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AGR.ICULTU1.AL rJ3\VS OF THE Y.IEEK -i~!.ednesda.y, J;riay 2, 1.9~1 Number 70 · ·~~~~-~~~~~~----~~~~~----!!.~~!!....-....L-_..;;.....:.- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas J_, I V :S S T 0 C K The Government last Saturda.yann-ounced a new beef price-control program calling for a rollback of beef prices an avera8e of about 10Cents per lb:-attfie butcher shop by October lo The program provides for progressively reduced ceilings for live cattleo Retail prices of beef will remain near current levels for the present time,_althou3h prices of the various grades will be placed under specific dollars-and-cents ceilin3s~ The new ceilings, OPS said$ will brin~ b~ef :erJ.ce~ by .fall back to about where they were when the Korean War begano Retail prices next fall are to average about 10 percent lower than now; prices received by farmers for cattle will be about 18 percent Jessa The new regulations governing prices of beef cattle do not establish cei.lings by grades in the ·11SU2~1 sense, but rather are desiL?;ned to hold dmvn prices by placing ceilings on prices packers may pay for animals of E;iven grades and specified average dressing yields. In order to allow price flexibility to meet chan~ing demand and supply situations, the price ceiling formula permits packers to pay a~ove ceiling levels for some cattle, provided they pay below· ceiling for otherso This is called the "drove compliance deal. 11 Following announcement of price ceilings on beef cattle, prices paid for slau[;hter c2ctle on the Fort ".forth market early tFlis 1,·.reek fell )L50 to $2.,00 per ci:rt.; feeder and stocker steers declined ~~.JcOO. Tuesday's top prices for slau~hter cattle: steers and calves )35oOO, hGifers ~~Jl..i..)O, and coY·rs ·;27 "50; feeder L..nd stocker steers brou;ht "'.J3.00 por cwt. Hot; prices on the Fort .!or th m~.rket are holding relatively steady; daily top pricescoritin'U.e to fluctuate between ·'.'2LOO and ';22.00 per cwt. Spring lambs sold Tuesday for 135.,50 per cY.rt., or near the s.J.me level of the past 2 weeks-;a- - · Goat sales on the San Antonio market developed a steady-to-strong trend last weekc · - Me-diuma.nd a fevr Good Angoras in the hair scaling 59-68 lbs. brought ...}22. 50 to 1'.:2J.OO per cvlft. lfost kids secured 1 :).00 to ";16.SO per head, with a few up to ~7 . 00. w 0 0 L A.ND Ni O.H A IR There were few sales in the Boston vrnol market last week; -~.rices were difficult to quote accuratelyo Re~orts from Australia shovmd the market steady, with prices unchangedo . Some 12-months contracted Texas wool has been shipped east, while other shorn wool in the state has been delivered to vrarehouses. . Some orir;inal bag mohair was purchased in very small lots in Texns last yreek at ~ 1. 30 per lb. COTTON Spot cotton prices generally VH::re .reported at ceili1r-- l'jvels last -."ve~k und early th.ts week. Offeri11;:;s last week were li ~ ht, demand 1.as slm;, and rE-:_Jorted sales were the snallest in nearly 2 ycarso Cotton chopping was under uc.:.y in extreme south Texas and in the Coastal Bend last week. Fl:mting neared completion in central counties, and the improved moisture conditions in north central .:md northeast Tex::s favored increased seeding activity. All siJns still point to a very large cotton ~crcage in the Eleventh Fe<lerar-Reserve District in 1951. AGRJCTJLTURAL.NE'ir.rs OF '.i.1HE WEEK Wednesday, May 2, 1951 Numbe·r .. 70· ------·------------------.;;.....;:..-_..::;...~P::.-a. .g..:.e~ . . -2 Cotton consumption by UoS. mills throughout March this season consisted of 7,110,000 baleS-of AmGrican Upland, 14~500 pales of American-Egyptian, and 127,000 bales of foreign growths, according to the Bureau of the Ce~sus. Corresponding :fi,gures for the same 8 months last season are 5s 848, 000 bales of Upland, .1, 900 bales of American-Egyptian, and 123,000 bales foreign. GRAINS . It is expected that the USDA report on May 10 will show a steady decline in wheat crop prospects. Surveys made by several p::'.'ivate organizations indicate .... that wheatfarmers in northeastern Texas and sout:1.ern Oklahoma are giving up their . 1951 crops as virtually lost. A fie hi ta Falls newspaper, repo:"ting on a survey made last week, stated that an average of 75 percent of the crop had been abandoned.in 28 counties in that area. In some counties the loss runs to 90 percente Young County, in north Tex<?-s, has suffered an estjma.ted 95-percent loss. The 28-·county survey . shows that the potential yield for the area has been cut to less than 5 million , bushels, comp<?-red with a harvest of 21 million bushels in 1950, which was not. a . .· ~ bumper year<> Grain prices on the Fort Worth Grain and Cotton Exchange have made few . :· significant"CTiar-iges during the past week., Tuesday~s top price for No, 1 hard wheat was $2~64-1/2 per bus'1el, or 6 cents under a week earlier. No. 2 yellow corn. at, . $2,03-1/2 per bushel was up 3 cents5 No., 2 wLite corn at $2<16-1/2 was off 1 cent. No. 2 yellow milo brought 1~2.67 per cwt., or 2 cents over a week earlier. Rice mills in Texas and IJouisiana maintained a steady tone during the we.ek ended April2J, but trading was seasonally slorvo Distribution of milled ric~ since the beginning of the season, however, has exceeded that for the same period ~ast . ·, year ·by about hOO, 000 cvft. Su::!plie s in prospect for the renainder of the season are about 105 million cwt. belor: a year ago. Mill quota.tions remain r.iostly at ceiling levels. Seeding of the 1951 rice crop is making good pro~ress in California, Texas, and-Louisiana, but-Planting continues to be delayed by rains and wet soil in Ark~nsas. A large rice acreage is expected in the UoSo this year. , · The USDA reported last week that July-March exports of U,S. grains and grain products totaled 336 million bushels (grain equivalenf} 1 compared with 39J million bushe1s (~rain equivalent) in the sarne period of 1949-SOo Exports of wheat, flour, and macaroni were considerably lov:er, while exports of other grains and products showed an increase. MISCELLANEOUS Prices received by UoSc farmers for milk at wholesale and butterfat declined less than seasonally in March and early April. Milk at dtl.i.u)l per cvrt. in March was 96 percent of parity, while butterfat at 69.7 cents per pound was 90 percent of parity. Further seasonal declines for milk are likely during the flush period this spring, bu-c both -vrill move higher later in the year, says the USDA. The farmer's share of the dollar that consumers spent for farm food rose from 50 cents on Janu~ry 15 to Sl cents on February 15 and remained at approximately 51 cents in mid-March. The farmer's ~hare v;as 48 cents in February and 47 cents in March 19500 W. ~r. Pritchett Agricultural Economist