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34

FFA member

Troy

Majure

with a

cham-

pion heifer.

He

ispresently a veterinO' rian

and

co-ownerofaclinic.

sitiesand

was

a bigfactorinestablishing an understanding ofthehealthproblems offarm animals.

"FFA

public speaking,"Majure said,

"helped

me

in preparation for college and

made

iteasier for

me

toassumelead- ership roles in civic and religious ac- tivities."Majure

won

the state

FFA

pub-

lic speaking contest during his junior yearinhighschool.

He was

alsoanhonor studentinbothhigh school and college.

Dr.Majurestresses severalingredients whichareimportantforpursuingacareer as a veterinarian. These include estab- lishinga goal, gaining practical experi- ence with animals, concentration on all levelsof study(math,science,etc.),sell- ingyourselfand yourplanandlearningto understand people.

Practicingveterinarymedicineistime consumingrequiringfrom 60to70 work- inghours perweek.

A

veterinarianisalso subject tobeingoncall beyond working hours butDr.Majurefinds his

work

satis- fyingand rewarding.

"You

treatsick pets anddealpsycho- logicallywiththepet'sowner. Your

FFA

activities can help you, especially in learning to understand and

work

with people.

Remember, many

peopledepend onpets, including

young

folks andshut- ins.

You

must learn to cope with these people under very emotional circum- stances,"he said.

While establishing himselfin his vet- erinary practice,Majureexperiencedone ofthe

same

difficultiesanyonegoinginto small business encounters

—

^finance.

"Where

a

human

doctor has an estab- lished hospitalto

work

from, a veterina- rianhas toinvestinaclinic which must include facilitiestokeep and adequately care for sickanimals.

The

key to estab- lishingour clinic

was

tosell our planto ourfinancers," Majuresaid. Dr. Majure soldhisplanandis

now

reapingthebene-

fitof successhe hasplannedforthrough yearsof hard

work

and determination.

TheNationalFUTUREFARMER

The Roots of a Name

IF YOU

^hadjust

^made

a contraption outof afewmetal bars andblades,onethat

would

tearthroughacres ofhardened

soil,

would

youdubit

"plow"? Or how

about "disc"?Better yet,

who

^{everthoughtup}

"moldboard"

or "chisel" or"har-

row"?

Names come

^from everywhere. Sometimes they describe the machine to its fullest, like "seeder" or "spreader." But

more

oftenthannot,implement

names

have hidden meanings,

"roots" thatarecovered with alayerofhistory.

Suchisthecasewiththecombine.

Modem

rotarycombines are theresultof 100 yearsdevelopmentexperience.

The name

took

some

developmenttoo

.

As

recently as 1923, big-scale farmers in

Montana

wheat countrywerecallingthemachines bytheircorrectandproper name:

"combined

harvester and thresher." Since then, the term'sbeenshortenedintothe single

word we now

usetotalk aboutgrainharvestingmachines,saysGeorge Eastman,prod- uct

manager

forcombinesat Sperry

New

Holland.

From

thetime of

Abraham

toGeorge Washington,farmers cutandthreshedgrainbyhand. Cutting

was

usuallybysickle orreaping hook. Threshing

was

by flail or animal treading.

Eitherway, sheaves ofgrain were spread outon a threshing floorforthe operation. Rakingoff the straw

came

next. This wasfollowedbyseparatinggrainandchaff.

Most

oftheprogress

came

since thedeathofGeorge

Wash-

ington, First, the grain cradle replacedthe sickle. Threshing wasawintertimetask. Inthe

summer

you had your handsfull

enoughtojustget thewheatcradled, bundledandhauledinto the

bam.

There

was

notimetoswingtheflail.

And

allthegrain wasflail-threshed. Beforethe CivilWar,threshing

was

already goingmechanicalover

much

ofthe country.

A ^combined

harvester-thresher

was

invented by

Hiram Moore

^.Aftertinkeringwithitfor awhile,he

more

orlessgotit

workingin1853.

A

herdofhorses pulledandpoweredit.It

was

aheadofitstime.

When

thetimeforthe

combine

came, it

was

too large and expensiveformostfarms butbig

"bonanza"

farmsofthe

West

werejust rightforit,accordingtothe biggestbonanzafanner of

them

all,

Thomas

Campbell.

During the

World War

I food crisis, Campbell farmed hundredsofthousands ofacres thatstretchedmileswide from northtosouth. His observation on the 24-foot cut machines was:

"Only

^seven

men

arerequiredtooperatethiswonderful combinedharvesterandthresher."

The name was

almost seven times too large.

So

farmers shortened it to

"combine"

in

much

less time than it took manufacturerstolowertheoperation requirementsfromseven

men

toone. That's

how we

got thename.

/*>

^

"Youwon'thave anytroublewithour

new

metrics measures. Just

remember

thatahectoliterequals26.4178

gallons."

December-January,1979-80

Yearafteryearafteryear,

d-CON

has outsoldallotherratbaitcombined.

Lastyear,more

d-CON*

RatKiller

was

soldthaneverbefore.

The

reason'spureandsimple.

d-CON

works.

Only

d-CON

hastheexclusive toxicantWincon?

d-CON

wipesout everythingfromyourbiggest, toughest,mostdestructiveratsright on

down

topeskymice.

Try

d-CON

yoiu'selfandsee

why

it

outsellsallotherratbaitcombined!

d-CON: America's

#1 Rat Killer. Again.

35

Computer

(Continuedfrom Page31)

ing questions like, "I don't understand thatword.

Can

youexplain?"

Both computers and calculators have served

many

areas of agriculture.

Through

theuseofcomputer models, or simulations, agriculturalengineers have found

ways

tocontrol feedlotrunoffand implement water quality programs.

By

using abudgetand acomputer, afarmer can

make

sounddecisionsinafarm

man-

agement program.

Computer

terminals

—

^{stationsthatsendandreceiveinputand}

output

—

give ranchersthelatesthog and beefpricesandfacilitatetrading.

Some

computerswilltalktoyou onthe phone.

By

dialinganumber,theAgricul- ture Weather System, orGreen

Thumb,

will provide the latest weather, agricul- turaland marketinformationon your

TV

screen.

The

service

may

soon be avail- ablenationwideforrentorpurchase.

Though

you

may

alreadybe indirectly affectedbycomputers, youcanhavedi- rectaccesstothese "figuringmachines."

Many

colleges and universities are re- quiring at least one course in computer technology.

More

and

more

electronic equipmentisshowingup on farmsacross America.

"Computers willcontinue to separate the

men

^from theboys in terms of

man-

agementability,"saysDr. BuelLanpher, program leader forfarm

management

in the

USDA's

Scienceand Education

Ad-

ministration(SEA). "In thelastyearand a half there's been a

boom

in interest

among

farmers in mini-computers. Ex- tensionServiceofficesinmost heavyag- ricultural states are hearing questions fromfarmers regardingtheusefulness of the computer.

Many

farmers are getting intoitasahobby, thenapplyingthe

com-

puterto theiroperations."

Dr. Lanpher sees three options for a farmer regardingcomputeruse. "First,"

hesays, "youcan usetheprogrammable calculator.Usuallyyoucangetprograms

ata university andrun them, orlearnto write your own. Secondly, there's the 'dumb'terminal,oronethatresemblesa typewriter with a phone hook-up.

You

candialinto acomputerlocatedfar

away

and punch in

commands

on yourtermi- nal.

The

computer then responds on a printout issued from your terminal. Fi- nally, the farmercan purchaseand usea micro-computer."

Lanpher cautions against the blind purchase of a computer.

Most

micro- computer systems run between $1,600 and $5,000, with programs suchas per- sonal finance,feedrationing,marketing, budget analysis and cow-culling lists

costing from $20each to $300 a

month

36

forcompletebusinesssystemsand main- tenance.

Some

small computers

may

^be

rented at prices starting at $1,800 per month.

The owner

of acomputermust

know

a greatdealaboutthesystem'sworkingsin orderto

make

the uniteconomicallyfeas- ible.

Some

programs, such as herd im- provementrecords, could be usedregu- larlyenoughtokeeptheoperatorfamiliar with the procedure. However, Dr. Lan- phersays, "Ifyou

own

acomputer,you must have enough expertise to produc- tivelyuse software(computerprograms).

The

operatormust

know

whatgoesonin theprogram."Obviously,

owning

a

com-

putercan'oeanaidtofarm

management

oraverycostlypieceoffurniture.

Should you wishtoapply a computer programinyour farmingor agribusiness project, buying a computer is not your only choice. Extension agencies,

many

of which are located at postsecondary institutions, often have computer soft-

ware and hardware

(the actual

ma-

chinery)available for use.

"Some

institutions have a comput- erizedfarm

management

record keeping system," says Fred Thorpe of

USDA's

Economics, Statistics and Cooperatives Service (ESCS).

"The

set-up variesbut usually the farmer pays a fairlynominal fee forthe service.

The

farmer provides input from records, the computer proc- esses the informationand an accounting divisionanalyzestheresults.

The

datais

thensummarizedforthefarmerandalso aggregated with other farmers' results.

Thus,theproducerreceivesbothareport onhisfarm andacomparisonofsimilar operations."

Kansas State University has imple-

mented

an extensive system of farm

management

aid.

Not

only does the farmerreceive a printout,or printedrec-

"Itsays itwillbeon vacation

from

the 3rdto the20thinclusive."

Computer

printoutssuchasthe

one above

can

summarize

a farm opera- tion

and

reveal

needed

informationin

a categorizedmanner.

ord ofcomputerinputandoutput,healso receives an analysis ofhis records and farm

management

assistance,ifneeded.

The

University of Missouri, another leadinginstitution incomputerassistance forfarmers,hasinitiatedaremotetermi- nal system. Terminals located in field offices throughoutthe state are utilized by local farmers

who

type data on the terminalandsenditviatelephone wireto a central computer on the university campus.

The

farmer simply waitsforhis printout inthe field office.

Should you wish to use an extension computersystem,first

make

anappoint- ment.

You

will need to supply accurate data in the correctform. Classes, meet- ings and media campaigns are often or- ganizedbytheextention serviceto train thosewishing tousecomputerwizardry in

management

chores.

ESCS

figures

show

thatmiscellaneous farm business expenses

jumped

a half billion dollars over the last three years.

The

figure includes expensesfor record keepingandofficeequipment.

Farm

and agribusiness

management

is a constant challenge for today's farmer. Tomor- row's farmerwill be even

more

precise withfarm andbusiness figures.

A com-

puter or calculator

may

prove to be a helpinghand in youroperation.

Dr.RichardRudelof

SEA

says, "The computer isno better than the data you put into it and the

program

used to analyzeyourinput.

A

farmer must keep goodrecordsto begin with."

The

"figuring machine" won't

make

mistakes.

No

matter

how

prevalent

com-

puters and calculators

become

in farm- ing,the operatorwillstillberesponsible for the important farm business deci- sions.

TheNationalFUTURE FARMER

Store Manure ^Safely

A ^{DEADLY manure}

^storage

^bomb

^unit.

^may

Without warn-^{lurk in your} ing, the rightsparkcouldsetoffablast.

Toxic gases

such

as

ammonia,

methane, caibon ^dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are released fi'om decomposing manure.

Even

extremelylowconcentra- tionscan cause headaches, irritation of the respiratory tract, nausea and dizzi- ness.

Higheramounts cankill. Ifone-tenth of1percentofthe availableairis lethal gas, fainting and death can occur with

littleor

no

warning.

Many

individualshavefallenvictimto

manure

gases.

The

National Safety Council suggestsseveralprecautionsthat can reduce the hazards of stored fer- tilizer.

Adequateventilationisof utmostim- portancetokeepgas concentrations low.

Exhaustfans anda stand-by

power

sys- tem are listed as

good

investments in safety. Doors and

windows

should be opened

when

agitating manure, andthe operator should stay out ofthe storage area.Ifa

manure

pitmust beentered,use aself-contained breathing device and a safetyharness with rope.Ifyou're wear- ing the harness and get trapped in a chamber,otherswon't haveto risk enter- ing the unit to pull

you

out.

Good

waste

management

willnotonly reduce danger but better maintain the overallnutrientvalueofyour manure.

The

plant nutrient content of animal manure varies with animal species, the amountofbeddingorlitter, lossesofthe Uquid portion and handling. Since half thenutrientcontentisinthe liquid,effort shouldbe

made

toreduceliquid losses.

Adequate beddingmaterials andproper inspection of storage facilities are

two

musts.

To save nutrientcontent

when

apply- ing, incorporate

manure

intothe soilas soonafterspreadingas possible,orbetter yet,injectitwithattaclunentsonthetank wagon.

More power

isusedbutupto

20

percent of the nitrogen

may

be saved, odors are eliminated and run-offpollu- tionisreduced.

Sperry

New

Holland, makers of fer- tilizerequipment, outlinea fewno-no's

when

handlingmanure.

Do

Not:

• storeorpileandleaveuncovered

• spread

on snow

• spreadonhard-firozensteep hillsides

• pull heavy spreaders across

muddy

fields

By

using

good

judgment,

you

canturn apileof wasteintoausefulresourcefor productionandprofit.

December-January, 1979-SO

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