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AGRICULTURAL NEWTS OF THE WEEK____________________________________Wednesday, January 23, 1952 Number lOH — ' Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas POULTRY Broiler prices in local Southwest markets have strengthened since midNovember. Broilers and fryers sold in South Texas - Qonzrales-Smiley-Nixon area this week at 30 cents per pound, while quotations- from East Texas - Tyler-Nacogdoches-Center area - rwere mostly at 28-29 cents. Prices now are about 6 cents per pound above the November low. In Fort Worth, Top Grade Commercial fryers sold th is week mostly at 29-30 cents per pound, Low Grade fryers brought 2?” cents and lover. Heavy hens were quoted at 20-25 cents. Turkey prices have eased since.the Christmas Holiday. No. 1 turkey hens sold in Fort Worth this week at 30-35 cents per pound, or about 7 cents under the December peak. . >• Texas br o ile r growers^ produced a record number of b roilers in 1951, and have started 1952 with production at a much higher le v e l than a year ago. Broiler chick placement on Texas farms reached a record le v e l during the week ended"January 12 "when~T, 565,000 broiler chicks were placed. Placements for the f ir s t 2 weeks in January totaled about 2,750,000, or a m illion more than in the same weeks of la s t year. The booming b ro iler industry in the Southwest is placing heavy demands on commercial hatcheries for baby-chicks. Commercial hatcheries in Texas la s t month produced 5,570,000 chicks, or 38 $ above December 1950, according to BAE estimates. About 92$ of the December output was commercial b ro ile r .chicks, and 8$ was for farm flo ck replacements. The preliminary to ta l hatchery production in Texas during 1951 shows about 85 m illio n chicks - the highest annual output on record - exceeding the. 1950 output by about J , and the previous record established in 1953 by about 9$. Egg production in Texas during December 1951 was estimated by the BAE at 151 ‘m illio n , an increase of 10$ over the December 1950 production. There were 5$ fewer hens on farms la s t month but egg production per hen was up 16$ from a year ago, L I V E S T O C K - ■, * C attle and calves sold in Fort Worth th is week at generally steady prices, some sales re fle c tin g a s lig h t improvement over the recent low spots. Good and Choice fed steers and yearlin g s cashed at $28.50-35.50. Common and Medium steers and yearlings bulked at $20,00-28.50. Fat cows cleared at $18,5023.50, Good and Choice slaughter calves cashed' a t''$28.50-33•00, while Common and Medium butcher calves drew $20,00-28.50. Butcher hogs were strong to 25 cents higher this week, with prices ranging generally up to $18.00, a few $18,25. Good and Choice wpoled slaughter l ambs cashed at $27.25-27.50, and shorn lambs brought $25.00-275.50. Stocker and Feeder lambs brought $20.00-27.50. The number of c a ttle on feed in the U .S. on January 1, 1952, was 11$ larger than a year ago and the largest on record, according to the BAE. Based on present inform ation, says the Bureau, the number of c a ttle received at Corn Belt markets during the next 3 months is expected to be somewhat higher than la s t year. The number o f high-grade fed c a ttle is also expected to be greater. The expectation of heavier ca ttle marketings in the next few months is interpreted by some people as foreshadowing lower c a ttle p ric e s. However, with AGRICULTURAL NEW'S OF THE WEEK Number 108 Wedn esday, January 23, 1952 Page 2 consumer income and probably the- demand fo r beef stead ily risin g there are d if ferences of opinion as to the ultimate e ffe c t heavier marketings w ill have on price trends. ; Livestock marke tin gs at the leading markets are running above- a year ago and,, prices have shown weakening tendencies. However, i t is not possible to determine to what extent the lower prices may be due to changes in the demandsupply. situ ation or to frequent work stoppages in packing p lan ts-at several markets, WOOL Occasional sales of greasy foreign and domestic worsted wools in the Boston Wool Market were reported la s t week. Prices held about unchanged. Cabled reports to the PMA from A ustralia la s t week showed a s lig h tly easier tone in the wool market. Sim ilar reports were received from New Zealand* South A fr ic a , and South America. . . A small lo t ef 12-months Texas wool, Good French combing "with some sta p le , sold la s t week at. an estimated tlean price of around $ 1 ,8 5 to $ 1.8 8 per .pound in the lo c a l market. COTTON Cotton prices continue to flu ctu ate within a range of about 1 cent per pound. On Tuesday, January 22, Middling l$ / l 6-inch cotton #n the Dallas market closed at b l .6 0 cents per pound, compared with U l . 65 a week e a r lie r and U2 .1 0 cents 2 weeks ago. , Domestic m ill consumption of cotton in December was sharply below a year e a r lie r ; consumption averaged 35 *i|00 bales per working day, compared with I4I , 300 in December 1950. M ills consumed 3.8 m illion bales in the f i r s t 5 months (August December) of th is season, compared with lull m illion bales in the corresponding 5 months la s t season and 3.6 m illion 2 years ago. Should consumption in the remaining 7 months of the season average the same as in the f i r s t 5 months, the season’ s to ta l would approximate 9.U m illio n bales vs. 10.5 m illio n la s t season. O f f i c ia l estim ates, combined with u n o ffic ia l data, show cotton expprts from the U .S . in the August-December period at over 2.7 m illion b ales, compared with less than 1 .5 m illion a year e a r lie r , Cottonseed p r ic e s in Texas have declined further and were reported la s t week at an average of about $ 7 h .80 per ton, f .o .b . the gin s. M I S C E L . L A N E 0 U ,S Milk production in Texas throughout most, of 1951 was at a lower rate than: in 1950. However, December production was estimated by the BAE at 271 m illion pounds, compared with 269 m illio n in December 1950. Milk production in the State in 1951 was about 3% less than in 1950 . Moisture conditions in f laxseed areas of South Texas permitted seeding f u l l intended acreages in sharp contrast to a year ago when extreme drought had prevented the seeding of any acreage. The crop has made f a ir to good progress, although a December freeze caused some damage and growth has been retarded by dry weather. > : ' f The USDA has announced that i t w ill consider the purchase of shelled pecans in an amount that may approximate 1.5 m illion pounds. The program is intended to a s s is t growers in marketing the large 1951 pecan crop, estimated at ll ;3 m illio n pounds v s. 127 m illio n in 1950 . Vf. M. P r it c h e t t A g r ic u lt u r a l Economist