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AGRICULTURAL NEWS OF_m_1HE __WE_E_K_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...;__!fednesday~. ·April Nuffibe:rbo 4, 1951 Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas .·, ·· C 0"11'. 0 N . Spot cotton prices are holding ste.ady at ceiling. levels. ·Middl.i ng 1S/i6~·· :. inch cotton is. averagfiig4):"14 cents pei" pound ·i n the 10 designated mark$:t:s, ·. :T he .. comparab:J_e Dallas price ·is · l+L+. 77 ·c ents per pound. Cotton futures prices have shown considerable weakness during the past 2 weeks; this is part:lculariy true of prices based ·on: new-crop deliveries . . For example, October 1951 futures sold Tuesday, Ap.r il 3 )' on the New le«~ms market 40.01 cents per pound; compared with 4L 72 ceri.ts _2 wee.ks ago~ . Unfavorable ' factor·s in the textile industry and improved prospects .for .the 19)1 crop arB said to be responsible for this dec1ine. . . , .. . . . · A USDA report says that cott~n planting has made good progress i:n ·s.outhern a~d cer:it.ral Georgia; plai.'1ting has begun in Sou:E'f:i··-ca.rolina., alth01:gh retarded by rains.. Heavy rains delayed work in the m~ddl~ Gulf Area last week. Drought-breaking rains in the southern half of · Texas improved p:rospects j with planting pushed as soils · dried. There is need, the report says, fqr . warm.we&ther . over the main Cotton Belt, while .warmth and gerieral rains would improve .prospects in northwestern Texas, ·New Mexic_o " and Arizonan . The PMA reports that the Coastc:i._1 Bend section. of Texas will p~aD:t . more acreage to cotton than in 1949; with a Targe part cf the feed ·and flax acreage going to cot:t.on. Planting permits in the Vci.lley ha:v.e passed the 800 ,000--acre mark, and ·· · there have been unofficial forecasts--Or--a-1,obosOOO-acre-plup · crop in that area ~ · · The cotton trade. appears to he3:y.e attached . con.s iderable importanc'e to the increase in the parity price of · cotton between' Februc.:"y 15 and mid-March. The par'ityprice on the latter date we..s· 33 c 60 · ce't its .per · potind - :UP 49 points· for the month then ended and compares vvith 30u 26 cents. yea.r ·a'g o • .. Or at a GRAINS Prices of most grains on the Fort '. Wo.rth Grain and Cotton Exchang~ made only minor changes during the past wee,k. ···The · pr~noipal ex~eption ·is · wheat, ·vv-hich rose several c-ents • . No·, 1 hard wheat · ·s.01d· M.9.nd.ay., _April 2, at a · top pri.ce of · " ·· $2 .. 70-l/4· per b_u shel, compared:. with $2 •.65-l/4. ~ a ·week ear:lier, but was. -' dmvn to ~2.69 on Tuesday of this week. Wheat pi:;·ic.es, al though higJ:?-er than a week ago; have been somewhat unstable; reports of exr)orts and EC.A grants·; toge:th:e·r vdth confliCting estim2tes of 'production prospects in· the winter wheat bE?lt, have caused alte·rnating currents of thought and ··action · in the grain , marke~s. · Tuesday's top pt'ices for other ., grains on .the Fort Worth market: No. 2 barley, $L69; No. 2 vJ"hite oats, $1.19-3;4;"1f0:" 2 · yellow corn, $1..93-3/4; No. 2 white corn, :;'p2,..15--3/4 ·per bushel; and No. :. 2 yellow '.1µilo (grain sorghums), ~2~52 ·p er · hundred pounds. .. .· . · . . , The Houston rice market · has ' been , rather qufet, with prices holding at or near ceiling levels. No~ 1 Rexo~o and Blue Bonnet were quot_ed last week at ~11. 75 to $12.00 per hundred pounds, milled .basis. · The USDA announced that · the . 195~ ·rice crop will be supported at not less than a national average of $L..90 per hundredweight. This figure is 90 percent of .. the rice parity price as of February l)·; however, if the parity price rises beti~een now and August 1, the support price will be increased accordingly. The support · price last year was ·$4.56 per hundredweight. · ' The PMA reports that cumulative sales of US wheat and flour under the International Wheat Agreement have. reached the US 19)0-51 guaranteed quantity of AG RIC ULT URAL NEYTS .OF THE WEEK Number 66 · Wednesday, April 4, 1951 Page 2 248 million bushels and th.at sales of wheat or· flour~ regardless of destination, will no longer qualify for export payment under terms of the Wheat Agreement programo Through February 1951, US farmers had put approximately 365 million bushels or· 1950-crop wheatJ barley, oatsj rye, flaxseed, corn, and grain sorghums under CCC price support. The comparable figure a year earlier was 830 million bushels. 1 IVES T 0 CK · AND MEAT Hog prices on the Fort Worth market continue tO-decline seasonally. Tuesday 1 s top price was $2LOO per cwt .. , compared with $22~00 a week ago .. · A year ago · the top price was $16 . 00 per cwt o Market analysts fore see furthe:r;- downward seasonal adjustment in .hog prices before they begin rising again.., Cattle prices in Fort Worth have ma.de little 9hange during the past 2 . weeks. Tuesday\stop price for slaughter steers was $37000 per cwt • . Reflecting the improved .moisture situation, feeder and stocker cattle are holding·strong or rising further. F&S steers sold Tuesday for a ·top price of · ~~h0,,00 per cvvt .. , while F&S calves reached C46 ,OOo . Medium and Good Angora goats sold on th~ San Antonio market last wee~ at prices ranging up to $21. 00 per cwt. Most 25-30 pou..Dd kids brought $5. 00 to $6. 00 per head. · Mexican cured meat now may be L~ported into the United States under.relaxed rules against the foo"t=ancf-mouth disease (aftosa). Fresh, chilled or frozen beef, veal, mutton, lamb, and pork are still prohibited from. coming into the us rrom out of any country with aftosa. . . . The USDA announced that effective April 30, 1951, lamb, yearling mutton, and mutton carcass grades and grades for slaughter (live) lambs and sheep will be changed in line with proposals announced in February~ The changes reduce the number of grades for lamb and yearling mutto~ from six to five and eliminate the use of Commercial grade nameo P 0 U 1 T R Y A N. D .. E G G S Prices of poultry on the Dallas wholesale .market have held generally steady for 'the past several weeks o Hens weighing 3 to 4 pounds are .·bringing 26 to 28 cents per pound. Hens weighing 4-pounds and over .are selling. at 30 to 3? cents per pound. Arkansas fryers are commanding 29 cents per poun4; local fryers are quoted at 26 to 27 cents. Noo 1 turkey hens are holding at 32 to 35 cents per pound. Egg prices strengthened sligfit-ry-this week. : No~ 1 eggs are bringing 37 to )8 cents per-dozen; No~ 1 infert~le are 2 cents higherc , The increased rate of hatching activity, compared with a y~ar earlier, indicates that us farmers will raise as many as Qr more chickens tl)is year than in 1950. One factor inducing a large hatch this year is the present level of egg prices, which is about one-third higher than a year ago. U. Se FARM PRICES w. ~ •. I:ri tchett Agricultural Economist .; I
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