The Holbrook news., 1918-12-27

dertake not TO purchase hogs for less than the following agreed minimums for the month ef November, that is daily minimum of $1750 per hundred pounds on average of packers droves, excluding throw-outs. '1Throw-outs" to be defined as pigs under 13O pounds, stags, boars, thin sows and skips. Further, that no hogs of any kind shall be bought, except throw outs. at less than $1e50 per hundred pounds. The average of packers droyes to be construed as the average of the total sales in the market of all hogs for given day. All the above to be based on Chicago.
 We agree that committee shall be appointed by the Food Administration to check rhe daily operations in, the various markets with a view to super vision and demonstration of the carry ing cut of the above.
 The ability of the packers to carry cut this arrangement will depend on there being a normal marketing of hogs based uTs0n the proportionate in- crease over the receipts Of last year. The increase in production appears to be as maximum of about 15 per ceDt. and we can hanfle such an increase
 If the producers of hogs should, as they have a the past few weeks, pre- maturely market hogs in such increas7 ing nulabers over the above 1t is en- tirelg beyond the ability of the pack eTS to maintain these minimunAs, and therefore we must have the co-opera- tion of the producer himself to main tain these results. It Is physical impossibility for the capacity of the packing houses to handle a similar over-food of hogs and to find a market for the output The packers are anx- ious to cooperate with the producers in maintaining a stabiIization of price and to see that producers receive fair price for their products.
 (Signed) THOS. B. WILSON,
 Chairman Packers Committee.
 The plan embodied above was adopt ed by the conference.
 The Food Administrator has appoint ed committee, comprising MT. Thomas B. Wilson, chairman of the Pack CTS Committee; Mr. Everett Brown, president of the Chicago Livestock Ex- change; Major Roy of the Food Ad- ministration, Mir. Louis D. Hall of the Bureau of Markets, to undertake the supervision of the execution of the plan in the various markets. Commis- sion men are asked to cooperate in carrying out the plan embodied in the packers agreement. It must be evil dent that offers by commission men to sell hogs below the minimum estab- llshed above is not fair, either to the producer or the participating packers. Mir: Brown has undertaken on behalf of the commission men in the United States that they will Loyalty support the plan.
 It is believed by the conference that this new plan, based as it is upon positive minimum basis, will bring bet ter results to the producer than aver age prices for the month. It does not limit top prices and should narrow the margins necessary to country buy CTS in more variable markets It is believed that the plan should work out close to SIS average.
 Swine producers of the country will contribute to their own interest by not flooding the market, for 1t must be evident that if an excessive over per centage of hogs is marketed in any one month price stabilization and con- trol cannot succeed, and it is certain that producers themselves can contri- bute materially to the efforts of the conferences if they will do their mark citing in as normal a way as possible.
 The whole situation as existing at present demands a frank and explicit assurance from the conferees repre- sented-namely, that every possible effort will be made to maintain a live hog price commensurate with swine production costs and reasonable sell ing values in execution of the declared policy of the Food Administration to use every agency in it's control to secure Justice to the farmer.
 The stabilization methods adopted for November represent the best eff forts of the conference, concurred in by the Food Administration and the LIvestocK Subcommittee of. the Agrl- cultural Advisory Board, together with special swine members and the representatives of the packers, to im- prove the present unsatisfactory sit1- ation, which has unfortunately result ed because of the injection of uncon- trollable factors
 We ask the producer to cooperate with us in most difficult task.
 The members of the Conference were:
 Producers-H c. Stuart, Elk Gar den, Va. Chairman Agricultural Ad- visory Board; ". M. McFadden, Chi cago, H.; A. Sykes, Ida Grove, Ia. John M Evvard, Ames, Ia. J. H. Mer- cer, Live Stock Commission for Kah- sas; J. G. Brown, Monon, Ind. B. o. Brown, President Chicago Livestock Exchange; N. H. Gentry, Sedalia, Mo. John Grattan, Broomfeld, Colo. Eu- gene Funk, Bloomington, IL; Isaac Lincoln, Aberdeen, s. D.j o. W. Hunt, Logan, la; o. B. Yancey, ". R. bod. E son.
 Food Administration-Her Hoo yer, F. s. Snyder, Major B. L. Roy, e. H. Powell.
 Department of Agriculture D. Hall, F. R. Marshall.
 The packers present and others | sharing in foreign orders were repre- sented by the elected packers commit tee. Those represented were:
 Packers-Armour & O., Chica 90. JILL Qudahx Packing O.. Chicago, II|