6—Lancaster Farming, Friday, March 8, 1957 Hog Prices Up 45 Per Cent; Supplies Down 16 Per Cent * Minneapolis Minnesota A marketing specialist said today market supplies of hogs thus far in 1957 have been about 16 per cent below a year ago, while hog prices are up around 45 per cent. Speaking on the Eleventh An nual Farm Forum at the Leam ington Hotel, J. Russell Ives, As sociate Director of Marketing of the American Meat Institue, Chic ago, said, this change supply and price situation reflects the free play of supply and demand con ditions. He added; “One of the outstanding featur es of this industry is that it is highly competive. There are sev eral reasons why this is true. There are nearly four thousand meat processing plants in this country, for example, and these figures do not include the sever al thousand additional small butchers and locker plants which are primarily local in character ” In addition he said, there is competition for the consumer’s dollar from the many items for sale on the American market as yvell as from the different kinds of ■foods. He cited' a recent survey of 'consumer indebtedness which ‘showed 71 per cent of the families {had some mdebtness, either for homes, cars, television sets, and !so forth oi to financing compan ies and other lending institu tions « i Another co'n’ialitive phase of the industry is, he said, that meat packers have ‘ no conti ol over the volume of raw materials which they process. Meat animals are produced for market by some four million farmers and ranch ers, each operating independent ly with respect to the animals produced and the time when they are marketed ” He pointed out that the meat packing industry is set up to op erate at the peak seasonal volume of marketings but that there are many weeks in a year when the' capacity cf the meat packing m jdustry greatly exceeds the ivolume of livestock being ar keted. Learn The Facts About This Amazing New Invention The Hawkins Patented Slatted Poultry House Floor . . . patents pending: / THERE IS A NEW, EASIER AND MORE PROFIT ABLE WAY TO HOUSE YOUR LAYING HENS 1. Would you like to keep twice as many Hens in your present houses 9 2. Would you like to Clean your Laying Houses only once each year 9 3. Would you like to Eliminate all Litter Cost and Labor with Litter" 4. Would you like to get better Egg Production 9 5. Would you like to gather Cleaner Eggs than you ever thought possible 9 6. Would you like to Eliminate Filth and Wet Spots in your laying houses 9 7. Would you like to produce Better Quality Market Eggs 9 8. Would you like to Eliminate Medication Costs to control Intestinal Parasites 9 If Your Answer Is “Yes” To The Above Questions— Stop In To S“e Us Today. Let Us Show You This Revolu tionary New Invention— “The Hawkins Patented Slatted Poultry House Floor” HIESTAND, Inc. MARIETTA R. D. 1. Ph. HA 6-9301 | He pointed out that during sev- I oral weeks in the summer the dressings of hogs will be only about half of the volume in the late fall and winter, and 80 per cent of the year hog dressings are less than three-fourths of the peak volume. Since the packing plant oper ates most efficiently at its peak '.capacity, a strong demand for livestock is created throughout most of the year, he added. A further competitive factor is found in the perishability of meat, he noted, since it cannot be stored economically for a very long period and thus when the dressing process begins, the meat products must be moved steadily along the way into final consump tion. “This is quite different from other manufactured products which can be stored indefinitely without fear of spoilage,” Ives emphasized. In addition, the situation in the meat packing industry is made more competitive because of the freedom of new enterprises to start in the industry. He noted that in the first six months of last year there were about one hund red plant changes either new -firms being formed or existing facilities being expanded That farmers have freedom to market where they please tends also to make the livestock and meat industry competitive, with the packers and processors hav ing to bid for their supplies where they can find them. More trans portation and ' communication facilities permit the farmer to know with considerable certainty what his livestock are worth and to select the market which he will patronize on very short notice. “A compilation which we made lecently showed that in lowa no farmer is more than two hours’ drive by truck from several alter native markets,” Ives stated. He added thatjmore than forty radio stations blanket the state with market news reports. Permanent Mechanical Litter Perpetual Clean] See the HAWKINS Floor on Our Farms Elvin M. Landis, E 5 Lancaster, (left) holds the 25-year membership award which was presented to him at the annual meeting of the District Seven Inter-State Milk Produ cers Cooperative Tuesday in Leola. Other Lancaster County farmers to receive the Quarter of Timber Cut Unused> Foresters Say About a fourth of the timber cut each year in this country is j not used for any purpose, accord- j mg to the USDA’s Forest Service. liness Every farmer knows there's nothing cheap about fertilizer and that to get the most from every fertilizer dollar, he has to stretch it to the limit. And more and more farmers the country over are finding in the John Deere "LT ' 'Propel-R-Feed'' Distributor the "dol- F. H. Shotzberger Elm, Pa. Use a JOHN DiERE "LF" Distributor Landis Bros; Lancaster, Pa. They point out that of the timber cut for lumber, about 34 per cent is not used, either for fuel or any other purpose. On the other hand, only four per cent of the timber cut for pulpwood is not used Some resi- lar stretcher" they've been‘looking lor. The "LF," with its aggressive "Propel-R- Feeds," handles even the most stubborn ma terial with an efficiency that is hard to de scribe, spreading it uniformly over every strip and making every pound available to the foraging roots of hungry young plants. See us on your next trip to town. 25-year awards were Lester L. Groff, Lea cock, (center) and Arthur C. Diem, R 2 Eph rata. Landis and Groff have been members for the past 25 years while Diem is con tinuing membership began by his father, Oscar Diem. dues are of course inevitable in logging and in wood manufactur ing. However, although great, strides have been made in effici ent use of the timber that is cut,j too much is still being left in the woods and unused in the mill. A. B. G. Groff New Holland. Pa. Wenger Implement Co. The Buck, Pa.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers