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In contrast with the shortage in butter, wo have a very burdonscme eurplue of lard, 

 throe times as much in storage as we had September 1, 19^2, and about 30 percent more 

 than the Soptombor 1 average for I958-I9U2, inclusive. Cold storage holdings of the 

 principle products on Soptomber 1, 19^5, showed the following percentage changes frcn 

 a year earlier: frozen fruits, -l4 percent; frozen vegetables, +26 percent; creamery 

 butter, -1-52 percent; cheese, -25 percent; eggs, •+•19 percent; frozen poultry, -57 per- 

 cent; beef, +22 percent; pork, •i-k'J percent; total meats, +39 percent; lard, +200 per- 

 cent. 



Poultry price ceiling revised . Effective October k and October 12, poultry 

 price ceilings will be revised in such a way that maximum retail prices of quick-frozen, 

 clean-dressed poultry will be reduced 5j cents a pound; drawn poultry, reduced 1 cent 

 a pound; and dressed poultry, increased 1 cent a pound. It is doubtful if these changes 

 in retail prices will have any appreciable effect upon the farm price of poultry. 



Farm machinery quotas raised . In order to help farmers meet their l^kk pro- 

 duction goals, the War Food Administration announced Tuesday that new regulations will 

 provide for the unlimited manufacture and sale of repair parts and the distribution of 

 twice as much now farm machinery next yoeu? as in I9U3. This means that the quota for 

 now machines has been raised to 80 percent of the 19^0 production, ccmpared with only 

 UO percent this past year. There are three schedules for this type of equipment. 

 Schedule one includes 19 types which will be rationed to farmers through the county 

 farm rationing ccanmittoes . This list includes planters, grain drills, manure spreaders, 

 combinos, com binders, hay loaders, and tractors. Schedule two lists 12 types of 

 equipment which will be rationed, but on a more flexible basis. Included in this list 

 are field ensilage harvesters, portable elevators, grain and forage blowers, garden 

 tractors, milkin^^ machines, farm milk coolers, water pumps, windmills, and irrigation 

 pumps. Schedule throe consists of 15 typos of tractors, drawn and mounted implements 

 not on the ration list, but to be under state distribution control. This includes disc 

 plows and tillers, cultivators, rotary hoes, dusters, grain binders, stationary thrash- 

 u'_ ." , nnC I'l'vl^atLcn dietriouticn equipment. I?ationinj will alGc "bo contxniiod on :tl11L 

 cana and pressure cookers. The change over to the new system will be made December 1. 



Farm Credit Administration opposes rise in land prices . Mr. A. G. Black, 

 Governor of the Farm Credit Administration, indicated that federal land banks are 

 determined to prevent farm loan values from spiraling towards inflation and called upon 

 all other mortgage lenders to be equally firm in preventing -a repetition of the land 

 boom and crash of the '20b. Records show that ^hose who are borrowing money to buy 

 farmland are borrowing more than for many years. Individual lenders are more generous 

 thaji institutional lenders. In general the picture is healthy as a result of the con- 

 tinuation of the decline in total mortgage indebtedness of farmers. It is estimated 

 to be 6,125 million dollars as of July 1, which is the lowest figure since 1917. Farm 

 mortgage debt is decreasing at the rate of one-half billion dollars a year. On the 

 other hand, land prices are continuillg to increase, new mortgages are increasing in 

 siz^ and there are increases in the amount of mortgages recorded. These are unfavora- 

 ble from the long-time point of view. 



Governor Black is correct in placing a great deal of responsibility on lending 

 agencies. land booms are ordinarily made possible through an expansion of credit for 

 use in the purchases of farmland. In the midst of the depression, when the Farm Credit 

 Administration was sot up, a lending policy was established on the basis of so-called 



