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AGR. ICUL~U]AL NEWS OF THE WEEK Numb~~ :·71?_ .. -· _______ ,_ _.. - - .. :i ! • : , Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas • ..... ........... . . ';. ! ! ••• : :··! ~-· ··. ~ .,. COTTON Spot cotton prices continue- to --be --(iuoted at or near ceiling levelsf :' .. ,.. Trading slackened and saiesin the lea<.iing markets decreased last week. Offerings of most qualities were light; demand was aull. Reports from the Lower Rio Grande Valley indicate that insec-t·s. are increasing; this is particularly .true-of .bol lworms) thrips, and aphids·. An -·estimated 60 perc-ent of the acreage is beginning to square and a few blooms appeared las·t ·: : · week~. · . .~ ~ ~. l '· r : .'": . .. ·.. The Texas 1950 ·cotton crop to"':ia.led 2;9L.6,000 bales, according :to re~is.ed · figures released-last week by the BAEe Product.ion in 1949 was 6,040,000 ba}e·s: ~ · • Cotton yields per acre last year averaged 211 ·1Jounds; vs. 266 pounds the previous yearo Production of cottonseed in Texas last year is estimated at:l,232,000 ton~ v~k · ~2',438,,ooo tons in 19~-I ' ... ' ' ' .... ~ • ' I"'~ •·1 .. '· - . .. l ... ~"' t . ·'· ·.· ... ; t GRAINS . . ,. Prices of most grains on the~"'ort Woi-·th Grain and Cotton Exchan~e ·d'e~ ~ .. ·· -·= clined during the past week. No. 1 hard wheat sold Tuesday, ~ay 15, at a top :r>ric& (-o.£·$2.61-3/4 per bi..:.shel--2 cents below a week-earlier. Other grains: No. 2 yellow eorn $1. 98-1/4 per bushel, down 5 cents; No, 2 white corn ~2 .12-1/4 per bushel·; ·off b-172 cents; Nolt 2 yellow milo ~~2 .. 6) per cwt,,, d01m t5cents; and Noo 1 white oa·ts · · $1.:15-3/1.+ per bushel, unchanged from a week ago.. -- . Milled rice was quoted in Ho11ston last week at $11. 75 for No. 1 Blue Bonnet and Patna and$11.50 for No.,:20 . Planting of the 1951 ri .. e crop: ir; . fe"xa~ is nearing completion. Reports .... _ ---" ·---. indicate a record acreage this year. . ·i A winter wheat crop of on.ly 14 million bushels was in prospect in Texas •:on May 1, This is the smallest crop -since 1935 and compares i.ri th a 1940-49 annual . avera~e of 63 million bushels~ An estimated 70 percent of the 6.4 million acres'.: · seeded ·last fall has been abandoned. T~is is the highest percentage loss of record and: leaves less than 2 million acres for harvest.. · : , · · Rye pi-·oduction in Texas is expected to total only 132,000 bushels," c6m- : pared with-196JOOO bushels in 1950; yielcs per acre average only 6 bushels. The condition of the Texas oat crop on May 1 is set at 36 percent, the 1owest for the date since 1936. Production prospects are poor in all parts of the State. · ;· , - ,I . . ,.. · C 0 M 1d E R C I A 1 V E G E T A 3 1 E. 3: Production of:-sprin~ commercial vegetable~ in Te.~as this year~ 'i"s exPected to fall sharp.ly below last year. Production of early spring cucumbers is e;:;timat.ed at 88,ooo· bushels; vs. 112,000 bushels in 1950 ---Early spring onions ~~11 total l,oSA,000 sacks, or less than one-half last year'·s harvest. · H0we\ er;the late spring onion crop, estimated at 1,280,0 0 sacks, will more than doui..>le the harvest in 1950. Production of early spring tomatoes in the Lm~.rer Valley of Texas is forecast at 1,540,000 bushels, vs. 2,450~000 bushels last year. Late sprin pro1..uction, on the other handJ is placed at 2,310)000 bushels, vs. 1,643,000 bushels in 195 • The Texas l~te spring Irish potato crop of 350,000 bushels is 30 percer.t under last· year, due principally to·-maller -acreage e 1 AGHICULTURAL NEWS OF THE WEEK Wednesday, May 16, 1951 --~~---~--~~~~~~----------------------~~--~----~~ Number 72 Page 2 Prices of most fresh and proqessed vegetables during the next few months are expected to be higher than the relatively low prices of a year earlier, says the BAE. Military requirements are much larger than last year, consumer demand is stronge~, and supplies are generally sm~ller. 1 I VE S T0 CK Cattle prices on the Fort Worth market have recovered some of the loss that developed after the announcement of price controls on beef cattle. Tuesday's prices, qS compared with a week earlier, show most classes up 50 cents to $lc00 per cwt., although still $1.00 to $4.00 under prices in late April. Top prices on Tues~ day, May 15: slaughter steers and calves, $36.00; heifers, $35050; and cows, $28.00 per cwt. Feeder and stocker steers brought as high as $37000 per cwt. Spring lamb prices are declining and Tuesday's top price of $34.00 was $2.00 under the mid-April level. · ... Hog prices are holding relatively steady. · Re'Ceipts of cattle on the Fort Worth market during April totaled 36, 150, head, or 1500 head more than in the s~month last year. Calves received, totaling 9,500, were off 250. Hog marketings were up, totaling 71,000 head, vs. 58,600 a year earlier. Receipts of sheep and l~mbs were off sharply--59,000 vso 129,000 in April 1950. . Commercial meat £!Oduction in Texas .during March totaled 59 million pounds, according to a BAE report issued last week. This was 10 pepcent larger than ~n February, but 8 percent below.March 19)0~ Production during th~ first quarter of 1951 was 3 percent greater than a year earliero . · wo ·o 1 AND MOHAIR There is now very little trade in Texas wools in 10cal markets. However, a considerable volume of contracted wool is being shipped to mills for processing, Little mohair remains unsold in Texas.· Adult mohair from Turkey was quoted last week at ·1.15 to $1.20 per pound, in bond, while South African mohair w~s quote~ from $1.10 to $1.15, in bond, for June/July shipment. The trend in wool prices during .the next few months, says the USDA, is un~ certain. It will depend largely on the extent to which u. s. military ordering for the current fiscal year has been completed, the degree to which mills have covered military contracts with purchases, and the size of mill stocks abroad. POULTRY AND EGGS Poultry prices on the Dallas wholesale market declined last week; hens and fryers fell 2 cents per pound. Egg prices held steady. Egg production in Texas during the first four months of 1951 totaled 1,101 million eggs, vs. 1,170 million in the same period last year. January-April production of eggs in other southwestern states: Louisiana, 119 million, off 11 million; Oklahoma 511 million, off 14 million; New Mexico 47 million, off 3 million; and Arizona 34 million, up 3 million. · Commercial broiler placements on Texas farms during the week ended May 5 totaled 1,267,000, vs. 748,ooo in the comparable ~eek last year. w. M. Pritchett Agricultural Economist
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