SEGMENT: CHANGES IN FARM BUSINESS
David Seibert>LPL Interviews N-Z>LPL Interviews K-Z, Segment 9
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- CHANGES IN FARM BUSINESS
- Changes in farming since 1968. 130,000 farms in 1968; now have 72,000. Consolidation into larger farms. Increase in acreage from 227 to 377 per farm. Cow-calf operations numbered 35,000 in 1968 now 14,700. Increase from 20-30 cows, now have 500-600 each. Hog farms have changed the most. 1968 there were 53,000 operations. Now there are 2800. The numbers of hogs each went from 119 to 1400 slaughtered per operation. Dairy production was 18,000 operations. Now there are 1200. From 18 cows each to 86. Same thing for sheep, turkeys. He specializes in beef and there are still lots of farms to work with. In the state and country, there has been an overall reduction in numbers of animals marketed. Weights of each animal have gone way up - 900 went to 1300 pound animals. Sows had 16 pigs, now have gone to 37 per hogs. More milk per cow. Only one packing plant in Chicago; Rollerpack. Feeding belt used to be in the corn belt. Feed lots moved west to Kansas, Nebraska, TX, Colorado. We export lots of grain downriver. Corn prices higher than in the west. They started irrigating there too. Packers moved out west, too.
