INDEX NUMBERS OP FARM PRICES OP AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AND OP WHOLE- 

 SALE PRICES OF NON-AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES 



Index numbers of farm prices (August 1909-July, 1914=100) 



Relative 

 Jndex Purchas- 

 y Fruits Dairy Cotton ©f ing 



^^ r«-„;„» and Meat and and Unclass- All Non- Power 



and Grains 



Vegreta- Animals Poultry Cotton ified Groups Agricul- ©f 



^°"* bles Products Seed tural Farm 



Prices* Prod- 

 Uctst 



1919 231 189 206 182 247 162 209 199 105 



1920 231 249 173 197 248 152 205 241 85 



1921 112 148 108 151 101 90 116 167 69 



1922 105 152 113 135 156 94 124 168 74 



1923 114 136 106 147 216 109 185 171 79 



1924 129 124 109 137 211 100 134 162 83 



1926 156 160 ]39 143 177 92 147 165 89 



November 138 194 136 162 144 95 144 166 87 



December 140 194 136 163 139 92 143 165 87 



1926 



January 143 214 140 153 138 87 143 166 87 



February 140 218 146 144 142 87 143 164 87 



March 133 220 147 137 133 85 140 162 87 



April 131 253 146 133 135 83 140 160 88 



May 131 240 148 131 130 82 139 160 87 



June 130 216 154 130 132 81 139 160 87 



July 126 195 152 131 126 85" 136" 159 85 



August 128 166 144 130 130 89" 133" 160 88" 



September 121 136 148 139 13 4 93 134 161 83 



October 123 136 148 144 94 97 130 160 81 



November 121 142 142 157 88 97 130 161 80 



December 120 137 140 161 81 91 127 



•Computed for the Bureau of Agricultural Economics by the Bureau of Labor and Staitistics from 

 wholesale prices of all commodities other than those originating on United States farms. 1910- 

 1914=100. 



tindex numbers of all groups of farm prices divided by the index numbers of wholesale prices of 

 non-agricultural commodities, 



"Revised. 



In the foregoing table it will be noted that the index representing all agri- 

 cultural groups continued to fall steadily from 143 per cent in January 1926 to 

 127 per cent in December 1926. During this period the index representing non- 

 agricultural commodity prices dropped only 4 points from 165 to 161 in November. 



A principal cause of the decline in the farm price index was the fall in prices 

 for grain and cotton, the former dropping 23 points and the latter 57 points. 

 Fruits and vegetables of lesser importance in the total dropped 77 points, dairy 

 products gaining 8 points, unclassified products 4 points, while the index for 

 meat animals finished unchanged after scoring a material gain during the first 

 half of the year. 



SITUATION BETTER IN MONTANA 



Considering the fact that cotton and cottonseed must be eliminated in con- 

 sidering the purchasing power of the Montana farm dollar and that grain, meat 

 animals and dairy and poultry products comprise more than 80 per cent of Mon- 

 tana's surplus of farm products, purchasing power of the Montana farm dollar 

 during 1926, has not been impaired to the extent indicated for the national 

 average. 



Computation of the purchasing power of the Montana farm dollar as of date 

 November 1, 1926, in terms of the national averages, but weighted according to 

 the importance of each group *in Montana exports in the past three years was 

 made as follows: 



Weights — (Percentage of 



Purchasing Power Montana farm income from 

 U. S. Average November each item) 



Group 1923 1924 1925 1926 1928 1924 1925 1926 



Grains 68 92 83 75 40% 53% 87% 40% 



Meat Animals 61 72 82 88 84 26 87 86 



Dairy and Poultry 102 94 98 97 11 9 * 11 11 



Fruits and Vegetables 70 67 117 88 8 2 8 2 



Cotton 288 179 87 59 



Unclassified 59 66 57 60 12 10 12 11 



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