Outlook For Fanners in '37? 



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^\4 — HAT is the farmers outlook 

 V^yl/ for 1937? How much 

 g money will farm crops 

 bring in next year? Will livestock 

 production be greater or smaller in 

 1937 than '36? How has the drought 

 affected cropping plans? Will prices 

 for farm produce be higher or lower? 

 These questions, and many others, 

 have been answered by the Bureau of 

 Agricultural Economics in a series of 

 16" annual outlook reports covering 

 more than 350 pages. The reports 

 have just been released. 



Demand for farm products in 1937 

 will be greater than in 1936. Better 

 foreign demand is expected, but most 

 of the improvement will come from 

 an increase in domestic demand, the 

 Bureau believes. 



Why will domestic demand be grea- 

 ter? Because more workers have jobs, 

 and wages are increasing. Industrial 

 production in 1937 is expected to be 

 higher. The commodity price level 

 will also be slightly higher. The na- 

 tional income in 1937 will be at least 

 10 percent greater than it was in "36. 

 That's why domestic demand will be 

 greater in 1937. 



Land values will continue the rise 

 which was begun in 1933, the report 

 states. Taxes will tend to increase. 

 Commodities and services used on the 

 farm will cost a little more. The 

 hired man will share in the rise of na- 

 tional income. Demand for workers 

 in non-agricultural fields is making 

 competition. More normal crop and 

 livestock production will force the 

 farmer to keep pace. 



This year's sales of farm machinery 

 are the highest since 1930. Sales next 



> Here's the Best Judgment of the 

 ^^ Grovemment Crop and Market 

 V Forecasters After a Study of Latest 

 :?il^:r''--'^; '^'''■^'' ■'•Infonnationr "■ ^ 



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year are expected to spar even higher. 

 Average sales of 19^-29 may be ri- 

 valed. This will be Especially true if 

 crop conditions are more nearly nor- 

 mal. 



High prices for all feed grains, by- 

 product foods and hay are expected 

 to continue during most of the 1936- 

 37 marketing year. Shortage in pres- 

 ent food suppHes is primarily in 

 grain. Hay supplies are approximate- 

 ly normal. Supplies of by-product 

 feeds are about average. An increase 

 in corn and barley acreage is expected 

 in 1937. As compared with last year 

 and with the 1928-32 average, 25 per- 

 cent reduction in the supply of feed 

 grains per grain-consuming animal 

 unit for the current feeding season is 

 expected. 



Hog Outlook 



Hogs for slaughter from October 

 1936 until October 1937 are expected 

 to increase 10 to 15 percent over the 

 two preceding years when totals were 

 smallest in many years. They will 

 probably be about 20 percent less than 

 the average of the five years prior to 

 1934-35. Weights are expected to be 

 a little lighter than usual — about the 

 same as in 1934-35 following the '34 

 drought. 



Meat Consumption Gains 



Increased demand for meat is seen 

 for 1937. There will be little change 

 in the foreign outlet for American 

 hog producers. A relatively strong 

 storage demand for hog products dur- 

 ing the coming year is to be expected 

 in view of small supplies of hogs like- 

 ly to be available for slaughter next 

 summer. 



Meat promises to be relatively scarce 

 in 1937. The smallest supply in 15 

 years is looked for. It may be equal 

 to that of 1935. Scarcity will be most 

 pronounced in pork and better grades 



of beef. But every cloud has a silver 

 lining. The lining here is that the 

 general level of livestock and meat 

 prices are going to be higher than 

 they have been for a number of years. 

 What about hog prices? Little 

 change in the yearly average is fore- 

 cast. Seasonal changes in prices are 

 expected to be somewhat different. 

 Prices during the summer of 1937 

 probably will average higher than in 

 the past summer. From the looks of 

 things, the 1937 summer price peak 

 will come a little later than in recent 

 years. Hog prices probably will not 

 advance in relation to corn prices. 

 For this reason, hog producers will 

 probably not raise as many pigs as 

 usual. 



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Wheat Prices May Drop 



A wheat crop, far more than can be 

 used domestically, will be produced 

 in the United States in 1937 with nor- 

 mal weather. Prices will decline to- 

 ward an export basis if near-normal 

 yields are obtained on prospective 

 acreage. With prices higher than at 

 seeding time last fall, and with suf- 

 ficient moisture for seeding and ger- 

 mination over practically all of the 

 winter wheat area, it seems likely that 

 the 1937 wheat acreage will be at least 

 as large as this year's. 



Dairy Future Bright 



The dairy outlook is bright. The 

 purchasing power of the consumer is 



DECEMBER, 1936 



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