-2- 



unchanged. Hogs were up a little; the competiticn for supply is stronr; 

 all interests desire to supply their customers as far as possible. Top 

 cattle were down a little. 



Wheat and oats futures were both dovm for the week; soybeans 

 were up a little; September corn and November butter were about steady, 

 and October eggs were a little higher. All in all, these changes indi- 

 cate that very little new developments have occ^orred in the past week. 



Changes Over the Past Two Years . I recall making the statemen 

 about two years ago that the war would cause more improvement in the 

 prices of livestock and livestock products than in the prices of grains. 

 As I recall, I gave two reasons. First, the huge increases in consumer 

 incomes which the war would generate would cause a direct increase in tht 

 demand for livestock and livestock products. Second, the overseas 

 demands would likely be stronger for the more concentrated livestock 

 products than for the more bulky grains. Also Canada could supply the 

 requirements of G-reat Britain for wheat, and our access to the continent 

 of Europe had been largely cut off by the G-erman conquest of Europe from 

 Norway to France. Let us look back and see what happened? In May 19^2 

 the prices paid Illinois farmers had increased by the following percent- 

 ages over the prices two years earlier: 



Corn .... 39^ Hogs ik-^fo Butterfat . . W 



Wheat. ... 26^ Beef cattle. . . U-2^^ Milk ^2% 



Oats .... k-^% Milk cows. . . . ^k-fo Eggs SSfo • 



Soybeans . . 8"}% Lambs Jtffo Wool ky/i> 



Chickens. . . 3S^ 



In general the prices of livestock and livestock products have 

 increased more than the price of the grains. For example the price of 

 corn was up 3^ per cent and that of hogs 1^J> per cent; the price of 

 wheat was up 26 per cent and that of cattle up ij-2 per cent; oats prices 

 were up ^9 V^^ cent and egg prices ^6 per cent. Soybeans were in a clas 

 by themselves among the grains; their price was up ^3 P©^? cent. It 

 should slso be remembered that the price of both corn and wheat has 



