FARM EQUIPMENT

Co-sponsor, Dairy Production Proficiency Award

October-November,1976

They had

a pizzaparty at theirad- visor's house to honor top Aplington, Iowa, Chapterfruitsalesmen.

N-N-N

A young

farmerand former

member

of

Lower

Dauphin, Pennsylvania,

Chap-

terhiredhis chapterto

hand

catchpul- letsoutofhis

new

40,000unit.

N-'N-N

Two members

ofMission Viejo, Cal- ifornia, will beraising the firstpigs in ten years

on

their

farm

thisyear.

N-'N-N

Owen

^Poole, a Virginia State

FFA

vicepresident,

was

theNational

Youth

Representative for

FFA

at the

Amer-

ican Institute of Cooperation in July.

N-N-N

Members

of

The

Dalles, Oregon, Chapter areanxious after recent

bond

issuefora

new

vocationalfacility.

N-N-N

The FFA

^chapter

and

the alumni affiliate

from New

Holstein,Wisconsin, splitadouble-headerSoftballchallenge.

N-N-N

Besides their old machinery display, greased pig scramble

and

float in the town'sBicentennial celebration,Prague, Nebraska, helped clean

up

afterwards.

N-N-N

A

vo-ag Olympics

was

held

by Wapa-

nucka,

Oklahoma,

for200.Skillstested were tractor operation,parking trailer, weight lifting, stacking hay, climbing rope, fly casting,

wood

chopping, post throwing and rathitting.

N-N-N

SouthShelby, Missouri,

members and

guests enjoyed having the National President as banquet speaker.

N-N-N

Worcester, Massachusetts, planted a

"liberty tree" as a Bicentennial gift to their high school.

Seniors in Alden, Iowa, served a facultybreakfast.

Freshmen

cleanedup.

N-N-N

A

committee of the

whole —

¹⁰⁰

members — was

invitedto

work on

the Walhalla,

North

Dakota,float.

N-N-N

Redwood

planters

were

built

and

filled with flowers for outside area of localstores

by

Cresco,Iowa.

48

Two

of the

new

National Junior Polled Hereford Council

members

are FFA'ers.

Chairman Glenn

Werry, Jr., is

from

Farmington, Illinois. Secretary is

Robin Ray

Russell of

Camden,

Ar- kansas.

N-'N-N

Hort team from

ClayCity,Iowa,pre- paring for contest toured nurseries.

N-N-N

Seven

members and

their advisor

from

Chohio-Alberta, Minnesota, ^vis- itedthe

Hobson, Montana,

Chapter.

N-N-N

Gary

Schinagel, reporter for Shef- field, Iowa, writes of recent chapter visittoNational DiseaseLabsin

Ames.

Saw many

studies of curing animals.

BOAC

project for Lebanon,

Con-

necticut,

was

planting a descendant of theCharter

Oak

ata local landmark.

N-N-N

Every

chapter should considerpass- ing out Official 1977

FFA

Calendars in their area.

N-N-N

James Magee,

Jr.

and

Jamie

Magee

accepted the state best chapter

award

forSlidell, Louisiana, at state conven- tion.Theiradvisoris

James Magee,

Sr.

N-N-N

"We're planning to rent the 'Y' for a night of recreation."Royal, Iowa.

N-N-N

The

Bicentennialfloat

by

South Car-

roll,Maryland, Chapter took second.

N-N-N

As

of July, 1976,the largestchapter in the U.S.

was

Battle

Ground, Wash-

ington, with 751

members.

N-N-N

Then comes W.

B.Saul in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, with 455; Kelso, Washington, with357; Moultrie, Geor- gia, with 343

and

South Panola in Batesville, Mississippi, with 334.

N-N-N

FFA'ers

atMadelia, Minnesota, took part in a controlled burning of a 20- acre marsh.

N-N-N

Vic

Thompson

wrote that

FFA

painted

new

red, white

and

blue trash barrelsforPrattsburg,

New

York.

FFA

gavea

program

to the

Manson,

Iowa, Kiwanis

Club on

parliamentary procedure

and hog

judging.

N-'N-N

Winthrop, Minnesota, Chapter offi- cerstookacanoetrip

down

the

Minne-

sotaRiver

and

heldanofficermeeting.

N-N-N

There

were

72

Gretna, Virginia, Ju- nior Chapter

members

^at their

sum- mer

meeting

and

picnic.

Chow was

organized

by Lynn

Arrington

and

each

member had

prepaid beforeschool

was

outinthe spring.

N-N-N

The

automobilesafetycheck held

by

Delaware, Ohio,

FFA was

in coopera- tionwiththecitypolicedepartment.

N-N-N

Drummond, Oklahoma, FFA ^was

rec- ognized in

BOAC

forbuilding a place tokeeplivestock projects.

N-N-N

Looking

forward to

more

story de- tailsaboutthe

20-member

Santa Ynez, California,

FFA

fishing trip into the Sierras

from

reporter

Harmon

Kaslow.

N-N-N

Winthrop, Minnesota,

members

are restoringa1938Allis

Chalmers

tractor.

N-N-N

Spencer, Iowa, bought

two Simmen-

tal bred heifers to start a beef chain.

N-N-N

The King

George, Virginia, Chapter

"held"a

summer

meeting

and

cookout.

Then

the usual ball

games and

horse- shoes erupted.

N-N-N

An FFA gun

club hasbeen

formed

at Capital, Washington.

They

sold Christmastreesto

buy

a 22-targetrifle.

Gun

safetyclassisinprogress.

N-'N-N

To honor

Laurens, Iowa,

members who

sold25 boxesoffruit,thechapter took'emtodinner

and

amovie.

N-N-N

It's gearing

up

time. Includeinyour

FFA

^plantosend news, notes ornon- sense to Scoop.

New

chapteractivities, success stories, ideas

on member

in- volvement,

funny

incidents, individual accomplishments.

TheNational

FUTURE FARMER

Marine Regular Marine Reserve

You'll startwith

tough

training.

Because nobody

likestofight, but

somebody has

to

know how. As a Marine

Regular,you'll

know how.

After

boot camp, depending on your occupational

spe- cialty,you'll

go

to

school

ortoon-the-jobtraining tolearn anything

from

air trafficcontrolto

telecommunications maintenance

to

food

services.

Or combat arms,

the

"cutting

edge"

ofthe

Corps.

Stick withit,

and

you'lltravel theUnited States

and

the world.

You could even be

partof

an em

bassy detachment

or

serve as a sea-going Marine aboard command

shipsofthe U.S. Navy.

Ships

like missilecruisers

and

aircraftcarriers.

The Marine Corps

offers

a

challenging,

good paying

occupation.

With

free

medical and

dental care.

And

thirty

days

paid vacation

every

year.

And something

else...thepridethat

comes

only with earning thetitle:

^^k

United States Marine.

Mailthe card, orcall

800-423-2600,

tollfree.In California

800-252-0241.

The Marines We're

looking

for

a few

1

good men

You'll startwith

tough

training.

Because nobody

likestofight, but

somebody has

to

know how. As a Marine

Reservist,you'll

know how.

After

boot camp,

you'll

continue your 130 days

of active

duty

with

more

training.Infieldslikeelectronics,

communica-

tions

and combat arms.

Allthe

same

opportunities that

Regular Marines

have.

Afterschool, you'll return

home

to

pursue a

civilian career. You'll attend drill

meetings one weekend a month and two weeks

of training

each summer so you can keep your Marine Corps

skillssharp,

your body

in

shape.

As a Marine

Reservist,you've got

a

challeng- ing,

good-paying,

part-timejob.

A

jobthat offers travel, skillstraining

and community

involvement.

And an

inner

confidence

that

has

to help

you

in

you

^'civiliancareer.

And something

else...the

pride

that

comes only

with

earning the

title:

United States Marine.

Mailthe card, orcall

800-423-2600,

tollfree.InCali- fornia

800-252-0241.

The Marines

|k We're

lookingfor

^k ^{a few good men.}

j

Flanked

by

the

World Championship

trophy, Bill proudly displays his

award

for being Central Region Runner-Up.

66TI/T

Y

goal?

To

betheworld

champion

auctioneer,"Bill ITJL Zobelsaysinthe

same

breath.

"When

I've reached that goal,I will justfindanother."

BillZobelatage

20

isoneof theyoungestactive auction- eersin thecountry. Butthisisjust

one

of

many

creditshe hasto his name. Since July ofthis yearhe has served as the executive secretary for thePoland

China Record

Asso- ciation,the oldestof the

American

swine breed registration groups.

A

1973 high school graduate,Bill has heldpositions

on two

different livestock magazines,

The Nebraska Farmer- Stockman and

theNational

Poland China

World.

Today

he servesas editorof the latteraspartofhis executive secre- tary duties.

But

BillZobel's storystartseven before highschoolgrad- uation.

He was

a student ofvocational agriculture and an

FFA member

in Creighton,Nebraska,under Advisor

Tony Wewel.

Hisfirst

FFA

office

was Greenhand

president.Later he

became

chapter reporter

and

president.

By

his senior year ofhigh school he

had 20

ewes,

40 head

of feeder steers and 43 registered sows.

At

graduation he

made

the decision that he

would

forego college to carry out his careerinproductionagriculturefulltime.

While pursuing his interests in livestock production,

Bill'scareerbegan to forkinto another aspect of thelive- stock business. In the

summer

of 1972 he attended the Superior School of Auctioneering in Decatur, Illinois.

Of

the approximately

30

students Bill graduated at the

head

ofhis class.

At

the ageof17 he

was

invited to appear

on

the

"To

Tell

The

Truth" television

show

as the youngest independent auctioneer in America. "I onlyfooled

one

of the panelists,"headmits.Butthatsmall failure

was

in sharp contrasttotheother successeshe

was

experiencing.

52

Bill's High

On

Auction Action

By Gary Bye

Mixing

his

new

found trade with^his

FFA

involvement, Bill served as auctioneer for 72 slave sales in

Nebraska

(where

FFA members

are auctionedoff for a

day

of labor as a chapter

money making

activity)."I didn't charge for

my

services that first year," Bill notes, "I did it just for the experience."

The

volunteer service paid off in

two

ways. One, his skills as an auctioneer

were honed

to the point that he

won

an honorable mention in the

World

Auctioneering

Championships

as the youngest contestant ever to enter.

Second, he

became

a familiar face

around

the state

and

that

summer was

elected state

FFA

vice president.

As

an officerhe spokeat

44

banquets

and

thatyearat

FFA

lead- ership

camp

he

won

the extemporaneous speaking contest forthesecondstraight year.

With

his involvement in public speaking growing, Bill began to consider thepossibilities of

making

auctioneering his fulltimeprofession.

An

unfortunate turnof eventswith his livestock

program

helped

him

decide.

The

sows in his

program

developed leptospirosis,

an

infectious swine dis- ease, destroying the solidbase

which

he

had

built.

Commenting on

thatturning pointin his life Billpulls a quote

from

theseemingly endless reservoirof locker

room

slogans he uses to season his conversations.

"You

can't ever look back," hesays.

"Look

^atthe sun

and you

won't see the shadows."

After the sale of his stock

was

complete Bill quickly found

work

atthe Ewing, Nebraska,livestock

market

asa public relations

man and

auctioneer.

Four months

later he accepteda job as associate editor for the

Nebraska Farmer Stockman which

entails the solicitation of advertising for Auction yards often bringBill together with

hog

breeders for a discussion of

new

trends inthe Poland

China

breed.

TheNational

FUTURE FARMER

the magazine. Bill traveled extensively across five states.

The more

he traveled and

met

people the

more

often he foundhimself with gavelinhand,

pounding

outtherhythmic saleschant over someone'sprize boarorgilt. "Chantingis toan auctioneer

what

singinginthe

shower

istootherpeo- ple," hejokes.

Less than four years after graduating

from

auctioneer's school.Billcan count over 25states in

which

he hasserved as an auctioneer

and

he will admit that it is financially rewarding.

"On

mostsales the auctioneer will receive 2 percent of the gross figures for the sale," he says noting that the highlightofhis careeras an auctioneerso farhas beenthe sellingof a $6,300boar

and

a $4,400 horse-drawn hearse.

Despitetheobvious temptationsthatcouldoccurto

some

less scrupulous auctioneers, Bill insists that the

two most

important factors inthe successofan auctioneer arehon- esty

and

ethics. In his positions as executive secretary of thePoland breed hesayshe

works

to"sellpigs thatsatisfy, not to say I've sold another one."

SinceJulyBill haspoured allhisenergy

and

efforts into his

new

career. "We're startingwith a lot of history (the breedcelebratesitscentennialthisyear)

and

lesshogs than a lot of the other breeds," he says, "but we're growing."

The

figuresback

him

up,7,000 Polands

were

registered

two

years ago,

compared

to 1 1,900 lastyear. Bill predicts the

number

will

grow

to 15,000thisyear.

And

nextyear's goal is20,000.

Promoting and

selling the breed will cause Bill to view over 75,000 miles

from

the front seat of his car in the year ahead. "All thebreed needsispeople

power and

pro- motionto

make

itprogress,"hesays optomistically.

Inhis firsteditorialfor the

Poland China World

magazine Bill challenged the breeders to

work

harder

and

to

do

a

There are opportunitiesfor

FFA members

inauctioneering according to Bill, ifthey're willing to work

and

practice.

better job ofrepresenting their breed.

He

writes, "If

we would

all score ourselves objectively

and

then

make

the necessarychanges,

you

can imagine the impact

and

force this

would make on

theswineindustry.

Everyone would

be talkingaboutthePoland breed

and

the

improvements

we've

made."

Still an active

FFA ^member,

^Bill says one of the ap-

proaches he will take in promoting his breed will be throughthe

young

breeders. "Tellthe

FFA members

this,"

hesays, "iftheyare seriousabout Poland Chinas

and

they need

some

help,to letus

know.

We'll

do

whatever

we

possi- blycantohelp

them

out."

What

else can be said? Bill Zobel is a born salesman

—

and

one

day

achampion.

Choosing

the right shell

is as easy as

1-2-3.

"2£|2" Winchester and Western Super X! The

only

^^&T

^{highbrass,one-pieceplastic}hunting loadtor

^yjr*y

^full,dense, patternsat

normal

ranges. Thisis

uw

^the

^optimum

^{huntingshotshell.Available}

fiSSSSsS

inall

popular

sizes

and

gauges.

Winchester and Western Super-X Double-X."

The magnum

loadthat'llgive

you

10-15

more

yards

of

effectiverange.

And

thespecially granulatedpolyethylene

powder added

tothe shot

column

alongwith the

Mark

5" collar result inharderhittingpatternsthatareright

on

target.

Winchester and Western Upland^Shotshells.

The

only,

low

brass,one-piece shotshellspecifically

designed

for

upland game hunting where

standard velocityloads areideal.

The

right

combination of power and

patternfor

game

^birdslike:quail,dove, partridge

and

small

game

^animals.Inall

popular

gauges.

October-November,1976 53

Will America's Sheep Industry

Become ^Extinct?

i*M^--"' i*ttq».*44«*

»

$W

Photo by Author These sheep grazing on the western slope of

Colorado

are converting grass into food

and

fiber for

human

use.

By Wilson Carnes

Using sheep as a supplemental enter- prisecould

add income

to

many

farms.

THE ^American

^{sheep industryhasa}

problem.

There

isnot

enough

sup- plyto

meet

the

demand.

Thisis

what

industry leaders told a group of agricultural

communicators

during a meeting at Vail, Colorado.

They

cited such figures as a sheep populationintheUnitedStatesofover 54 million head in 1945 but just 13.3 million head

on

January 1, 1976.

The

decline

was

8percentduring 1975

and

is 19percentbelow January1,1974.

This places the sheep industry in a curious situation.

Though

the

demand

for sheep products remains high, their supply^isatanall-timelow.Thisdespite thehighest prices ever forlamb.

"Itis fair to saythat the sheep in- dustry is in arace for survival," says

Dick

Biglin, executive director of the

American Sheep

Producers Council, Denver, Colorado.

The

percapita consumptionof

lamb and mutton

in the United States

was

only

two pounds

lastyear, farunderthe 7

pounds consumed

in 1945

and

a half-

pound

lessthan

game

animal

meat

con- sumed.

Most

ofthis

was lamb

with only about 10 percent being mutton.

Why

the

low

percapitaconsumption figure? According to

John

Morrison,

ASPC's

Sheep Industry

Development Program

director, "It is certainly not a lack of

consumer demand. The

simple factis,

due

to short supply,peoplesim- ply cannot

buy lamb

in

most

parts of the country."

The

regional pattern of thesheep^in- dustry is that the greatest

number

of

lambs are

produced

in the

Western

states.

However, lamb

productsarecon-

sumed

in the large metropolitan mar- kets of the Northeast,

Midwest and West

Coast regions.

The New York

metro-market alone accounts for 32 percentof thetotaldomestic

lamb

con- sumption.

The wool market

shows a similar

downward

trend.

The

decline in

wool

consumptionisnotso

much from

alack of supply, since

more

thantwo-thirdsis

imported,butis

due

largely tocompeti- tion

from

synthetic fabrics. Since the mid-1970's,the natural fibers are

mak-

ing a

comeback and wool

priceshave recovered.

Why

are industry leaders so con- cerned?

One

official described it this way, "Declining sheep

numbers

have presenteduswitha

problem —

^toolittle product. Because of less live lambs, we'reseeingkillplants close theirdoors.

And

of course,withfewerplants

comes

fewer buyers.

With

lessavailablelamb, we're losing valuable counter space in the food stores."

Slaughter

lamb

prices have

moved

too rapidlyin 1976

making

it difficult for theindustry to plan ahead

and

ad- just. Prices for lambs reached record highs during the spring, reaching

$65

to

$70

percwt. in

most lamb

markets during

May. The

result

was

an over- reaction to thehighprices

and

a rapid decline in live prices over a short pe- riod of time. Inlessthan eight weeks, the average price

dropped from

close

(Continued

on Page

75) TheNational

FUTURE FARMER

STILL

^goingstrong!

^FFA

^Bicenten-

nial activitiescontinuetobe popu- lar

among

chapters in responseto this special year.

The West Muskingum FFA

Chapter of Zanesville, Ohio, se- lected a boat

ramp

construction

and

landing park development as their

BOAC

and Bicentennial project for 1976.

The

boat

ramp

is tobe used by the sternwheeler

Lorena

purchased

by

the

community

to travel

up and down

'T'WjNi'B!!

Over

10,000 have used the facilities.

the historic

Muskingum

River.

The Lorena

will hold 145 passengers.

The

FFA

^chapter, through

BOAC

funds, donations

and

local chapter resources will assist in construction of the boat dock, boat house

and

development of the

Putnam Landing

Park along the river.

The

Prague

FFA

Chapter, Prague,

icenlennicil

Oklahoma,

seta

somewhat

slowerpace

by

sponsoring terrapin races (what else?) duringthe town's Independence

Day

celebration.

Area

youngsters were urged to enter their fastest terrapins (small

North American

turtles) in the competition.

FFA members

handledall the entries

and

painted identification

numbers on

theback ofeach terrapin.

Placed in thecenter ofa 50-footwide circle, the entries were observed

by

FFA members and

thewinnerswerere- corded astheyraced out of the circle.

Cash

prizes were

awarded

to thelucky owners through the courtesy of the local

American

LegionPost.

The

Bronson

FFA

^Chapter,Bronson, Michigan, sponsored their

own

floral design contest for the

community. The

design

was

to illustratetheBicentennial theme, forjudging duringPolish Festi- val Days.

Top

prize

was

$19.76 while second prize was,

you

guessed it,

$17.76.

The FFA made

red, white

and

blue petunias available at cost for all contestants.

The

Joshua

FFA

Chapter, Joshua, Texas,

won

firstplace intheir

commu-

nityparade withtheir float.

They

built the floatby loadingahorse-drawn cul- tivator

on

a

hay wagon

built

by

the

members

and pulled the

wagon

behind alarge,

modern

air-conditionedtractor.

On

eachside of thefloataposterread

"200 YearsofAgriculture."

An

agricultural

theme won

for FFA.

The Wagon ^Train to Valley Forge

ONE

of the

most

unique

and

chal- lenging projectsundertaken

by

an

FFA

chapter for the Bicentennial began in January of 1976 for

FFA members

of theLarge

Animal

Care

Program Chap-

ter of

Nassau BOCES,

Westbury,

New

York. It started

when

a local farrier offered toprovide a Conestoga

wagon

over 100years old

and

a

team

of

work

horses to

FFA

Advisor

W.

Ardito for entry in the Bicentennial

Wagon

Train Pilgrimageto Valley Forge, Pennsylva- nia.

The BOCES

Chapter,aspartof the northeast region

wagon

train,

was

the only

wagon from

greater

New York and Long

Island

and

the only one with high school students participating as a unit.

The

Belgiumdrafthorsesprovidedas the team, each weighed over 2,500

pounds and

stood over six feet tall.

They

were

unaccustomed

toharness

and

reins, so six students

had

a daily as- signment to shape the horses into a working unit. During this training pe- riod of several months, modifications were

made

intheConestogato

make

^it

more

livable

and

weather protected.

Since thetimestudentsweretobe with the

wagon

train fell during the final weeks of school, a tight schedule

was

October-November,1976

developed to permit six students

and two

staff

members

to ride with the

wagon

not to exceed 5 days ^at

one

time during the 21-day trek.

An FFA

agriculturalfairheld

on

the

BOCES

site before the start of the tripprovidedtheopportunityfor thou- sandsofpeople^toviewthe

wagon and

horsesalong with a

map

of theUnited States showing all the routes, starting dates

and

locations of other national

wagon

^trainsheadingforValley Forge.

The

trek

which

beganthe middle of June

had

the supportof the localboard of education

which

provided aback-up vehicle to carry

camping

equipment andfeed for the horses.

The

boardalso

Wagon

train beds

down

forthenight just like they did in the old days.

provided a 12-passenger mini-bus to serve as a shuttle during the change of students

and

staff.

No two

days of the trip

were

the same, withofficial ceremonies, terrain, towns, villages, weather, campfires, cookouts,

chow

lines, guard duty, "In- dian attacks," bedding

down,

curious visitors,fatigue andsickhorsesallpart of the routine.

The

latter

became

the demiseof the

BOCES

wagon.

The

gru- ellingpace, steephilly country

and

ex- tremely hot weather

showed

their ef- fects

on

the horses. Finally

on

July2, just

two

days beforethe arrival of the train in Valley Forge, the

BOCES wagon was

forced towithdraw.

Perhaps the feeling of students

and

staff

was

best

summed up from

anentry in

one

of their diaries. "Every effort

was made

to continue

on

the trek to Valley Forge.

Wagon

master and train people went out of their

way

to assist the horsesand

members,

but

Bud

(the ailing horse) could not go on. All of us are sad,disappointedand verysorry, but glad that

we

haveaplace togo

and

care for the animal

—

^{unlike our fore-}

fathers,

who would

have faced remain- ing behind whilethe

wagon

train went forward."

w/s/ne/o 57