Rising Birthrate

Caught between AAA pig purges and the historic drought of 1934, the pig population of the U. S. took a mighty tumble. In 1933, when little pigs first got the attention of Franklin Roosevelt's planned agricultural economy, the porker crop was a whacking 84,200,000. For 1935 the crop fell to 55,086,000 and pork prices soared (peak: $10.95 per cwt. in September). Since then the crop has increased every year but 1937.

Last week the Department of Agriculture, having canvassed hog-farmers in its semiannual survey, announced its best guess for 1939: a six-year record of about 83,000,000. Three days after the estimate was announced, July lard futures fell to 5.7-c- per pound, a five-year low. Average hog prices in Chicago, which last month hit a five-year low ($6.02 1/2 per cwt.) will not feel the 1939 crop until this fall when pigs farrowed this spring begin to go to slaughter. Chief beneficiaries of the booming pig population: the corn farmers, 40% of whose product will go to fatten hogs for a glutted pork market. But their returns are not likely to be handsome. For 1939 nature has been bountiful beyond New Deal rules and a large crop of 2,518,000,000 bushels is forecast. Thus, while pigs in increasing numbers eat corn, corn (currently selling in Chicago at slightly more than 50-c- per bu.) will likely become a market glut, too, with a huge carry-over into 1940. July futures closed last week at 49 7/8.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.