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FARM FRONT ROUNDUP 



TRACTOR TIRES — Only when 

 rear wheel tractor tires are worn be- 

 yond the recapping stage can ration 

 boards issue a farmer a certificate 

 to purchase a new tire. According 

 to information received by OPA 

 from the Rubber Director, require- 

 ments for rear wheel tractor tires 

 and for other farm implements will 

 far exceed the best production es- 

 timates until September or October. 

 Building large tires for tractors, 

 bombers, trucks, etc., requires high 

 grade manpower of which there is 

 a shortage. A second factor con- 

 tributing to the tractor tire shortage 

 is that while the synthetic rubber 

 program is well underway there 

 have been months when it was be- 

 hind schedule. This has necessitated 

 setting up a priority schedule for 

 available supplies. On this priority 

 schedule, bomber tires come first, 

 truck tires second, and farm tires 

 third. In view of this situation, the 

 WFA has also urged farmers to 

 withhold appeals for conversion of 

 tractors from steel wheels to rub- 

 ber tires. 



TIRE INSPECTIONS — o p a 



abandoned its passenger tire in- 

 spection program April 20. Only tire 

 inspection now required is when a 

 motorist makes application for per- 

 mission to buy a new tire. Motorists 

 are advised, however, to keep tire 

 inspection records to submit with re- 

 newal applications for gasoline ra- 

 tions. 



FACTORY TIRE "SECONDS" 



— New Passenger tire "factory sec- 

 onds" were reclassified into Grade 

 III effective April 17. New passenger 

 tube "factory seconds" at the same 

 time were made available without 

 ration certificates. "Factory sec- 

 onds" have a price ceiling 25 per 

 cent less than that for perfect new 

 passenger tires. 



GRAIN STOCKS— state and 

 federal departments of agriculture 

 reported 180 million bushels of corn 

 on forms in Illinois as of April 1, 

 compared with 209 million bushels 

 on that date a year ago. Current 

 stocks of corn amount to 44 per 



cent of the 1943 production, indicat- 

 ing that since Jan. 1 farmers have 

 sent 134 million bushels of corn to 

 market or used it in the feedlot. Com 

 consumed in the last three months 

 amounts to a third of the 1943 crop 

 and represents "the largest disap- 

 pearance for this period on record." 

 Farm stocks of soybeans, at 12 mil- 

 lion bushels, were smaller than a 

 year ago but the third largest quan- 

 tity in seven years of record. 



POWDEREDMILK— AsofMay 



1 the WFA reduced the set aside on 

 roller-drier skim milk from 75 to 50 

 per cent of the monthly production 

 for government purchase. Govern- 

 ment stocks of this product, in rela- 

 tion to WOT needs, are now sufficient 

 to permit a larger percentage to be 

 sold commercially for U.S. civilian 

 use. 



MILK CONSERVATION PRO- 



uBAIu —Quotas limiting the sales 

 of fluid cream and fluid milk by- 

 products will be adjusted during 

 May and June to help assure the 

 utilization of milk produced during 

 these two months of peak produc- 

 tion, says the WFA. Milk dealers 

 affected will be permitted to sell 

 100 per cent as much cream and 

 •milk by-products as they sold in Jione 

 1943. Prior to May these sales were 

 limited to 75 per cent. 



DAIRY EQUIPMENT— no re 



laxation of restrictions on dairy 

 equipment and machinery manufac- 

 ture can be anticipated until mili- 

 tary requirements are on the de- 

 cline, according to a recent an- 

 nouncement by the WPB. 



CATTLE ON FEED — According 

 to a recent government release, the 

 nximber of cattle on feed for market 

 in the 11 Corn Belt states on April 

 1 this year was about 23 per cent 

 smaller than a year earlier. Num- 

 ber of cattle on feed in Illinois was 

 reported at 80 per cent of April 1, 

 1943. 



FARMLAROR— A BAE report 

 reveals people working on farms 

 April 1 numbered 9,080,000 — or 



about 3 per cent lower than for the 

 same date last year; and the gen- 

 eral level of farm wage rates was at 

 an all-time high. ; . 



GASOLINE RATIONS — opa 



April 6 amended its ration order 50, 

 effective April 11, to permit pre- 

 ferred mileage for representatives of 

 farm organizations operating to in- 

 crease the production of food. Travel 

 of representatives which was previ- 

 ously subject to the B ceiling will be 

 limited only by the mileage they 

 need to carry out the purposes of 

 their organizations. These purposes 

 are: (1) Assisting farmers in increas- 

 ing their production of food; (2) Or- 

 ganizing or assisting farmers' coop- 

 eratives engaged in cooperative 

 marketing of the products of their 

 forms or cooperative buying of sup- 

 plies, livestock or equipment neces- 

 sary for the operation of their farms; 

 (3) Organizing or assisting farmers 

 in the cooperative use of farm live- 

 stock, machinery or equipment. 



6 Million Dollar Rorei 



Damage In State for '43 



The European corn borer caused a 

 loss of 33 million dollars to the 1943 

 corn crop grown in the northeastern 

 part of the United States, according 

 to estimates of the USD A from a sur- 

 vey conducted in cooperation with 

 state agricultural experiment stations. 



Of this amount, more than 27 mil- 

 lion dollars loss occurred in corn 

 harvested for grain, and 5I/2 million 

 dollars in sweet corn. The estimate of 

 borer damage is almost double that of 

 1942. 



Greatest damage in any state oc- 

 curred in Indiana where the loss was 

 chiefly in field corn and totalled about 

 11 14 million dollars. The second 

 largest loss was in Illinois and amount- 

 ed to about 61/^ million dollars. 



Meal Allocation 



Seventy-five per cent of Illinois' 

 April allocation of 7248 tons of oilseed 

 meal was scheduled for distribution to 

 county AAA committees for small feed 

 mixers and dealers, and 25 per cent 

 for larger feed mixers, according to 

 Lee M. Gentry, state AAA chairman. 



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L A. A. RECORD 



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