MAN 



unty 



EN 



lOOVER 



Here Is Latest Outlook 

 Report on Hogs for 1935 



Expansion of Production Seems Certain Next Fall 



REDUCED herds, smaller storage 

 stocks, last year's drought, this 

 year's promise of plenty, high- 

 priced feed, low consumer buying power, 

 reduced exports, the high price of corn, 

 all combine to produce an economic 

 hodge-podge in the "pork business" that 

 has caijsed not a few over-the-fence de- 

 bates on what the future holds. 



Making sense out of all these para- 

 doxical factors, prophesying an expan- 

 sion of hog production starting this fall, 

 and hoping for a corresponding increase 

 in consumer buying power, a recently is- 

 sued analysis by C. A. Burmeister, Divi- 

 sion of Livestock, Meats and Wool of the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, states in part, "In general, condi- 

 tions indicate that this spring marked 

 the low point in the present hog produc- 

 tion cycle and that an increase in pro- 

 duction will follow during the fall of 1935 

 and throughout next year." 



The article goes on to say, "Market- 

 ing of hogs since last December has been 

 the smallest for any corresponding pe- 

 riod since 1910, which was the year of 

 record small supplies. Slaughter under 

 federal inspection in each month from 

 January to May inclusive this year has 

 been far under the corresponding months 

 of last year and not greatly different 

 than the 1910 figures. The January to 

 April total was 36 percent less than in 

 the same months last year and that of 

 May showed a decrease of nearly 50 pei 

 cent. Slaughter during the remainder 

 of 1935 is likely to be not much more 

 than half as large as in the same months 

 of 1934." 



Drought, the adjustment program and 

 low feed supplies contributed to the 28 

 percent decrease in the 1934 spring pig 

 crop and the 48 percent decrease in the 

 1934 fall pig crop. Add to this the very 

 unfavorable relationship between hog 

 prices and corn prices which prevailed in 

 late 1933 and all through 1934 and the 

 answer i« found to hog reduction away 

 over and above the requirements of the 

 AAA. These same factors also operated 

 to reduce the 1935 spring pig crop 17 per 

 cent lower than last spring. The re- 

 duced pig crop of this spring will be 

 marketed next fall and winter, hence 

 the slaughter during that period will be 

 smaller, Burmeister's article states. With 

 smaller numbers of hogs to be fattened 

 and indications of a plentiful feed sup- 

 ply, producers will feed their hogs longer 



JULY. 1935 -■■^■V^r^--^^i--'^:':v;'.-'/i^..., 



and make them heavier than average. 

 This will result in delayed marketing 

 and reduce still more the slaughter in 

 early fall. 



While prices have remained reasonably 

 firm, the chief barrier to further price 

 advances is the relatively low buying 

 power of pork consumers. With hog 

 supplies at current levels and consumer 

 income near the 1926-29 levels, the prices 

 of hog products would be very much 

 higher than at present. But with con- 

 sumer income greatly reduced, consump- 

 tion of pork cannot be expected to in- 

 crease. A substantial improvement in 

 consumer buying power within the next 

 year will be reflected in a stronger de- 

 mand for hog products. 



A more favorable factor toward fur- 

 ther advancement in hog prices is the 

 relatively small supply of hog products 

 in storage. The smallest on record for 

 May 1 since storage holdings were first 

 reported in 1916, they were 14 percent 

 smaller than a year ago and 23 per- 

 cent smaller than the five year average 

 for that date. 



Total net exports of pork in the seven 

 month period beginning with last Octo- 

 ber were 24 percent less than in the 

 corresponding period a year earlier and 

 36 percent smaller than the five year 

 average for the period. Lard shipments 

 abroad were 64 percent smaller than a 

 year earlier and 69 percent below the 

 five year average for the period. 



linois 4-H Club 

 : , Members Win Honors 



The outstanding records made in boys 

 and girls 4-H club work brought re- 

 wards to Helen Harrison, McHenry coun- 

 ty; Rita Mae Finley, Greene county; 

 Ralph McKenzie, De Kalb county and 

 George Strout, La Salle county. They 

 were chosen to be the Hlinois delegate.s 

 to the National 4-H club camp which was 

 held in Washington. D. C. June 13 to 19. 

 These two boys and girls were the pick 

 of 25,000 who are carrying on definite 

 4-H projects in better farming and home- 

 making practices under the direction of 

 the College of Agriculture of the Uni- 

 versity of Illinois and their county farm 

 and home advisers. 



At the national camp the four Illinoi.-' 

 delegates joined with scores of trip win- 

 ners from other states in a round of in- 

 struction, sightseeing and entertainment. 



With Our County 

 Farm Bureau Presidents 



E. £. STEVENSON 



WHEN you speak of old timers 

 in point of service in the Farm 

 Bureau movement in Illinois, 

 one of the first men you think of is 

 E. E. Stevenson, president of the La- 

 Salle County Farm Bureau. 



Mr. Stevenson 

 has held office 

 as head of one 

 of the largest 

 County Farm 

 Bureaus in the 

 state for the 

 past 13 years. 

 He joined the 

 Farm Bureau 

 when it was or- 

 ganized in 1914 

 and served in 

 the beginning 

 as township 

 chairman. He 

 has been a 



member of the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association since its organizat on. You 

 will find him at every important 

 meeting boosting and pushing for 

 every worth while state and County 

 Farm Bureau project. 



Mr. Stevenson lives on his own 200 

 acre erain. livestock and da ry farm 

 near Ransom, although his son J. V.. 

 a Farm Bureau leader in his >own 

 right, ably operates it. He was bom 

 in 1863. within a half mil? of where 

 he n»w resides. His leadershio in th" 

 co-operative field began way back 

 at the turn of the century when he 

 and his neighbors organized the farm- 

 ers' elevator at Ransom. It was partly 

 due to his influence that this ele- 

 vator, handling from 400.000 to 500.000 

 bushels of grain in a normal season, 

 was first officially to join the Illinois 

 Grain Corporation. 



Another co-operative venture in 

 whi'^h he has been interested for 

 nearly 40 years -s the Allen and Otter 

 Creek Townships Mutual Fire In- 

 surance C""ipanv which he served as 

 secretary. He has been secretary of 

 the Ransom elevator for manv y°ars 

 and is a member of the board of di- 

 rectors of Illinois Grain Corporation 

 and Illinois Farr" Supnlv Company 



Mr. and Mrs. St*»venson hav** two 

 '■hildren, both of whom are married. 

 As a youth he att^nd-vl the normal 

 school located then at Gen«»seo. H" is 

 a charter stockholder in Illinois Ag- 

 ricultural Hold n<» Comoanv and sup- 

 ported the launching of the I. A. A. 

 life insurance p^-oiect with a generous 

 stork subscription. Mr. Stevenson is 

 a firm believer in 4-H club work. He 

 and his son are 100 per cent co-oper- 

 ators. The cream from their Guernsey 

 herd goes to the Farmers Creamery 

 Company at Bloomington. and they 

 D^'ronize all of the services estab- 

 lished by the I. A. A. and County 

 Farm Bureaus. 



Farm Bureau members who have used 



the petroleum services of our member 

 companies in the last two years have 

 Esceived an average Patronage Divi- 

 ^dend amounting to f39.55. 



