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In raising the price of mutual aid wheat from $1.25 to $lA6 a hushel, Canadian funds. 

 Previously Canada had "been selling wheat for relief purposes at a discount. One story 

 has it that the Commodity Credit Corporation asked Canada to ship some of her grain 

 for lend-lease, hut that Canada refused and wemted payment for anything that was 

 cleared. Because of the tight transportation situation in this country, the United 

 States may be Interested in the purchase of Canadian wheat for shipment to Britain or 

 for relief. If so, it appears that we shall have to pay the higher price, which is 

 still substantially below wheat prices in the United States. 



Canada guarantees $1.25 a bushel for wheat . Canada has announced their 

 grain program for 19^*5-^6. It Includes the continuation of the guaranteed price of 

 $1.25 a bushel, basis No. 1 Northern, in store at Fort Williams, Fort Arthur or 

 Vancouver. Growers will again receive participation certificates entitling them to 

 share in any profit that might be realized by the government in the sale of the wheat. 

 The guaranteed price of $1.25 a bushel will not be paid for more than an individual 

 grower's quota of l^i- bushels per authorized acre. This lU-bushel limit was put on to 

 encourage feed grain production In 19^5* Growers were asked to reduce seedings of 

 wheat in favor of barley and oats. Canada already has large stocks of wheat on hand 

 but has large commitments for shipments of beef emd pork to the United Kingdom so 

 that more feed grains are needed to increase meat production. Canadian farmers eu"e 

 guaranteed minimum prices of ^5 cents a bushel for oats and 60 cents for barley, with 

 10 cents a bushel added as an advemce equalization payment. 



Wheat farmers protected . The War Food Administration announced Meurch 9 that 

 recently enacted legislation protects the allotments of wheat producers in cases where 

 war crop production has upset the farmer's normal production of wheat. This action 

 was taken to protect the acreage allotments of any farms where shifts were made from 

 the production of wheat to the production of more essential crops. 



The feed situatioti . With normal weather the USDA expects the supply of hay 

 on hand to be adequate to meet current livestock requirements and to leave a carryover 

 only slightly less than the 10.3 million tons ceirrled over last year, in spite of the 

 fact that stocks on farms January 1 per hay-forage-pasture-consuming animal unit were 

 one percent smaller theui the year earlier and 7 percent smaller than the Jemuary 1 

 average during the 1959-19^5 period. Hay prices are expected to average higher during 

 the current yeax than in 19^5-^^. 



Disappearance of feed grains for all purposes during the first half of 19^5 

 is expected to be smaller than during the same period in 19^^* but with prices of 

 livestock products at a high level and with a large quantity of high-moisture com on 

 hand, the rate of feeding per animal probably. will be about as heavy as the high rate 

 during 19^3-'^^ • The reduction in the amount fed will be caused by the Ik percent drop 

 in terms of grain- consuming animal units in the number of livestock on farms January 1 

 compared with a year earlier. 



The poultry situation . The War Food Administration is urging poultry pro- 

 ducers to increase chicken meat production to meet Increased military requirements 

 and to supplement meat supplies in the summer and early fall during the seasonally 

 low period in livestock marketing. As pointed out by Professor Stice in a special re- 

 port attached, the February 1 government report indicates that farmers expect to pur- 

 chase k percent fewer baby chicks for farm flocks in 19^5 than in 19^*<-. However, they 

 Intend to grow 8 percent more turkeys. Feed supplies are ample this year, euid with 



