
Fifty-three per cent knew they had purchased their
last fryers from Oregon broilers, and 37 per cent didn't know.
Sixty-two per cent thought fryers should be labelled as to
state of origin and 30 per cent said it didn't matter. Such
a label indicated freshness to 38 per cent, 29 per cent thought
it meant people should buy Oregon products and 28 per cent
were just curious. Forty-one per cent bought Oregon fryers
because it indicates freshness and 37 per cent because they
thought they should patronize their own state. Forty-seven
per cent would be willing to pay 2 cents per pound more for
getting Oregon fryers and 33 per cent were unwilling.
Now, Oregon broiler growers produce 65 to 70 per cent
of the birds consumed in this state. This means that about
30 per cent of the fryers eaten in this state are imported
compared to approximately 50 per cent in earlier years.
In other words, 30 per cent more of Oregon consumers could
be eating Oregon grown birds. The big difference between
the huge integrated broiler industry in the southern states
and Oregon's is cost of production chiefly labor. There's
a lot of difference between 50 cents and a dollar an hour.
So, this means even more mechanization for Oregon growers.
Generally, the poultry industry's curse Is overproduction.
The College Poultry Survey- committee reports overexpan
inn in all types of poultry production . . . eggs, turkeys and
broilers .... and resulting In sharp drops in prices and
earnings.
This group of experts from several colleges in the mid
west and east is considered authoritative. Sad to say, the
committee reports that neither sales promotion nor adver
tise campaigns can completely offset the flood of poultry
products now expected. Farmers, nationwide, will have to
cut back their production as planned or lee real marketing
Farm Pond Study
On Best Fishing
Underway at OSU
Corvallis - Readers who
dream of playingjiooky to go
fishing will envy a group of
Oregon State College re
searchers who plan to do
some bass fishing on office
hours this spring.
But they don't have to
sneak off to do it. The expe
dition is on the up and up,
explained Carl E. Bond, asso
ciate professor of fish and
game management. The sci
entists want to see which of
four experimental ponds north
of Corvallis provide the best
fishing.
Two of the ponds are stock
ed with both bass and bluegill.
The other two are stocked just
with bass. Main purpose of
the study is to compare rate
of growth and survival rate.
Bond pointed out that "the
books say bass eat bluegill.
This implies that bass in the
bass-and-bluegill ponds would
grow faster than those in bass
only ponds. But this theory
doesn't seem to hold true in
the OSC experimental ponds."
Started Last Spring
The study started last
spring and will continue
through the coming summer,
so results aren't complete yet.
However, the rate of growth
for all four ponds was nearly
the same the first year. Grad
uate student Harold Hansen
is working with Bond on the
study.
An earlier experiment on
the Soap Creek ponds showed
production was 12 times great
er In the pond where enough
nitrogen and phosphorus fer
tilizer was added than in the
pond with no fertilizer added.
The fertilizer increased
growth of natural fish foods
which gave the fish more to
eat, and increased their weight
correspondingly. Graduate
students working with Bond
in this study were Dave Mc-
Intyre and Gary Isaac.
Farmers interested In fur
ther information about ferti
lizer use in farm fish ponds
should contact their county
extension agent or Andrew S.
Landforce, OSC e x t e n sion
wildlife management special
ist, Corvallis.
Salem-Chicken and turkey
hatcheries are not immune to
the new agricultural trend
wrapped up in the now fa
miliar words "fewer but
more."
In other words, fewer peo
ple are producing, more baby
chicks and more- turkey
poults. This is evident in the
current member compilation
of the Oregon Poultry Im
provement plan and its coun
terpart plan for turkeys.
Earl Reitsma, supervisor
for these two programs of the
state department of agricul
ture, says that today 36 hatch
eries and dealers, with a 3,
920,500 chick capacity, are en
rolled In the program. Ten
years ago 61 hatcheries had a
combined capacity of 3,668,
916. What's more, most of the
hatcheries are turning out
chicks the year around,
though not necessarily to full
capacity for every run. Ten
years ago a three-month op
erating schedule was the gen
eral rule.
Turkays in Pattern
Changes in turkey hatch
eries follow much the same
pattern as for chicks. Ten
years ago 38 hatcheries and
dealers were in the program,
today only 21. Combined ca
pacity for poults is down,
however, from 2,778,000 10
years ago to 2,138,782 at the
count this year.
One thing has remained
fairly constant in the poultry
records. That is the demand,
as reflected in the hatchery
output, for White Leghorns.
They remain the favorite for
laying flocks. On the other
hand, great changes have oc
curred in the breeds used pri
marily for broiler production
compared with 10 years ago.
The bottom has virtually
dropped out of the demand
fo:- the older standbys, the
Rhode Island Reds and Bar
red Rocks; today the broiler
hatch Is mostly crossbreds.
Hampshires, too, are next
door to passe in hatcheries,
with 11,950, represented in
this breed on Uie 1959-60 pro
gram compared with 219,923
in 1949-50.
Incidentally, t h e poultry
improvement plan, a coopera
tive voluntary program with
the national plan, embraces
00 per cent of the hatcheries
in the state.
Some switches have occur
red also in turkey breeds. The
big broad breasted bronze has
continued the favorite
through the years but this
year no miscellaneous breeds
are enrolled in the turkey
program. On a 10-year basis,
the large whites have gained
ground (1,850 vs 13,558 breed
ers), as have the Beltsville
Whites (5,080 vs 23,657).
Turkey breeder hens under
the plan this ye, total 251,.
884 or 55,000 more than last
year.
f COMPETITIVE f rf
I PRICES- I mJTfLM
; Y PLUS I lmm4jlimt J
. DUALITY Nwtyireiiin'
The R. A. Holmes Agency
SINCE 1909
Medical Center Bldg. Phone SP 2-4444
A University of Illinois
dairy specialist found many
dairy feeds to be low in salt
He recommends that all dairy
cattle be given constant free
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