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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1963)
THURSDAY. OCTOBER 24. 1963 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON Georgia Hills Farmer Found in Middle of Chicken War ... . . . ... i .1.. u ..n;A t.i;nrt tn ana (mm a hnv nf 17 In a . "Vnn pan gpa the wav wn I fhp nnlv nrnhlpm T cmt tn fap.M i fhp ppcc Mnw hp savs with (hp , nroHuction and other Drnhlpm.4 By N. C. CIIRISS linked Press International CANTON, Ga. (UPI) - Al most anyway you look at it tried, roasted, barbecued or just pecking in the branyard the lowly chicken has become a cause celebrc. For a creature credited with as much sense as a fence post, 'he chicken has caused angry resolutions, international con ferences, financial wrang ling and some harsh words between the V. S. poultry industry and (he European Economic Com munity (EEC). What has now become known as "the chicken war" began last year when the EEC, better known as the Common Market (or as the "monster we spon sor" by some American critics), upped the tariff on U. S. chicken imports by about eight cents a pound. ' Depending on his economic well - being, almost everyone in the multi - million dollar poul try industry in this country has a different slant on the chicken demarche. But if there is a man caught squarely In the middle of what has become a tremendously complicated problem, it is prob ably the man down on the farm where the chickens are raised. In the rolling wooded hilts of northwest Georgia, for ex ample, there is Grady Chad wick, 40, a soft-spoken farmer who has spent all his life near the good earth, trying to scratch a living from it. Scenery Excclls Some of the most beautiful scenery in the country can be found in the hills and mountains of North Georgia, but the land has never done much to provide a livelihood for the people who live there. Chadwick's home Is in Chero kee County which claims to be the biggest broiler - producing area in the world. The popula tion is split pretty much down the middle:e!lhcr you work in one of the few factories within commuting distance or else you farm chickens. The transformation from cash colton crops to poultry raising began some 30 years ago when the farmers, like Chadwick's father, used to till the rugged hills to raise cotton. "Lord, It was hard work," Chadwick recalled. The rural area around Can ton is still dotted with the rustic unpainted two - room houses of the sharecroppers. A washing machine sits on the porch and lean and weather - beaten old men sit on the front porch look ing aimlessly at the highway. Chickens did much to change this. Chadwick's longest sojourn away from his native hills was din ing World War II, including the Battle of the Bulge. And in a way he is doing battle with the Germans again, this time in the "the chicken war." Income to Drop Chadwick says his i n c o m e will dron $1,200 this year, direct ly he contends, because t h e Common Market raised the tar iffs and slashed U. S. poultry imports. Accustomed to raising five flocks of 23,700 broilers annual ly, Chadwick says this year he will raise only (our. He admits he is only dimly aware of what the Common Market is or who tlio members are. "To me It's just a new prob lem," he said. "But it does seem," he added in his quiet voice, "that we could continue to sell broilers to them and thev could sell something to us that they pro duce cheap. The one member of the Com mon Market which Chadwick was sure of, was West Germany once the biggest importer oi u. s. poultry. Chadwick's understanding of the tariff increase is that West Germany and the other five member nations are seeking to encourage poultry raising in their own barnyards. I guess I can't blame them," he said simply. However I know it will take them a long time to be able to produce broilers as cheaply and in such quantities as we do. Seems they could let us con tinue," he said. Started in 1916 Chadwick bought his first 80 acre farm in 1946. In 1955 he purchased another of 235 acres, in 1958 a third of 80 acres and in 1960 his fourth farm, 119 acres. He paid $4,000 for the 235 acres, and recently, he said, he was offered that amount for 80 acres of it. "I think I'll hang on to it for a while," he said. Chadwick, who quit high school in the 10th grade ("most all the older boys had gone into the Army, and there was a lot of work to be done on the farm"), has four children rang ing in age from a boy of 17 to a girl of 4. "I work about an average of 10 to 12 hours a day and on Sun day I usually get by with only 4 or 5 hours of work," he said. He and his family live in a modest white house and he drives a pick-up truck and a Chevrolet that saw its heyday a dozen years ago. You can see the way we live," he said. "It ain't much." Despite the slump, Chadwick is building a large new chicken house with the help of a share cropper who, with Chadwick's wife and children, help him tend the four farms of chickens, a few cattle and acres of rich green pastureland. "The Common Market isn't the only problem I got to face," he said. "Right now I'm having to wait about six weeks before I get my new flock of chicks. I don't be lieve I've ever had to wait that long before." The reason for the delay is over - production. Chadwick had been making some money by raising brooder hens and selling the eggs. Now he says, with the Common Market slash, and the market glut, that income also is going out the window. Right now it costs Chadwick 14 cents per pound to raise his chickens, and he is being paid 12'k cents. This is not perma nent, Chadwick hopes, only the result of a slump caused by the Common Market tariff, over production and other problems in the industry. He has earned much better and hopes to do so again. "When you've worked hard for 15 to 20 years, you don't just throw up your hands and quit because you hit a rough spot," he said. "You just keep plugging away. That's what I'm doing." Mass Rail Transit Said Fund Threat PORTLAND (UPI) The executive director of the Na tional Highway Users Confer ence warned Tuesday that pro ponents of mass rail transit systems are a threat to high way building funds. Arthur Butler told the Oregon chapter of the conference that a constant walch is required to prevent rail transit advocates from diverting funds from road building. He lauded the 13 Oregon Legislature (or defeating a bill which would have authorized purchase of expanded freeway center strips for monorail o r other rail transit use an ex ample, he said, of efforts t o divert highway money u n- obtrusively. Butler, of Washington, D.C., also praised Portland's freeway system, which he says "opens tip the city and gives It a clean, spacious appearance." About 81 per cent of the U.S. labor force works for wages and about 19 per cent it self-employ, ed. U.S. railroads In 1954 estab lished a passenger fatality safe ty mark of only .07 per 100 mil lion passenger miles. 1MU U1T SALE FRIDAY NITE AT WEEKS & ORR! AMI EARLY Charm Of The Past Comhiied With All Foam Filled Modern Comfort. . Choke Of Colonial Prints Or Tweeds-Scotch Guard Treated Custom-Made AMERICANA Giant 96" SOFA: 3 re versible zippered foam cushions, all foam semi attached back cushions, button tufted, solid maple wood Irim-contour wings. 96"x34"x37" high. Your Choice of 3 SOFAS... MOON LIGHT SPECIAL! 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Entertainmentl At Medford Armory October 25-26-27 Rummage Sale! Bazaarl Art Showl Kiddielandl 4 0
