Full text of Agricultural News Letter : Vol. 10, No. 3

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AGRICULTURAL
NEWS LETTER
F E D E R A L

R E S E R V E

B A N K

OF

D A L L A S

Vol. 10, No. 3________________________ DALLAS, TEXAS___________________________March 15, 1955

FINANCING TEXAS BROILER PRODUCTION
In order to determine the influence of opinion that their financing had benefited
financing on the Texas broiler industry, a the industry, but a majority expressed the
survey was conducted by Texas A. & M. desire to have banks handle all loans di­
College during the summer of 1954. Twenty- rectly. The A. & M. College study reports
nine agencies supplying credit to Texas that banks generally prefer to advance credit
broiler producers were contacted — includ­ to local feed dealers, who, in turn, finance
ing feed dealers and manufacturers, banks, the growers.
processors, and production credit associa­
Service charges for financing used by 14
tions.
feed dealers were:
The study indicates that feed dealers and
14 percent charged .5 cent a chick
manufacturers were financing directly 90
percent of the broiler producers. Most of the
58 percent charged 1 cent a chick
dealers and manufacturers stated that they
14 percent charged 1.5 cents a chick
started financing broiler flocks because pro­
14 percent charged 6-percent interest
ducers could not obtain credit elsewhere or
because competition from other feed dealers
Discounts were given to growers who paid
made it necessary to provide the financing
service in order to sell feed and other sup­ cash for feed and chicks and who hauled
their feed. Discounts ranging from 10 cents
plies to producers.
to 25 cents per hundredweight for feed
were
reported or, in some cases, 3 percent
As feed dealers attempted to increase
of
the
feed costs. An additional 10-cent re­
sales of feed and supplies, particularly when
duction
per hundredweight was made to
low prices to producers reduced output,
producers
who hauled their feed. Two
credit requirements were relaxed and easier
dealers
said
that they allowed a discount of
terms were offered to broiler growers. In
1
cent
per
chick
to cash buyers.
spite of the recognition by lenders of the
destabilizing effect that feed-dealer financing
Typically, credit was issued to broiler
has upon the broiler market, competition and
high fixed costs have led them to continue growers under the following conditions.
these practices.
The feed dealer provided the feed,
Financial worth, credit rating, production chicks, and other items necessary to produce
experience, and a chattel mortgage on the a brood of broilers, and the grower pro­
birds are the main requirements of feed vided the houses, equipment, and labor. A
dealers for extending credit. Banks require written contract was executed, and the
a more thorough credit investigation and lender took a chattel mortgage on the birds.
more security than do the feed dealers. Most The dealer supervised management prac­
feed manufacturers and dealers were of the tices.

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

The feed dealer made the marketing ar­
rangements, and, upon sale of the birds, the
check was drawn in favor of the dealer or
jointly to the dealer and grower. After de­
ductions for costs of the brood, the re­
mainder of the proceeds went to the grower.
In case of losses, the dealer carried the
deficit over to the next brood. Some dealers
carried “guarantee no-loss plans.”

duction of forage for livestock, according
to A. H. Walker, Extension range manage­
ment specialist of Texas A. & M. College.
Winter is an ideal time to kill unwanted
hardwoods, and either 2,4,5-T or ammate
is recommended. The cheapest and most
effective results usually are obtained when
2,4,5-T is dissolved in diesel oil or kerosene.

The strength of the solution depends
Under this arrangement, the grower suf­ upon the kind of trees and the method of
fered no loss except labor costs, but the treatment. In central and east Texas, 1
costs of the chicks were increased from .5 pound of 2,4,5-T in 9 gallons of diesel oil
cent to 1 cent a chick more than the per- applied in frills (overlapping ax cuts) has
chick costs to producers not covered by the given economical, high-percentage kills. The
no-loss plan.
overlapping ax cuts should completely en­
circle the tree. Trees treated in the fall do
The report points out several disadvan­ not show as high-percentage kills as those
tages to the type of broiler financing preva­ treated during the winter.
lent when the study was made. These are
discussed below.
Fertilizers Pay in Rolling Plains
Marginal growers have been kept in busi­
ness, and lower prices have prevailed be­
cause of production in excess of the amount
which could be marketed profitably. Effi­
cient producers are dropping out because of
decreasing returns, and an increase in the
number of part-time growers is taking place.
Many of the management decisions have
been taken over by feed suppliers as much
of the risk has been transferred from grower
to feed dealer, and growers have less in­
centive to increase efficiency. The number
of cash customers is decreasing, since they
feel that present discounts on feed and
chicks do not compensate for the better serv­
ice and marketing arrangements supplied to
growers using feed-dealer credit.
The Texas A. & M. scientists conclude
that easier financing and continuing growth
in the consumer’s use of poultry meat have
been largely responsible for the rapid
growth of the Texas broiler industry in recent
years.

Kill Hardwoods Now
Undesirable hardwoods are using mois­
ture and plant minerals needed for the pro­

of Texas
Returns of $5 from cotton and $2 from
castor beans and grain sorghums for each
$1 spent for fertilizer were realized in ex­
periments in the Rolling Plains of Texas,
reports a recent release of Texas A. & M.
College.
As a result of the tests conducted on the
farm of H. J. Tabor, south of Chillicothe,
Texas, it is recommended that an applica­
tion of 30 pounds each of nitrogen, phos­
phorus, and potassium be applied to cotton,
castor beans, and sorghums grown on the
light, sandy soils in the Rolling Plains areas.
Fertilizer tests on cotton were conducted
from 1949 through 1953 on an area of
Miles sand. No data were obtained from
the 1950 cotton crop as a result of an un­
controllable infestation of boll weevils.
Nitrogen was found to be the limiting
factor in the production of cotton. Apply­
ing 30 pounds of nitrogen increased yields
as effectively as an application of 60 pounds.
After the nitrogen requirement was met,
cotton responded to phosphorus and potas­
sium applied in combination. There was no

AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

response to either phosphorus or potassium
applied alone.
The highest average yield obtained was
460 pounds of lint cotton when 60 pounds
each of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potas­
sium, plus 5 tons of barnyard manure, were
applied. However, the tests indicate that an
application of 60 pounds of nitrogen each
year is excessive for the moisture conditions
in the area.
The results of fertilizer tests on yields of
castor beans during 1951 and 1953 were
similar to those of cotton. Nitrogen was the
most deficient plant food. An application of
30 pounds of nitrogen was almost as effec­
tive in increasing yields as 60 pounds. Best
results were obtained when all three of the
major plant foods were used in combination.
In 1951 and 1953, sorghum yields in­
creased with the first application of 30
pounds of nitrogen. A further increase in
yields was noted with the application of
phosphorus and potassium in combination.
Although maximum production was ob­
tained when 60 pounds each of the three
fertilizers were applied, an application of
only 30 pounds each was almost as effective.
The A. & M. College tests indicate that,
in dry years, crops produce better in the
Chillicothe area on coarse-textured soils
than on soils with fine textures. Since mois­
ture generally is limited in the area, the use
of fertilizer on clay soils is more hazardous
than on sandier soils.

3

Control Cotton Insects!
Insect damage cost Texas cotton
farmers $561,389,400 from 1949
through 1953, according to National
Cotton Council estimates published by
the Texas Cottonseed Crushers Asso­
ciation. The lowered cotton yields, be­
cause of insect damage, reduced pro­
duction an estimated 2,816,350 bales
of lint and 1,175,200 tons of seed
during the 5-year period.
Guides for controlling injurious cot­
ton pests are available at county agents’
offices in all states of the Eleventh
Federal Reserve District. They also
can be obtained from state agricultural
colleges.

a skippy stand may result if cotton seed are
not covered to the right depths.
The emergence of cotton seedlings as
affected by depth of covering was studied at
the Lubbock Substation in 1951 and again
in 1953. In the 1951 tests, plantings of
Stormmaster seed were made on May 24,
and emergence counts were made on May
29, May 31, June 2, and June 6.
The test blocks were wet thoroughly with
a garden sprinkler after planting to insure
compaction and crusting above the seed.
Acid-delinted seed was used at a planting
rate equivalent to 39 pounds of seed per
acre.

Don’t Plant Cotton Too Deep
Cotton growers in the High Plains of
Texas tend to plant their cotton seed too
deep, according to a progress report by the
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.
As a result of tests on the Texas High
Plains, it was concluded that the optimum
covering depth for cotton seed for best
emergence and yield is 1 to 2 inches. Even
if moisture and seedbed conditions are ideal,

The greatest percentage of the cotton
plants emerging after 13 days were in those
plots covered to a depth of 1 to 2 inches.
A significant difference was noted in the
percentage of emerging plants which were
covered only Vi inch and those covered 3
inches.
In the 1953 test, irrigated plots were
planted on May 22 at the rate of 30 pounds
of chemically delinted seed per acre. These

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AGRICULTURAL NEWS LETTER

plots were not sprinkled, and no rainfall
occurred until June 19.

Spraying chlorotic plants as late as early
head formation will increase grain produc­
tion. When normal sorghum was sprayed
In addition to obtaining data on the per­ not more than three or four times, the plants
centage emergence of the cotton plants, were healthier and grew faster than plants
yield information also was obtained. The re­ in unsprayed rows.
sults of this test showed that, when seed
were covered to a depth of 4 inches, they
The standard spray used by the scientists
had a significantly lower initial emergence was a 2.5 percent copperas solution, plus
than at other covering depths. However, .01 percent wetting agent. The spray was
the final emergence was not lowered signifi­ applied at a rate of approximately 20 gal­
cantly. When the cotton seed were covered lons of spray per acre. Results of experi­
1 inch, the yield was significantly higher ments using a 5 percent copperas solution,
than when the seed were covered 4 inches. plus a wetting agent, indicate that this con­
centration would not reduce the forage pro­
duction of Early Hegari.
Check Sorghum Chlorosis
Various soil treatments have been tested
Sorghum chlorosis (iron de­
ficiency) can be controlled if ef­ in an effort to determine their usefulness
fective measures are taken early in the control of chlorosis. A few of the
enough, agronomists at the Bee- materials gave some degree of control and
ville, Texas, A gricultural Ex­ maintained a good stand of plants through­
periment Substation report in a out the test plots, but in no case did they
compare favorably with a good spray
recent release.
schedule.
Continuing work begun in 1951, the ag­
ronomists have found that a 2.5 to 5 per­
Publications
cent copperas solution, with a wetting agent,
applied to plants within 10 days after plant Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station,
emergence is necessary for effective control Stillwater:
of chlorosis. In many areas of the Rio
Studies on Winter Rations for Commer­
Grande Plain, the successful control of
cial Beef Cows, Bulletin No. B-418, by
sorghum chlorosis requires that the first
A.
B. Nelson and others.
application of copperas be made before the
plants become stunted. The first spraying
The Effect of Harvest Practices on the
should be followed by a second application
Performance of Alfalfa, Bulletin No.
within 14 days.
B-433, by Hugo O. Graumann and
others.
Since it is not possible to determine in
Dorman Soybeans for Oklahoma, Bulletin
advance where chlorosis will develop
No. B-413, by Ralph S. Matlock.
severely enough to stunt young plants, these
first two sprayings should be applied over
Crop and Livestock Opportunities on
the entire field. Any subsequent spraying
Eastern Oklahoma Prairie Land Farms,
should be varied in accordance with field
Bulletin No. B-430.
observation. So far, three or four sprayings
have resulted in good control of sorghum
Copies of the bulletins may be obtained
chlorosis. Third or fourth sprays should be by request to the publishers.
applied only in those areas where yellowstreaked plants develop. This yellowing
usually will not develop in less than 14 days,
The Agricultural News Letter is prepared in
the Research Department under the direction
and it may take up to 35 days for it to
of J. Z. R owe, Agricultural Economist.
appear after the second spraying.

f