the price is low. Conversely, when the supply is low, the price 

 is high (table 5). The two factors of supply and price tend 

 to equalize each other so that the incomes of livestock-pro- 

 ducers do not vary in proportion to either prices or numbers. 

 During 1942 this principle did not operate. The farmers had 

 a large supply of livestock, which brought unusually high 

 prices for such a supply. Therefore 1942 incomes encouraged 

 farmers to produce more livestock products and to feed each 

 animal a more nutritive ration. This alone would have 

 created pressure on the supply of high-protein feeds and the 

 normal reaction would have been higher prices. These higher 

 prices would have distributed the supply throughout the sea- 

 son among the various classes of livestock. However, during 

 the latter half of 1942 and during 1943 the pressure on the 

 supply of protein feeds was not compensated for by firm 

 prices. 



TABLE 5. PRODUCTION, PRICES, AND INCOMES FROM 

 LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS 



The relationship between the prices of hogs and prices of 

 high-protein feeds was also unusual. Normally, when there 

 were many hogs, the price of hogs was low relative to the 

 price of tankage. This resulted in a diminution in the amount 

 of tankage fed each hog, thus spreading the supply among 

 the large numbers. When there were few hogs and high prices, 

 a 250-pound hog would buy eight sacks of tankage, and when 

 there were many hogs and low prices, a hog would buy only 

 five sacks. In 1942, with many hogs, a 250-pound hog would 

 buy about ten sacks of tankage (if the farmer could get 



