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Wednesday, FebruaCT.__l_, 1951 AGRICTJLTill1AL NEPS OF THE 11TEEK Number S.8 . Federal Reserve oank of Dallas G fl .A I N S on Prices of wheat and corn the-Fort-Worth Grain and Cotton Exchange advanced dur:lng -the past \~.reek v.Jhile prices of other 0rains made little. net change. On Tuesday,. February 6 No, 1 ha.rd wheat sold .for a top price of $2. 70-1/4 a bushel atout 2 cents over a vreek ead ier. NO. 2 yeJ lor corn at $1. 96-1/2 ·p er· 'bushel was up 5 cents, i.• rhile No. 2 white corn brouc~ht. ~~2 .17-Sff-- up 1 cento 1'op prices of other grains:· 1Jo. 2 barley, ~~L 75 per: bushel; No. 2 white ~ts, ~1.17 per bushel; No. 2 yellcw milo, ~~2°:-··6j-per cwt. The USDA announced last weeF.the quantities of certain 1950 c.rops . placed under price ·support by U. S. farmers through _December 1950: (all in bushels) wheat, 181 ·miili.on; barley, 29 million; oats, 14 million; grain s.orghmns, 49 million; and corn, 18 million. · · Hice markets held firm during the weel~ ended J c.1nµary 29, but trading slackened f ollo ~ ring the announcement of ·price controls, wi tl-.l both millers and .distributors awaitir:g more definite information concerning the operc.tion of the order, according to the USDAo At Houston No. 2 Blue Bonnet and Patna soJd as high ·as ~~J 1.. 75, while prices OJ.. Zeni th ranged frorri. $10. 00 to ~~10 ~ 50 per cwt. , milled basis .. The SecretJ._-y of Agriculture has terrni~ated acreage allotments on 1951-crop rice. This action was taken, he said, oecause of the need for maximum production to assure abundant snpplies of rice for probable export under the national defense program. C 0 ll M R R C I A L VEGE T ABl ~ S A N ·n C I T 1 US 'co~~rcial . vegetables suffered se.. rere damage in all grm.ing areas of the District during the-recent cold wave. Subfreez-inr.temperatures· prevailed continuously for over 3 days in most sections vri.th olficial 101".rs repopted to be 10° at Eagle Pass, 12° in the rinter Garden, 19° at Laredo and 18-22° in the Lower Valley. Tops of root crops were frozen and leaf crops were frozen throughout.. The extent o.f damage to leaf crops vrn.s ver-J severe Valley leaf crops were mostly for February and early March harvest and nil.l not be replanted. The entire early spring tomato acreage in the Lovver Valley was killed, whj_le heavy losses of potatoes and sweet corn vrere encountered. Damage was seirere in all citrus areas. All fruit contained ice crystaJ s. Total loss of younr trees is expected to be heavy, and considerabJ e vrood damRge to older trees is probable. Preliminary reports on utilization of the remainder of the fruit indicates that most of it wiJ.l be used by the processing plants and marketed as juice, provided weather conditions favor fuJl utilization of the crop in this manner. COTTOlJ Prices for spot cotton generally have been holding firm, according to the PMA. However;-t"he cotton exchanges have been posting no spot quotations since the price control order was issued~ Cotton futures markets suspended trading on Saturday, January 27, and are still closed. This- isthel ongest period that trading has been suspended in cotton futures markets since the "bank holiday" in March, 1933. Cotton ginned in Texas throu~h Januc:.ry 16 totaled 2,8h?,OOO bales, or about 98 percent of theestimated crop, aecordine; to the Bureau of the Census . . AGRICULTURAL NEWS OF THE WEEK Number Fe~ruary Wednesday, 7, 1951 Page 2 L I VE S T 0 CK Prices of livestock on the Fort Wo:!'.'th market generally are ho1ding at the high levels reported last week, the prin.cipalchange being an advance of 75 cents in hog prices to $22.)0 per cwt. On Jtmuary 15 prices received by far~ners for bE~ef cattle, lE'.mbs, r:nd veal calves in the U. 0 . were fromL~l to h3 pex·cent a-oove parity prices as of that date. Hog prices, on the other hand, avera . , erl 3 percent belon parity. Medium and Good Spanish and Angora goats in the hair sold in San Antonio last week as high as $16.)0 per cwt. Angora kids reached ~ 10. -~O each. r:attle slaughter in commercial plants in T8xas j n 19:) o totaled 770 million pounds, vs. ?5? millfonin 19490 Calf slaughterreached 35.3 million pounds -- up 2 million.. Hog slaughter last year rose to 376 million pounds, vs. 317 million in 1949. Sheep and lamb slaughter, on the other hand, totaled 48 million pounds, or slightly less than in 1949. · Changes in mP~t production in the U.S. in 1950 as compared with 1949: · beef production, up 1-Percent; veal production-,-down G percent; pork production, up 6 ·percent; and mutton and lamb, down 1 percent. WOOIJ AND MOHAIR Prices of 1 ool and mohair continued to establish new high levels, according to the reports of the PEA. Approximately 30,000 fleeces were contracted in Texas lest week at Glo50 per pound, grease basis. Some mohair ras contracted last week in Texas at $1.80 for adult and ~~2.30 per pound for kid mohair. All t~ading in the Boston ool market came to a virtual hault last week, pending a clarification of the~-pi~ice --cOncrol order. The grease-wool and wool-top futures exchanges suspended trading until further noticec 1 MI S C E L 1 A N E 0 U S Manufacture of Texas dairy products -- butter, ice cream, cheese, etc. -fell 19 percent from November to December and 1N2s 24 percent belovr the production in December, 1949~ As compared with Dec mber, 1949, the December, J9r;o production of creamry butter i.ras dmm 49 percent, American cheese output was off 18 percent, while ice cream manufactu~e rose 7 percent. The mid-January index of prices received by Texas farmers for all agricultural commodities advanced-lU points, or S percent above the previous month, to reach a new record high of 380 percent o.!. the 1910-14 average" T -lis marks the third successive month of record-breaking index levels reported for Texas by the BAEo VJhile hiESher prices for virtually all farm products contributed to the advance, chiefly responsible 7ere the substantial increases in prices of meat animals and the sharply higher averages reported for rnol, most fr;ed grains and hay. Lower prices than a month earlier 1.-ere recorded for citrus fruits, cottonseed, turkeys and eggs. Honey production in Texas during 19)0 i.·;o.s a nei. r record of 1), 850, 000 pounds compared with the previous record of 3,373,000 pounds in 191.i.9. There were 317,000 colonies of bees on Tex~s 1arms during 1950 compared with 311,000 in 1949. Bees averaged 50 pounds per colony last ;rear compared ·with L.3 pounds per coJ_ony in 1949 Increased acrea _e of Ilubam c. nd fadrid clovers has contributed materially to higher yields 1 'f. M. Pritchett Agrictltural Economist
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