FARMERS will face about the same 

 production problems in 1946 that 



they did in 1945. Labor, for the most 

 part, will be just as scarce this year as 

 last. Supply of new machinery and parts 

 has improved slightly to date, but any 

 appreciable change in the picture will 

 depend on whether or not the strike 

 situation calms in the coming months. 



That's about the outlook some 2000 

 farmers and homemakers faced as they 

 attended Farm and Home Week at the 

 University of Illinois in February. Be- 

 cause of this outlook, the program em- 

 phasized about the same points as those 

 stressed in 1944, the last year Farm 

 and Home Week was held on the uni- 

 versity campus. While there was some 

 discussion of conversion from wartime 

 to peacetime production, continued de- 

 mands for heavy production indicate 

 that 1946 will not see a large scale 

 shifting in operations. 



Emphasis was again placed on mak- 

 ing the best use of labor and machinery 

 and there was considerable interest 

 shown in the exhibits of new farm ma- 

 chinery, farm building designs and 

 labor-saving devices. 



. On the economic side, the outlook 

 for 1946 continues favorable. L. J. 

 Norton, chief in agricultural marketing 

 at the University, in summarizing the 

 highlights of the livestock situation, 

 said that "stockmen will enjoy good 

 markets during 1946." He added, as 

 farmers well know, that feed supplies 

 may be a limiting factor to livestock 

 production in some cases. 



Norton said that costs of feed will 

 tend to work higher because demands 

 for feeds exceed supplies at current 

 prices. Price ceilings will tend to limit 

 advances in cost. The recent order re- 

 garding distribution of protein feed 

 should not reduce the quantities going 

 to livestock feeders, he said. 



Current and prospective pig craps, 

 he reported, are not much above the 

 1940-41 level and are 30 per cent below 

 the high 1943 crop. If the demand for 

 jX)rk and lard continues good, pig crops 

 of this size will not cause much trouble 

 when they come to market, Norton be- 

 lieves. Hog prices next winter are 

 likely to be well above the government 



The big three of nUnoU agriculture chat 

 during general session of Farm and Home 

 Week. Left to right: Charles B. Shuman, 

 Illinois Agricultural Association president. 



Arnold P. Benson, director of the Illinois 

 State Department of Agriculture, and H. P. 

 Rusk, dean of the state university College 

 of Agriculture. 



LABOR, MACHINERY 



STILL BIG PROBLEMS 



support level, which has been set at 90 

 per cent of parity price with allowance 

 for prewar seasonal variations. 



F. G. Francis of the university animal 

 husbandry department said he believed 

 that a drop in live cattle prices is in- 

 evitable in event the subsidies are not 

 extended beyond the June 30 deadline. 

 This was in agreement with Norton's 

 theory that elimination of subsidies 

 would probably weaken prices, except 

 in the better grades of cattle. 



Francis added that "should the ceil- 

 ing be removed at the same time as the 

 subsidies are discontinued, the whole 

 business might straighten itself out 

 following a short period of readjust- 

 ment." 



R.W. Bartlett, professor of agricul- 

 tural economics, also had a good word 

 to say about milk prices. He thinks 

 that the farm price of milk is likely to 



be sustained at a high level during the 

 next year. He advised, however, that 

 dairy producers, especially in the larger 

 market-milk areas, would be wise to 

 get ready to adjust their production 

 so that it will be more uniform 

 throughout the year. In this way, he 

 pointed out, they can take advantage of 

 higher prices likely to be paid in the 

 months of short production. 



Grain farmers were warned by 

 George C. Decker, entomologist, Illi- 

 nois Natural History Survey and Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 to expect some trouble from corn borers 

 again in 1946. 



"North-central Illinois," he said, "is 

 the corn borer capital of the world at 

 the present time, with more corn borers 

 per acre per farm than any other sec- 

 tion of the country." 



He said that it is reasonable to expect 

 more borer damage in 1946 than in 

 1945 unless weather conditions this 

 spring and early summer are extremely 

 unfavorable for the borer. 



Frequent rains during the late sum- 

 mer and fall months were unfavorable 

 for the development of second-genera- 



The Farm and Home Week audience jams 

 the lobby of the auditorium building at 

 the University of Illinois during a gmarol 

 session intermission. - ... ■ . ,., . ..:. i. 



L A. A. RECORD 



V 



