INSPECTION OF COMMERCIAL FEEDSTUFFS 



, By Feed Control Service Staff: 



John W. Kuzmeski. Official Chemist Frederick A. McLaughlin, Microscopist 



Albert F. Spelman, Senior Chemist Joseph A. Martell, Technical Assistant 



C. Tyson Smith, Assistant Chemist Joseph Conkhn, Inspector 



Joseph Bart, Junior Chemist Cora B. Grover, Senior Clerk 

 Charles J. Rogers, Junior Chemist 



The Spring, summer and early fall of 1946 found the feed industry operating 

 under more chaotic conditions than it had experienced during any one of the other 

 war years. In fact the shortage of some feed ingredients was the worst in the 

 feed industry's history. 



Factors such as the government purchases of wheat and corn for export, 

 government price ceilings, transportation difificulties, etc., interfered with the 

 normal flow to the feed manufacturers of even those ingredients that otherwise 

 would have been more easily available. As a result, during this period buying of 

 feed materials was strictly a "hand to mouth" proposition. "Trade-back", 

 "tie-in" sales, and other peculiar activities probably were more prevalent than 

 was indicated by surface appearances. With many feed manufacturers, to pro- 

 duce a mixed feed was a case of using the ingredients at hand at the time of 

 mixing. 



Under such conditions, especially in the Northeast where the feed situation 

 was the most critical, it is understandable why many feeds at that time contained 

 ingredients that differed considerably from those registered. In many cases the 

 analysis also compared unfavorably with the guarantees. 



The table of deficient samples giv^en in this bulletin contains, for the most part, 

 samples collected during the fall of 1946. Many of the lots represented by the 

 samples analyzed were manufactured during the period of desperate feed short- 

 ages. 



It may be a significant fact that certain feed manufacturers who maintain 

 scrupulously the guarantees on their products in normal times also managed to 

 maintain these guarantees remarkably well even during the feed crisis although 

 numerous feed ingredient substitutions had to be made. 



However, most feed manufacturers did an excellent job of producing fair to 

 good quality feeds under extremely adverse circumstances. 



