Facts About Imports 

 of Farm Commodities 



Because of the many exaggerated and 

 inaccurate statements which are made 

 regarding imports of agricultural com- 

 modities and in order that Farm Bureau 

 leaders may have the facts concerning 

 this matter, a summary based on factual 

 information has been compiled. 



The summary shows that imports have 

 increased in volume since 1932, and that 

 the most important increases have been 

 in cattle, butter, wheat, oats, barley, 

 corn, rye, beef, and veal. Because of the 

 drought and the consequent increase in 

 prices, imports have been encouraged; 

 however, imports of drought-aflFected 

 commodities apparently reached a peak 

 in April, 1935, and declined greatly from 

 April to October. 1935. 



Imports during 1934-35 were less than 

 the past 10-year average, and in practi- 

 cally every instance, the total volume of 

 our principal competitive agricultural 

 imports last year constituted a small per- 

 centage of the total normal domestic 

 consumpion. The value of our agricul- 

 tural imports for the last four years is 

 the lowest since before the World War. 

 For example, the following shows the 

 downward trend of agricultural imports: 



The high point in imports of drought- 

 aflFected agricultural commodities was 

 reached in April, 1935. Imports of theje 

 commodities fell 20 percent from April 

 to October, 1935. For example, butter de- 

 clined 98 percent from April to October 

 1935; canned beef imports declined 40 

 percent in this period; imports of corn 



in December were only one-fourth what 

 they were in August; imports of oats and 

 barley virtually ceased, and the imports 

 of wheat for human consumption totaled 

 13*2 million bushels in the last six 

 months of 1935. 



1 920 13,410,000,000 



1924 1,874,000,000 



1926 2,528,000,000 



1929 2.179,000,000 



1933 612,000,000 



1935 969,000,000 



In 1932 and 1933, imports were at the 

 lowest level in 25 years, but imports of 

 most commodities have increased since 

 1932 both in value and quantity. In gen- 

 eral, low prices discourage imports; high 

 prices encourage imports. For example, 

 the price of cattle in 1929 was $9.15 on 

 the average, with imports reaching 567,- 

 000 head. In 1932, the price fell to $4.04, 

 and the imports followed suit hitting only 

 106,000 head. Cattle prices went up in 

 1935 to an average of $6.14 which raised 

 imports to 245,000 head. 



The same is true with grain. In 1929, 

 wheat sold for $1.03, and imports totaled 

 21,430,000 bushels. In 1932, however, the 

 price dropped to 38 cents, and imports 

 fell to 12,885,000 bushels. In 1935 the 

 price shot back to 90 cents with imports 

 mounting to 25,135,000 bushels. 



In the case of most of our major agri- 

 cultural commodities, imports were lower 

 in quantity during 1935, than during the 

 10-year average, as shown by the follow- 

 ing table: 



Commodity 



Unit 



Av. •24.'25 to '33-'34 



1934-'35 



A. Articles whose imports were less than 10-year average 



Cattle 



Hogs 



Cheese .i 



Cream, fresh 



Beef and veal, fresh 



Poultry, fresh 



Palm Oil i 



Soybean Oil 



No. 



Lbs. 



Lbs. 



Gals. 



Lbs. 



Lbs. 



Lbs. 



Lbs. 



251,000 



5,825,000 



67,001,000 



2,634,000 



19,852,000 



3,302,000 



206,408,000 



11,797,000 



245,000 



50,000 



48,446,000 



1,000 



5,038,000 



536,000 



193,412,000 



11,344,000 



B. Articles whose imports were more than 10-year average 



Butter 

 Barley 

 Corn ... 

 Oats ... 



Rye 



Wheat 



Lbs. 

 Bus. 

 Bus. 

 Bus. 

 Bus. 

 Bus. 



4,029,000 



84.000 



1.537,000 



494,000 



1,204,000 



13,788,000 



22,393,000 

 10,978,000 

 20,427,000 

 15,614,000 

 11,230,000 

 26,116,000 



PRETTY APPLE BLOSSOM QUEEN 

 Miss Rose Brewer, Bond County, 111., 

 student in the College of Agriculture, 

 University of Illinois, is being crowned 

 apple blossom queen in ceremonies on 

 Campus at Urbana, Prof. J. C. Blair, head 

 of the college's horticultural department, 

 is doing the honors. 



Six of Miss Brewer's student friends 

 served as attendants. To the left of 

 Queen is Lucille Hiller, Jackson county. 



Above is one of the first three banks 

 built by Illinois upon becoming a 

 state. This building in Shawneetown, 

 on the Ohio river, was started in 1837 

 and finished in 1838. The original steel 

 door, heavy lock and large brass key are 

 still in daily usage. The building was 

 recently measured, photographed and 

 complete plans drawn by the Federal 

 Government as part of the plan of the 

 Department of the Interior to perpetuate 

 historical buildings throughout the U. S. 



14 



I. A. A. RECORD 



