Commodities Conference Sloted for Nov. 14-15 The Third International Commodities Conference for traders, exchange personnel, brokers, bankers, -farmers, processors and government officials will be held by New York University at the Palmer House in Chicago, Nov. 14-15. National, state and local dignitaries, as well as prominent commodities executives, will 3i& Dutchman. address the conference par ticipants. The conference is being coordinated for the University by New York Management Center. A descriptive brochure and registration information may be obtained by writing to William A. Kulok, Program Director, 600 Third Avenue, New York, N. Y., 10016 or by calling 212-687-8540, CONTROLLED UPPED LAND LIMITS ... If recent commodity prices hold, farmers may be lured into seeding every square inch they can next season. That could come out to 334 million acres for 1974’s harvest, the most since 1956. USDA figures it this way: 319 million acres are in crops now. Assuming most of the land currently set aside gets planted, that would be another 12 million acres. Then add in 3 million acres from summer fallow and grassland. NOT LIKELY TO BE PLANTED are the 44 million acres now in cropland pastures because of record animal numbers. Another 250 million acres have crop potential, but not for next year, because they need reclaiming from wetness, dryness, or uneveness. FERTILIZER ... Exports of U.S. fertilizers have boomed because foreign buyers can top domestic ceiling prices while ~1 - XXX XXX HERSHEY EQUIPMENT CO. 215 Diller Ave. New Holland, Pa Ph. 717-354-5168 or 717- 872-5111 siq Dutchman. Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 20, 1973—7 getting a discount because of dollar devaluation. At the same time domestic fertilizer needs are soaring. After expanding 25 million acres this spring plan tings will grow further next year. It might be tough to get a specific type of fertilizer this fall, and by spring American plants will not be able to provide enough to meet demand. XXX PLANTS are already operating up to capacity. Phosphate output will expand slowly over the next few years as plants underway are completed and brought into production. But ammonia production, basis of nitrogen fertilizers, has been caught by the energy crunch. Natural gas deliveries to ammoma plants have been shaved this year and face continued curtailment. XXX . Expected COTTON production as of September 1 of 12.9 million 480-pound bales will fall short of 1973-74 domestic and export demands by around v-&a^i6 Contact us about installing a high speed feeding system in your Existing Cage or Floor operation as well as your new poultry house AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR 400,000 bales. Carryover next summer may be off 300,000 bales from the 3.9 million carried into 1973-74. XXX HOT EXPECTATIONS for cotton exports have been fanned by the surprisingly large amounts of U.S. cotton con tracted for delivery in 1973-74, and even for 1974-75. During 1973- 74 exports of sVfe to 6 million bales look likely. XXX BOLT BATTLE .. . Cotton continues to face keen com petition from manmade fibers, especially in the United States. Last year, U.S. production of synthetic fibers hit 7 - 1-3 billion pounds, up a fifth from 1971. World production totaled 24 billion pounds, up a tenth from 1971. XXX GATHERING EXPENSIVE WOOL . . . U.S. wool production, forecast at 144 million pounds for 1973, was 9 percent under last year’s crop, the thirteenth annual drop in a row. However, prices are booming: Last year ranchers got 35 cents per pound, this year they’ll average over 72 cents. Growers, while delighted by wool prices, are uncertain whether they would do better to cash in on high meat prices by slaughtering sheep. XXX FEED GRAIN SUPPLIES for 1973-74 could total 245 million tons, based on September 1 in dications, 2 percent below the previous year’s record supply, 249 million tons Production of the four feed grains was estimated at 207 million tons, 7 million more than last year. But carryover into 1973-74, at roughly 35 million tons, was 14 million tons under last year’s level. XXX HERE . . . U.S. feed grain use in 1973-74 will probably change little from the 172 million tons of 1972-73. Lower feeding rates will offset a 2 percent to 3 percent rise in the numbers of grain eating animals XXX THERE . . The export demand for feed grains in 1973-74 looks strong Foreign demand is projected around 40 million tons, nearly up to 1972-73’s record 42- million-ton level. XXX EVERYWHERE . . World coarse grain (feed gram plus rye) production in 1973 looks like it will weigh in at about 620 million short tons, up sharply from 1972’s 585 million. The Soviet Union accounted for the bulk of the increase, producing around 13 million tons more than last year The U S coarse gram gam was about 7 million tons However, even with the increase, world stocks of feed grains and rye will continue at relatively low levels XXX ANIMALS AS CON SUMERS The animal outlook, measured in gram consuming units, indicates a 2 ] / 2 percent increase, instead of a 4 percent hike seen last winter Reasons for retrenchment High feed costs, smaller corn supply, export demand for feed grains, and the ability of farmers and ranchers to hold animals orf'grass longer