Page Ten 



THE I. A. A. RECORD 



Sept ember y 1931 



Danger of Raising Too 



Many Hogs — Denman 



Tells Sw^ine Growers Day of Big 

 Lardy Type Is Past 



t 



THERE is danger from over-expan- 

 sion in the swine industry especially 

 where feed supplies are not always de- 

 pendable and transportation costs are 

 high, C. B. Denman, member of the 

 Federal Farm Board, told members of 

 the National Swine Growers Association 

 at their annual meeting in Springfield, 

 August 27. An abundant supply and 

 the low price of feed, he added, are the 

 principal factors responsible for the 

 marked increase in pork production now 

 getting under way. 



Mr. Denman referred to the June pig 

 survey which reveals an increase of 2.S 

 per cent over figures for 1930. 



"The western states showed an in- 

 crease of more than 1 5 per cent, where- 

 as reports on the number of sows bred 

 or to be bred for farrowing this fall 

 pointed to an increase of 37 per cent 

 for the country as a whole and over 60 

 per cent for the western states com- 

 pared with a year ago," he said. "The 

 pig crop this fall for the United States 

 will be about 18 per cent larger than it 

 was in the fall of 1930. 



The Mortgage Lifter 



"The hog has rightly been named the 

 'mortgage lifter,' but his lifting power 

 is no longer proportionate to his weight. 

 Hogs weighing from 200 to 220 pounds 

 offer the producer the best chances for 

 success in swine growing, principally 

 because they yield a high percentage of 

 cuts of the type, quality and average 

 weight most definitely suited to con- 

 sumer demand. 



"Change in size of family and in 

 habits of eating, and more work by 

 brain, and less by brawn, have lessened 

 the demand for fat cuts of pork and 

 haye increased that for smaller and 

 leaner ones; thereby restricting the 

 heavy hog yielding a large proportion of 

 lard and fat cuts. 



Prefer Light Cuts 



"The preference for light weight cuts 

 is clearly demonstrated in the wholesale 

 prices of pork products at Chicago dur- 

 ing the week ending Aug. 15, 1931. 

 Hams weighing 10 to 12 pounds, for 

 instance, sold at 13J4 cents a pound, 

 and 18 to 22 pound hams at 12 cents. 

 Pork loins weighing 8 to 1 pounds sold 

 at 24 cents a pound and those weighing 

 16 to 22 pounds at 11^ cents. Like- 

 wise, bacon bellies weighing 8 to 10 

 pounds sold at 13J/2 cents a pound, 

 while 20 to 25 pound bellies, which 

 must be dry salt cured, sold at 6^ 

 cents. 



"On the basis of Chicago prices, dur- 



ONE YOLK THAT WENT OVER BIG 



A popular feature ot the recent Chehalls, Washingrton, Egg Festival warn the 

 serving; ot thl«i huge omelette, composed ot 7,200 eggt*, ^vhlch '«vere fried lu this 

 huge eigrht-foot frying pan, -^veigrhing: nearly half n ton. The huge pan waw 

 g:rea8ed by the novel method of attaching slabs of bacon to the feet of pretty 

 grirls, ^vho turned it into a skating rink. Here are the chefs stirring the bunch 

 of eggs ^vith paddles. 



ing the first week of August, the regu- 

 lar products from a 200 pound hog 

 could be sold by the packer at whole- 

 sale for approximately $7.75 per hun- 

 dred pounds live weight basis, while 

 those from a 300 pound hog were worth 

 $6.00. Despite the higher dressing per- 

 centage of heavy hogs, their cut-out 

 values are usually less than those of 

 light hogs, because of lower prices per 

 pound for heavy hams, loins and bellies 

 and also because a large part of the 

 heavy weight carcass must be dry salt 

 cured and, hence, sold at a lower figure. 

 The standard grading system for hogs 

 recently formulated by the government 

 in co-operation with hog producers and 

 packers will be an important factor in 

 passing back to the swine grower this 

 margin between heavy and light weight 

 hog cut-out values. , . 



More Rapid Turnover 



"The higher average price which light 

 hogs command because their carcass 

 products are more definitely suited to 

 consumer demand is not the only rea- 

 son why they usually are more profit- 

 able to raise. Turnover of invested capi- 

 tal is more rapid in producing and mar- 

 keting younger animals. 



"Cost of gain in terms of feed con- 

 sumed increases as hogs become heavier, 

 since on the average it takes about 200 

 pounds of corn to grow a hog from the 

 weight of 50 pounds to 100 pounds, 

 while it takes over 275 pounds to grow 

 one from 250 pounds to 300 pounds, 

 showing a wider margin between cost 

 of production and market price, in case 

 hogs are marketed at lighter weights 

 than if they are pushed to heavier 

 weights. 



"Analysis of average hog weights 

 since 1880 indicates that swine growers 

 in general have not adjusted their pro- 

 duction policy to meet the demand for 

 light weight hogs, especially during the 

 last decade." 



Soybean Ass'n. Closes 



Membership for 1931 



IN a series of conferences sponsored 

 by the Soybean Marketing Associa- 

 tion early this month, soybean growers 

 met to discuss the grading and handling 

 of the commercial crop which will be 

 harvested within the next few weeks. 



Meetings were held at Macomb, 

 Springfield, Taylorville, Decatur and 

 Champaign on September 1, 2, 3, 4 and 

 5, attended by managers of co-operative 

 elevators, farm advisers and growers. 

 W. H. Coultas, manager of the Soy- 

 bean Marketing Association, was in 

 charge. 



J. E. Barr of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, who has charge of the 

 licensing of Federal soybean inspectors, 

 assisted in the meetings and supervised 

 the grading demonstrations. 



By the time this is read the member- 

 ship sign-up of the Soybean Marketing 

 Association will be closed for the 1931 

 crop as the deadline has been set at 

 September 15. This was necessary so 

 that plans could be made for receiving, 

 selling and storing the crop. Question- 

 naires have been sent out to determine 

 the volume of soybeans to be marketed 

 through the co-operative. More than 

 2,000,000 bushels are expected as com- 

 pared with 1,150,000 last year. . , 



