Putnam patriot., 1930-05-29
TIM FL Y FARM M TOPICS
 by the County Agricultural Agent
Dairy Farming in Connecticut

Dairy Farming in Connecticut
 That approximately one-half Of Connecticut dairy .arms have fai- len far behind the progress of the in dustry is revealed by the state wide survey of dairy farms now in prog ress. The principal charges against these farms are bad business set-ups which necessarily result in inefiieieney and high cost. serious waste Of labor amounting to as high as one-half the time Of the men employed. out Of date cropping systems and methods, feeding wrong quantities of both hay and grain. failure to employ modern knowledge of breeding and lack of necessary disease control practices.
 It is a source of satisfaction Co find, on the other hand, in every county a group of farmers who are decidedly progressive and whose business-like attitude k reflected in good earnings. Ten to fifteen percent of the dairy farmers are notably successful as a result of the use of good methods on a sound business, while twenty to forty percent are doing reasonably well.
 The existence of so many farms. however. which have never been eff fectively reached with information on what constitutes good farm organiz- ation or production technique under today's conditions, presents a ehal- lenge to everyone interested in Con- necticut rural life. Dairy farming cannot survive on these inefiieiently run one-half of our farms under con ditions as competitive as they are now except at the cost of unpaid drudgery for the farmer and priva- tion for his family
 The dairy farm survey has been carried on in every county of Con- necticut. the field records being taken by the county agents and the tabula- ton and analyses done by the agri- cultural college Over 500 farms. selected at random have been studied. Analyses are completed in Hartford and Windham Counties and are being rapidly pushed to completion in the other counties.
 As the data is made available it be- comes possible for Farm Bureau dairy committees. boards of directors and other responsible bodies to have. for the first time. definite know ledge of the status of the industry in the areas for which they are planning. l They will find certain respects in which the great majority of the farm CTS are following very good methods. Over s5es of the farmers for in- stance. feed good gain mixtures. They will find other matters, such as disease control and breeding. in which 1 the following of any consistent plan i is usually notable by it's absence. One very serious problem that has appear ed Tn the two counties summarized Is waste of the farmers labor. There are certain types of farm business which normally result in serious inef. ! ticienex. On specialized dairy farm. with eight cows or less the labor oi one man typically accomplishes only i one-half as much in year as 1t doe. | on farms with thirty cows or over Fortunately there are practical chang. es in organization that will throw any inefficient farm into class where labor efficiency is commonly attained The efficient and the inefficient type, of farm organization are revealed bs the survey
 All in all. this dairy survey give, the best basis yet found on which Farm Bureaus can lay plans to aid in putting dairy farming on an efficient and profitable basis. fiji fl | Material in this article based on in formation by Professor Allen W Manchester. Storrs. Connecticut
 RAYMOND F.. WING.
 ConutV Agent,