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Show fi 57OI1MT0X37CH1M567MOI1TMOJ , (FACTS & FIGURES! J X34 Si70IH4-STeOXt7Oll-Jt7iaS7Oll.- D Bv John F. Brookman In 1850, when the U.S. population approached 24 million, half the nation was involved in agriculture. Today, To-day, in 1981, with a population popula-tion of nearly 230 million mil-lion Americans, less than four percent are involved in agriculture.' ... .' j. There were more than one million dairy farms with about 25 million cows in 1955. The average cow that year produced 5,842 pounds of milk (more than 2,700 quarts). In 1980, dairy farm estimates ranged from 170,000 to 300,000. The nation's cow herd, however, how-ever, numbered 10.8 million with the average cow producing pro-ducing 11,813 pounds of milk. Fewer than half the number of cows than in 1955 produced a record annual production of 128.4 billion pounds in 1980. That's efficiency. U.S. agriculture is the best in the world with each American farmer producing food and fiber for himself and 56 others. The dairy farmer is often considered the most efficient part of agriculture for his breeding and feeding expertise. - Anyone who works is guaranteed a minimum wage , by law, currently $3.35 an hour. According to some - hard-working dairy farmers, that's more than they make per hour with a capital investment of $300,000 or more, earning $12,000 to $30,000 from all sources. Many experts suggest that the federal price support program be retitled the federal fed-eral minimum price program. pro-gram. That's because the word "support'.' has too many unpleasant connotations, connota-tions, ranging from "dole" to "subsidy," for too many citizens. Actually, the existing exist-ing price support program provides a floor, or a minimum mini-mum price a dairy farmer can get for his milk. The federal minimum price program has avoided chaos in the marketplace. It has provided a stable market for milk and has enabled dairy farmers to provide an adequate supply of fresh milk at a reasonable price. |