HIGHLIGHTS 



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^-^ WEEKLY 14ARKET REVIEW AND FARl^i OUTLOOK 



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By G. L. Jordan 

 Professor, Agricultural Econoralc& _ics«irt<£i' ., 

 University of Illinois . / 

 College of Agriculture ^'^^ ^ '^ 



(Prepared May 7) 



Because of the slov; movement of corn to market and to defi- 

 cit areas to satisfy an extremely strong demand, the government took 

 steps this week to control inventories and corn purchases and called 

 corn loans except those on the 19^2 crop. Farmers cannot buy corn if 

 they have more than $0 days^ supply on hand. This v^ill mean that 

 even the 19^2 croD under loan will be redeemed by farmers if they need 

 more corn for feeding. It might even be necessrry to call these loans 

 later on. Only 59 million bushels of corn from the 193^-^1 crops are 

 under loan. It is doubtful if this limited su-oply will relieve the 

 shortage, particularly in the deficit feeding aj?eas. 



The report of U, S. grain in store and afloat for domestic 

 marketing, dated May H-, indicates holdings of 19^ million bushels of 

 wheat compared with 229 million bushels a year ago; less than J>0 mil- 

 lion bushels of corn compared with 63 million bushels a year ago; and 

 slightly larger holdings of oats and barley; and considerably larger 

 holdings of rye. Canada stocks of wheat were ^09 million bushels com- 

 pared to ^21 a year ago, but stocks of oats and barley were quite high. 



On April 1, 19^3; cold storage holdings of principal com- 

 modities were different from April 1 a year ago by the following per- 

 centages: apples, +1^ per cent; frozen fruit, +3 per cent; frozen 

 vegetables, +9 per cent; creamery butter, -63 per cent; cheese, -60 

 per cent, eggs, +25 per cent; frozen poultry, -5^ per cent; beef, -3^ 

 per cent; pork, no change; total meats, -10 per cent; lard,-30 P^^ 

 cent. 



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The U. S. Department of Agri^culture^ anticipates that the 

 egg^feed price relationship will continue to^e favorable for farmers 

 throughout the coming summer. As a result, farmers will probably^ 

 cull tt^ir flocks lightly and feed well. Egg production is expected 

 to continue above the year earlier. The government has ordered that 

 all shell eggs in cold storage on May 3I be set aside for government 

 use or distribution and after May 3I no shell eggs may be stored ex- 

 cept for government use. It is expected, however, that there will be 

 a good supply of fresh eggs available throughout 19^3- Demand is so 

 strong that ceiling prices will likely be maintained. Ceiling prices 

 are adjusted seasonally from June through November. 



Compared to the predepression period, 192^29 > cash farm 

 income in 19^2 for Illinois was up 69 per cent. In general the great- 

 est increases in cash income were in the corn belt, the tobacco-pro- 

 ducing region, on the west coast, and in Wyoming, Arizona, and New 

 Mexico. The smallest increases were in the winter wheat belt, the 

 New England states and Middle Atlantic, states, the deep south, and 

 some of the mountain states. 



Effective May 17* new retail ceiling -orices for beef and 



lambs will bring about a reduction of 1 to 3 cents a pound below the 



general level of ceilings originally scheduled to take effect A^ril 15. 

 This aiDplies to meat, as there is no ceiling on -orices of live animals. 



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