REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



11 



Exports of live stock from the United States. 

 [Bureau of Foreign an 1 Domestic Commerce, United States Department of Commorce.] 



Kind. 



1920 



I Number. 



Uorscs 18,952 



Mules 8,991 



Cattle 93,039 



Sheep 59,155 



Swine 36,107 



1919 



Number. 

 27,975 

 12,452 

 42,345 

 16,117 

 17,390 



1918 



1917 



Number. 



84, 765 



28, 879 



18,213 



7,959 



9,280 



Number. 



278,674 



136, 689 



13, 387 



58,811 



21,926 



1916 



Number. 

 357,553 

 111,915 



21, 287 

 231,535 



22,048 



1915 



Annual 



average, 

 ' 1910-1914 



I 



3 months, 



July- 

 Septem- 

 ber, 1920. 



Number. 



289,340 



65, 788 



5,484 



182,278 



7,799 



Number. 



28,073 



5,125 



88,225 



522, 505 



11, 191 



Number. 



3,870 



1,309 



16, 718 



4,543 



13.662 



CONFRONTED WITH FALLING MARKET. 



After the farmers had completed their plantin<2; and harvesting op- 

 erations, after they had met and solved the problems of production, 

 they found themselves face to face with a falling market. As a 

 result, a situation has been brought about which may have serious 

 consequences, immediate and remote, to our agriculture and to the 

 Nation. 



During all the months when the farmers were cultivating their 

 crops, pa5ang for labor and supplies at unusually high rates, the 

 prices of agricultural commodities generally remained high. In 

 midsummer, when the farmers' period of outlay was nearly at an end 

 and their income period was about to begin, a sharp decline occurred 

 in the prices of practically all farm products. Covering nearly 

 everything the farmers had to sell, it did not materially affect the 

 articles thej^ had to buy. For labor and materials used in harvesting 

 they were compelled to pay prices substantially as high as those 

 prevailing during planting and cultivation. 



SHRINKAGE OF VALUES. 



The year's output, produced at an abnormally high cost, is worth, 

 at current prices, $3,000,000,000 less than the smaller crop of 1919 

 and $1,000,000,000 less than the still smaller crop of 1918. In other 

 words, it is estimated that the total farm value of all crops pro- 

 duced in 1920 is $13,300,000,000, compared with $16,000,000,000 in 

 1919, $14,300,000,000 in 1918, and $13,500,000,000 in 1917. Live 

 stock and its products also declined to such an extent as to cause 

 serious losses to producers. The best estimate that can now be made 

 indicates that the total value of animal products in 1920 is $8,757,- 

 000,000, or about $200,000,000 less than in 1919. There is probably 

 no other industry or business that could suffer a similar experience 

 and avoid insolvency. 



