Farm Focus
STEERS AND STEAKS
What did you think last time you
picked up a piece of beef in the
grocery store? If you were like
most people, the first thing you
noticed was the price and cost per
pound.
Probably the first thing that
came to your mind was that you
sure would like to have some cattle
of your own. Or maybe you
thought, old Farmer Jones must
really be raking in the money with
the cattle he sells. Well, you are
wrong.
In fact, the price that most cattle
producers are getting today is a
breakeven or very low profit price.
You see, a steer is not all steaks.
The fact that the poundage of
retail beef cuts from a steer is
usually less than half his body
weight probably never entered
your mind. A carcass will weigh
about 61. 5% of an animal's live
weight.
Then about 18.3?7# of that car
cass will be trimmed awav as fat
and bone. The end result will be
about 43.2 of the steer's live
weight being sold as retail beef
cuts. On a steer that started as a
1,000 pound live animal, that
would translate into 432 pounds of
retail beef.
If you think about that 1,000
pound steer, there are still 385
pounds of the animal's liveweight
unaccounted for. Of that, 27
pounds will be "variety meats."
These are the liver, heart,
tongue, tripe, sweetbreads and
brains.
The majority of the rest of the
carcass will go into cosmetics,
clothing, medicines, and many
manufactured goods.
The price you pay in the store
will be made-up of the price the
producer received, the cost of pro
cessing the animal and other costs
such as refrigeration, transporta
tion, rent, taxes, and labor.
So you can see just as you buy
only a small part of the animal a
farmer produces, he gets in return
only a small part of what you pay
for the product.
AGRICULTURAL TERMS
The terms preseated this week
apply to horses:
Foal: A young horse less than
one year old.
Colt: A male foal.
Filly: A female foal up to three
years old.
Mare: A mature female horse.
Stallion: An unaltered male
horse.
Gelding: An altered or castrated
male horse.
Suckling: A nursing foal.
Weanling: A weaned foal.
Pony: A horse under 14.2 hands
in height.
Hand: A measure of the height
of horses ? A hand's breadth
equals 4 inches.
Horse: A general term for an
animal of the horse kind. It
sometimes refers to an animal over
14.2 hands in height.
Hoke Agricultural
Extension Noun
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PRICE OUTLOOK
You may be smiling at the super
market checkout counter this year.
For food prices may go up only
four to six percent.
Why the optimistic predictions?
Well that bumper grain harvest we
had last year should help keep the
price of groceries stable in 1983.
And that same grain supply should
encourage farmers and ranchers to
produce more beef, pork and
poultry. Increased meat supplies
should mean stable or lower meat
prices later in the year.
If you like to eat out, you should
find restaurant and fast food
prices pretty stable -- maybe a five
to-six percent increase.
Of course there's always a
danger in being a predictor. You
never know what the weather will
do. If we run into unusually cold
weather and the citrus and
vegetable crops freeze - prices will
go up.
SAVE MORE
Millions of middle income
Americans are changing their
financial lifestyles ? some folks
might say for the better.
Concerns about unemployment
and a shaky economy have turned
lots of people into savers - many
of them for the first time in their
lives. Other families are finding
out that "Yes. it is possible to live
without credit."
Now many middle income
families are saving at least seven
percent of their income -- two
years ago they saved less than six
percent.
An installment debt as a percen
tage of disposable income is at a
ten-year low.
The way economists see it, these
trends should continue. Middle in
come families aren't likely to go on
a spending spree very soon. In
stead they expect a slow revival of
consumer spending.
NET WORTH
The end of the old year, the start
of the new, is a good time to figure
your financial worth. A net worth
statement will show you what you
own ? assets ? and what you owe
-- liabilities.
This statement can be useful
when applying for a loan, deter
mining insurance coverage for
valuables, plotting financial
growth and making plans for
future investments.
To determine net worth, make a
list of your assets. Include cash on
hand, money in savings accounts,
cash values of life insurance
policies, real property and the
market value of possessions that
can be resold.
Next list liabilities including cur
rent bills, balance due on all charge
accounts, loans and your home
mortgage.
Subtract your liabilities from
your assets.
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Garden
PLANT FOR FUTURE ? In just 8 or 10 years, pine trees can provide natural beaut ificat ion and add to property
values.
Hoke Soil & Water Conservation District
Pint Trees Beautify and Protect
Now is the time to order your
pine trees for planting during
January and February. For forests
and small woodlots on good or
average soils we recommend
Loblolly pine. They are the stan
dard pine seen throughout Hoke
County and grow fast for pulp
wood, sawtimber and windbreaks.
On sandier soils we advise plant
ing Longleaf pine which grows
slower but is a better survivor dur
ing droughty periods.
If you are a small landowner in
terested in home beautification or
Christmas trees, we have white
pine available.
These have a whitish tint and
look nice planted in the yard. They
may need watering during dry
spells but otherwise they do well in
this area.
Call the Hoke Soil and Water
District office for more informa
tion and to place your order - big
or small. The white pines are .05
each and the loblollv and londeaf
are .03 each. Please call 875-8685
from 8:00 to 5:00 on Tuesdays,
Wednesdays, and Thursdays for
more information.
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