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AGRICULTURAL NEWS OF THE WEEK FEDERAL RESERVE BANK Number 216 OF DALLAS Wednesdq, February 17, 19.54 C 0 T T 0 N cotton prices have continued to moye up gradually and on Monday, February 15, the average for Middling 15/16-inch staple in the ten spot markets was 34ol7 cents per pound, compared with 33.92 a week earlier and 33.L2 3 weeks ago. The USDA has now armounced the official revised cott.on acreage allotments for 1954. The new state allotments for southwestern states are: Arizona, 413,820; Louisiana, 750,436; New Mexico, 218,942; Oklahoma, 1,098,283; and Texas, 8,719,178 acres. The USDA says that farmers will be advised of their individual farm allotments as rapidly as they can be determined by the State and County Conunittees of the Commodity Stabilization Service. ~ LIVESTOCK Livestock andd!oultry ~ fa:nns in the US showed a net decrease of 1 percent during 1953, accor' ng to the ~anrrual survey of livestcck and poultry numbers made by the U. s. Department of Agriculture. This is the first. time since 1949 that the nwnber has shown a decrease. Cattle numbers on January 1, 1954, were up slightly from a year earlier while hog numbers were down sharply. Sheep numbers decreased for the second consecutive year, while horse and mule numbers continued the decline that has been in progress for marzy- yearso --- ---Her~ are figures on the numbers of livestock on farms in District states as of January 1, 1954, and a yea:r earlier. I.JVESTOCK ON SOUTHWEST FAR.HS, JANUARY 1 (Thousand head) Cattle, 1953 1954 Hogs, 1953 1954 Sheep, 1953 1954 SOURCE: u. s. Arizona Louisiana New Mexico Oklahoma 947 1,771 1,842 1,237 1,175 3,315 8,587 26 463 380 52 47 495 l,ll9 906 445 122 122 1,350 1,317 146 909 25 473 3,218 346 159 Texas 8,853 S,574 5,291 Department of Agriculture. The number of goats in Texas increased 7 percent in 1953 to 2,044 1 000 head, which compares With a peak of 3,465,000 on January 1, 1942. POULTRY The rrumber of fa:nn chickens (does not include commercial broilers) on farms in Texas on Jarru-ary 1, 1954 was 21,184,ooo, or 4% more than a year earlier. Numbers in New Mexico and Arizona rose 1% each, while Oklahoma and Louisiana report declines of 1% and 7%, respectively. The number .2f. turkeys on Texas farms on January l was 609,000, or 1% less than a year earlier. Oklahoma reported 68,000 1 down 4,000. Little change occurred in other Southwest states. Commercial broilers sold in local markets in Texas on Monday of this week at varyi!lg prices, according to the State Department of Agriculture. In South Texas, 2t: to 3-pound broilers brought 24-25¢, bulk at 24¢. East Texas reported 23¢, while prices in Waco were most:cy- 22-23¢• Over l.)i million broiler chicks were placed on Texas far:ns in the week ended February 6, or 9% more than a year earlier. MISCELLANEOUS Commercial meat roduction-in Texas in 1953 totaled 1,146 million pounds, which is 21 percent more than in 19 2, according to AMS. u. s. uroduction last year was up 9% from the previous yea:r. Cash gra~ markets around the u. s. were unsettled during the w~ek ended February 11, according to USDA. Most wheat prices advanced 2-6¢ a bushel. High protein sprine wheat declined more than 3¢ a bushel. Rye declined 3-4¢ at Minneapolis. Corn about unchanged. Oats gained 1¢ at Minneapolis, Kansas City. Inter:nediate and lower types of barley declined sharply at Minneapolis; offerings in excess of demand. Grain sorghUJl'l unchanged at Fort Worth, down 2-3¢ a cwt. at Kansas City. Oilseed markets mL~ed. Soybeans gained 10-12¢. Flaxseed dropped about 10¢ a bushel. Some wool was contracted near Mason, Texas, last week at 71~¢, while in other sections growers received 65¢ to 67¢ for contracting of yearling wool, accordi~g to AMS. Some 8-months Texas wool was contracted in small lots at 63¢ to grower. A car of mohair was contracted at 71!¢ for Adult and $1.0lt for Kid mohair. Total production of winter commercial vegetables in Texas is estL~ated by AMS at 411,488 tons, which is 17% above the previous season and 32% more than the average production in 1949-52. Milk oroduction in Texas in January is estimated by USDA at 235 million pounds, compired with a January average of 256 lllillion pounds from 1942 to 1951. A total of 5,95'1,000 EeoEle were em~oied ~farms in the u. s. during the week of January 24-30 1 according to Farm ~bor, published by USDA. This nWllber is about 170,000 less than a year earlier:--The total consisted of 5,032,000 farm operators and unpaid members of their families and 919,000 hired workers. USDA reports that supplies of ~ for the first part of this year are generally high though there are some significant changes expected among individual items. Somewhat less meat, fishery products, lard, and fresh vegetables will be available but increases are likely for chicken, eggs, manufactured dairy products, and shortening, compared with the first part of 1953. Also, more fresh and processed fruit, canned vegetables, potatoes, and sweet potatoes are on hand for consumption during the late winter and earJ.¥ spring than a year ago. ~ supplies for the first half of this year will be significantly smalier than the very large supplies of a year earlier. Hog slaughter this spring will be down considerab~ from early 1953 and fewer cattle and sheep were being grain-fed on January 1. However, meat production in the last half of the year is expected to come close to the heavy output of the last half of 1953 and will include more por~ w. ~. Pritchett Agricultural Economist
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