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ARM AND Q ANCH B u l l e t in Vol. 21, No. 10 October 1966 FO O D P R IC E S V A R Y — W H Y ? Food prices may fluctuate on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis and for many reasons, according to the U.S. Department of Agricul ture. Since demand remains rather constant, the factors that alter supply or cost have a great bearing upon price levels. These factors usually reflect physical changes, such as weather, or changes of an economic nature, such as labor costs or merchandising practices. nearby areas, and higher during the off-season, when it must be shipped from greater dis tances. Although lettuce, tomatoes, corn, and other fresh vegetables are found in display cases in February, they cost more than they do in July since few parts of the country have a climate warm enough to grow winter crops. For instance, only California, Arizona, and Florida produce winter lettuce. Thus, sup plies are less abundant and require more trans portation to make them available to consumers throughout the country. Weather is often a decisive factor in the production of food, whereas the assembly line continues its processing of consumer goods The American housewife has a preference despite weather conditions on the outside. Since food production generally occurs out for convenience foods. Since one out of every doors, crops are at the mercy of the elements. three wives works outside the home, pre A long drought can definitely reduce produc washed, pre-peeled, and pre-cooked foods are tion because only a small percentage of farm very attractive to the homemaker. The saving land acreage is irrigated. Too much rain can in preparation time is similar to an extra helper also be as devastating to output as can in the kitchen. The built-in laborsaving tech too little precipitation. An earlier than usual nique for the housewife must be performed freeze in some sections of the country or a somewhere between the farm and retail outlet, freeze during the winter months in southern and it costs to add these “maid” services. How areas can destroy most of a crop overnight. ever, the added cost may not be as much as A smaller supply likely will mean higher it seems when storability, less waste, and prices for a year if the crop is citrus, or for longer shelf life of the foods are considered. only several weeks if it is a vegetable, such as Most foods that are produced in the United green beans. States are shipped great distances before being Today, most foods are generally available purchased by the final consumer. Some food on a year-round basis. Production schedules products may require the assembling of vari are staggered to match seasons and areas of ous individual commodities from several parts the country. If the product is not available in of the country before the final item is made the fresh state, it may be purchased in the available. The transportation involved in frozen or canned form. The fresh product will bringing commodities together for processing be lower in price during harvest, especially in and further distribution is sizable. Having the F E D E R A L R E S E R V E DALLAS, B A N K TEXAS OF D A L L A S product demanded at the right time and place Black Plastic Boosts involves considerable activity at wholesale and Cantaloupe Yields retail levels. The marketing bill for bringing Black plastic has been together commodities grown in this country used successfully to boost and making them available to consumers cantaloupe yields on the amounts to over $50 billion a year. The 5 mil Roland Dreahn farm lion people employed by the food industry re near Hempstead, Texas. ceive about 45 percent of this sum, and According to Texas another 40 percent goes for packaging, adver A&M University, M r. tising, depreciation, and other marketing costs. Transportation accounts for 10 percent, and Dreahn harvested 1,490 pounds of cantaloupes the remaining 5 percent is food industry profits. from two 410-foot rows, compared with 60 pounds on two rows which were identical ex The homemaker has a veto power over cept for the plastic. what she will or will not buy. If she refuses to The use of black plastic results in early buy a product, it vanishes from the shelves. In today’s average supermarket, the consumer has yields (and consequent higher prices) and from 6,000 to 8,000 food items from which to larger output. The plastic conserves moisture choose. About 60 percent of these items are and absorbs sunlight, which permits earlier new since World War II. The food industry planting and faster germination of seeds. Since introduces over 5,000 new food items an weeds (except nutgrass) will not grow up nually, but only 500 survive more than a year. through the plastic, less labor is needed for The costs of developing, market testing, and cultivation of the cantaloupes. Plastic should advertising are usually large. The price of the not be used on ground where nutgrass is item most often is reduced as the product is present unless the soil is sterilized first. accepted and volume sales are attained. The plastic comes in rolls that are 3 to 4 feet wide. It is rolled down the row before Over a period of time, food prices have been the cantaloupe seeds are planted, and each rising, but the addition of new services has edge is covered slightly with dirt in order to increased. Despite the availability of highhold the plastic in place. Holes are then quality products in different forms, in all sea punched in the material, and the seeds are sons, and in convenient packages, the house wife is spending a smaller and smaller percent planted. The plastic prevents the cantaloupes from rotting since the fruit rests on the m a age of her household budget for food. terial instead of on the ground. Plastic can also be used on watermelons, tomatoes, and most How Now, Computerized Cow ? other vegetables. Computer programming for herd selection? Certainly, say dairy scientists at Michigan Chemical Pesticides Not New State University. Now that they have pro grammed the necessary mass of information The use of pesticides is as old as the ancient on MSU’s computer, the specialists can make Greeks, points out Frank G. Bieberly, Exten a complete, updated genetic ranking of any sion Specialist at Kansas State University. The registered cow in the State of Michigan within Greeks applied brimstone (sulfur) as an in a matter of hours. Ten years were required to secticide. Common salt probably was the first assemble the information, but now each cow chemical weed killer used in ancient times. has an index value which indicates how effi Modern man has added a system of registering ciently her offspring will perform in terms of pesticides to make sure that the materials are milk production. The data are an excellent effective and safe for use in accordance with guide for deciding which calves to keep for label directions. The U.S. Department of Agri improving herd production, as well as being culture controls pesticide regulations at the useful in the selection of a breeding herd. national level. Streamlined Steers First Texas Greenspan The amount of lean meat on steers has in creased 3 percent in the past 4 years; at the same time, fat thickness has decreased, reports Frank Orts, Extension Meat Specialist at Texas A&M University. Mr. Orts, who col lected information on steer carcasses from the major livestock shows in Texas for 4 years, says that the size of the rib eye has increased three-tenths of an inch, while fat thickness has decreased about two-tenths of an inch. Secretary of Agriculture Freeman recently announced the first Greenspan agreement in the State of Texas, under which a community park will be developed at Wills Point in Van Zandt County. The park will be on 50 acres of farmland located adjacent to the new Wills Point airport. It is planned as a combination beautification and recreation facility. The trend toward the “meat-type” steer with less fat began with the consumer, according to the Texas A&M specialist. The housewife de manded more lean meat, and the trend worked its way through the packer to the feedlot and breeder. Today, ranchers are selecting and breeding animals for leaner, meatier-type cat tle. The 3-percent increase in lean meat during the past 4 years came from the loin, rib, round, and chuck cuts. The majority of the steers graded medium Choice instead of the former high Choice. When lean meat cut-out increases 1 percent, it is worth about $6 on the retail market; consequently, the 3-percent gain is worth about $18. Although the size of the rib eye is 67 per cent inheritable, it does not affect appreciably the lean meat yield. Fat thickness is 30 percent inheritable and greatly affects yield. Breeding for a lower fat thickness is the area in which the most rapid progress is being made in the development of a meat-type animal, according to the specialist. Facts About Food Fats During 1965, civilians in the United States consumed 9.1 billion pounds of the following food fats and oils: Butter, cooking and salad oils, margarine, lard, and shortening. The vol ume was 2 percent larger than that in 1964. Use of food fats and oils per person averaged 47.6 pounds in 1965, or about the same as that in 1964. Decreases in the use of butter and of cooking and salad oils more than offset in creases for margarine, lard, and shortening. Retail prices for all food fats and oils products in 1965 averaged 4 percent above the 1964 levels. Greenspan is a special provision of the Cropland Adjustment Program, authorized in Title VI of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1965. The provision offers grants to munici palities and other governmental bodies to as sist them in the purchase of cropland for their open-space and recreational needs. Mesquite Floors for Beauty and Durability Probably more money has been spent on the eradication of mesquite than of any other woody plant in Texas, according to James Smedley, District Forester of the Texas Forest Service at College Station. Found growing on more than 56 million acres in the State, this short, twisted, slow-growing tree or shrub has outlived its usefulness for firewood and fence posts and is now a prime obstacle in the ranch er’s battle for more and better land. Mr. Smedley says that the search for a use for mesquite has taken a new turn with the fashioning of flooring blocks from trees which were cut near the city limits of Austin, Texas. Stability, durability, and appearance are the three primary factors in the selection of wood flooring material, and mesquite excels in all three characteristics. Mesquite can be cut and processed into flooring one day and installed the next day. Preliminary tests on wood samples revealed an average total shrinkage of 1.7 percent from the green stage to the oven-dry state. This figure compares with 10 to 15 percent shrinkage for oak. Mesquite flooring requires no filler and does not need a protective coat of varnish. The variable grain pattern is similar to that of fine walnut or mahogany. Proper mixing of sealer and stain will result in a variety of colors and shades. Tests indicate that aging and heavy traffic seem to improve the depth of color in a mesquite floor. Since mesquite is not affected by water, maintenance time and materials are reduced. Mesquite parquet flooring is being marketed at prices which compare favorably with those for walnut, teak, mahogany, ebony, and other exotic or specialty hardwood flooring mate rials. Prices average about 30 percent higher than those for installed parquet oak flooring, but as production of mesquite flooring in creases, the price differential between mesquite and oak is expected to become less. The Carrier Pigeon Returns The carrier pigeon is back, according to the Economic Research Service. It is now 150 feet long and is increasing in length; it is fast and getting faster. In a few years, its speed will make it capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 4 hours or less time. This “superbird" is the all-cargo jet plane, which was launched in the United States in 1963. for fruits and berries as low as 7 cents. The lower air rates are a boon to shippers since they can transport regularly by air instead of using the method only when a commodity is in short supply. Overseas air freight rates also are being re duced. In 1965, the rates for shipping meat from New York to London were reduced to 17 cents a pound for a minimum cargo of 2,200 pounds. Early this year, fruit and vege table rates were decreased to 16 cents a pound for a minimum shipment of 1,100 pounds. A more regular flow of these airborne items to overseas markets may result from the rate cuts. Airlines predict a marked increase in agri cultural traffic in the future. They point to such factors as (1) lower operating costs and further rate reductions as a result of larger and faster planes, (2) more efficient use of equip ment, (3) improved packaging, (4) increased automation in freight handling at air terminals, (5) growing consumer demand for highquality perishables, and (6) better service to consumers on the part of shippers who choose air transportation. Air shipments of perishable farm products By-Product Flour have experienced phenomenal growth since A process developed by U.S. Department the giant jet was introduced. Although the ton of Agriculture scientists can yield high-quality nage of fruits, vegetables, and related products protein for human consumption from flour mill shipped by air remains relatively small com by-products that now go into low-value live pared with the total volume of all shipments, stock feeds. Standard milling equipment was the volume of these commodities has increased used for the extraction of wheat flour from materially in the past few years. Cut flowers bran and shorts, which are by-products pro comprise 40 percent of the total farm product duced at the rate of about 5 million tons a n volume of these carriers. Large quantities of nually by U.S. flour mills alone. This volume shrubbery, plants, and ornamental greens also of by-products could yield the equivalent of are transported by air. 600,000 tons of protein, and the residue, after The all-cargo jet can haul more than 40 extraction, could still be used in livestock feeds. tons of freight nonstop from coast to coast or The USDA scientists believe that the by 35 tons nonstop from New York to Paris. product flour can help solve the world’s most Moreover, the plane is versatile, for it can be urgent human nutrition problem, a shortage of changed as needed to part-cargo, part-passen low-cost, high-quality protein. Flours made ger, or all-passenger service. from these by-products can be prepared fo r Principally because of the cargo jet’s speed, human consumption as bread, pastas, soup size, and multiple-use features, airlines have mixes, and other foods in which flour is a n been able to reduce agricultural freight rates ingredient. Because they contain a desirable substantially. In 1961, rates averaged between balance and abundance of nutrients, the by 18 and 20 cents per ton-mile. By 1965, the product flours should be useful in baby foods average rate was down to 12 cents, with rates and diets for the elderly.
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