1 



States," comments Prof. Norton. 



"The corn exports are equivalent to 

 the products from 3 million acres, 

 allowing 50 bushels to the acre and 

 represent the corn handled by 500 

 country elevators with an average vol- 

 ume of 300,000 bushels annually — a 

 high average. Short crops in Argentina 

 and long harvests in this country made 

 these possible. The total will be' less 

 in 1939, I think, because of nrore abun- 

 dant feed supplies in Europe and cheap 

 subsidized wheat, but they will still be 

 considerable on account of the short 

 Argentine crop. 



"The wheat imports are chiefly for 

 milling in bond, the flour being ex- 

 ported. 



"The exports of soybeans have at 

 various times helped to maintain our 

 price. 



"The soybean meal comes chiefly to 

 the Pacific coast, where freight costs 

 are lower from Manchukuo than from 

 the Corn Belt. 



"There has been a lot of talk about 

 imports of tapioca which competes with 

 corn in manufacture of starch. Allow- 

 ing 30 pounds equal to a bushel of 

 corn, the imports equal 8 million bush- 

 els, or about 5 per cent of our corn ex- 

 p>orts. Also more pounds of corn flour, 

 starch, syrup and sugar were exported 

 than the imports of tapioca amounted 

 to. 



Cattle Imports 



"Imports of cattle amounted to 434,- 

 000 head, including breeding animals. 

 The meats just about balanced. The 

 imports are mostly South American 

 canned beef, which has come in for 

 years and which our packers tell me 

 they cannot compete with because our 

 canner cows are so high because of the 

 demand for sausage meat, and canned 

 hams from Poland. Note that our ex- 

 ports of hams, shoulders, etc. exceeded 

 imports and with hog production on the 

 increase this balance can be expected to 

 become more favorable. 



"Lard exports were over 200 million 

 pounds, or a little under a third, of the 

 pre-1934 level. This also can be ex- 

 pected tq, increase with more hogs. 

 Here what we do about tr^de relations 

 with Germany will be important. They 

 would use more lard if we could find 

 some goods of theirs that we wanted. 



"Butter exports and imports were 

 about in balanfce. Cheese we buy in 

 excess, chiefly foreign varieties for 

 which some of our folks have a taste. 

 Evaporated milk we sell in excess. 



"I can't escape the conclusion that 

 Illinois fanners got more out of ex- 

 ports last year than they lost from any 

 competition from imports. In fact I 

 think the exports added 5-10 cents a 

 bushel to the price of corn at least up 

 to the middle of August." 



I 



UNCLE SAM INTERVIEWS THE FARMER 



1 MORM, I CATS, S >n**> 



1 o«oT>« '-^ '■*^- "J¥rr^ 





What 



Hogs? 



Growers Wonder About IVext 



Winter's Prices with 80 



Million Pig Crop 



in Prospect 



V ^k URING the five-year period, 

 ^^/ J 1929-1933, when hog prices 

 _yy fell as low as $2.75 to $3.00 

 per cwt., American farmers produced 

 an average of eighty million pigs an- 

 nually. This year after five years of 

 subnormal production, the outlook is 

 for another eighty million pig crop. 



On January 1 this year hog numbers 

 were estimated at forty-nine million or 

 11 per cent more than a year earlier, 

 the largest since 1934. All the increase 

 was in pigs under six months and in 

 sows and gilts for breeding. 



The question all farmers would like 

 to have answered is "will we have five 

 dollar hogs or. worse next winter?" 

 The answer hinges on two things, 

 namely (1) will production estimates 

 come up to expectations; (2) will there 

 be a substantial business and industrial 

 recovery this summer and fall? 



If organized labor should retreat 

 from its insistence on maintaining un- 

 reasonably high hourly wage scales, 

 especially in building and the heavy 

 industries, early fall might bring on 

 such a wave of industrial activity as 

 this country has not seen in many a 

 day. Result would be millions of idle 

 men and WPA workers moving into 

 better paying jobs. Much greater con- 

 sumption of meats and higher priced 

 farm products would be inevitable. 



Meantime prudent farmer^* are not 

 letting cheap corn and relatively good 

 prices for hogs blind them to future 

 possibilities. They will raise fewer 

 rather than more hogs, not forget- 

 ting that the next cycle may bring 

 on higher priced corn and cheap pork. 



A disturbing thing in the hog out- 

 look is what to do about lard. Lard 

 substitutes have taken over a substan- 

 tial share of the domestic market- foj 

 shortening fats in cooking. Even the 

 packers have been pushing lard sub- 

 stitutes rather than lard. Lately a trend 

 has started in the other direction. 

 Thomas E. Wilson, Chicago packer 

 started the ball rolling in mid-March 

 when he ran a full page advertisement 

 in a Chicago daily playing up the good 

 points of lard. The National Live- 

 stock and Meat Board is concentrating 

 also on publicity playing up the fact 

 that lard makes better pie crust, is 

 superior for frying, and has vitamins 

 that vegetable fats do not contain. 



Relatively light runs have held hog 

 prices up to fairly good levels con- 

 sidering the price of corn. The Chi- 

 cago hog market is currently topping 

 around $7.75 per cwt. 



Pork Exports 

 In 1938 exports of pork totaled 

 about 96 million pounds, largest since 

 1934. Lard exports at 205 million 



j pounds ilso were heaviest since 1934. 

 Storage "holdings of lard February 1 

 were estimated at 132 million pounds 

 which compares with 99 million a year 

 ago and 118 million average from 

 1933-1937. 



Our exports of pork in '38 were 

 equivalent to the pork production of 

 about 620 thousand hogs and our lard 

 exports were equal to the lard output 

 of nearly 6,900,000 hogs. Increased ex- 

 ports of lard, bacon, and ham especially 

 to Great Britain are expected irr* the 

 coming years as a result of the new 



■ trade agreement with that country. 

 Germany which imported an average 

 of 151 million pounds of lard annually 

 in 1929 to 1933 imported only two mil- 

 lion pounds of lard last year. Most of 

 our lard exports went to Great Britain 

 and Cuba. 



You never "find time for an>thing." If 



you want time, you must make it. 



Lighten Land Tax ^ 



I was particularly pleased with your 

 editorial comments in the Feb. RECORD 

 regarding the price adjustments which are 

 necessary before agriculture will be in an 

 equitable position. I' believe that in addi- 

 tion, considerable lightening of the tax on 

 land, and particularly land which is being 

 or should be used less intensively, is needed. 

 A. T. Semple (Member Sanga- 

 mon County III. Farm Bureau) 

 Asst. Head, Agronomy Range 

 Management Section, U.S.D.A. 

 Washington, D. C. 



APRIL, 1939 



