The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-11-19

for pork product. and With the q .mse
foreign pork purchases I y
rns conclusions sf the conference
The entire marketing situation has
@ changed since the September JOINT
conference az to necessitate an entire
alteration In the plans Of price staoi-
lsatien. The current peace talk mas
alarmed the holders Of corn. and there
has been a price decline Of from 70
cents to 40 cents per bushel. The fact
that the sccumulatons Of low priced
eotn IN the Argentine and South Afri,
cs would. upon the. sdfent Of peace
and loerated shipping; become aVaila.
bio to the European market has Gre
ated a great deal Of apprehension on
the part Of corn holders. This decline
hss; sysead Tear among swine growers
that. a similar reduction m the prices
sfAsxs would naturally follow. More.
ovst, fthe lower range et corn prices
would, Iif incorporated in . 1S-to-1 IA
tic, oSviously result in q continuously
failing price sfor live hogs. In, view
Of thsse changed conditions many
swine producers anticipated, lower
prices end az q result rushed their
hogs b market In laAse numbers, and
this, syesshipmsnt has added to and
azirxyated tho decline, .rs
M information, o. the Department.
Of Agriculture indtcates That the sup
ply ,ot hogs has !inereassd about 9 per
cent, while the highest unofficial esd
mate does not exceed Is per cent In
creased production over last year. On
the other hand, the arrival OF hogs
daring the hast thres wBeks IN the
seysa great markets has been q per
cent more than last year, during the
corresponding period, demonstrating
the unusually heavy narketlng Of the
available supply. IN the face Of the
excessive, receipts. Some packers have
not maintained the price, agreed last
month. On the other hand, many
Of the packers have paid over the
price offered to them In an endeavor
to maintain the agreed price. The re-
suit, In any event has been Q failure
to maintain the October price basis
determined upon at the September con-
ference and undertaken by the pack
ern Another factor, contributing to
the break ip prices during the month
has been the influenza epidemic; 1t
has sharply curtaiied consumption OF
PORK products and temporarily de-
creased the labor statf Of the packers
about Is per cent. n
The exports Of 1s0,0o0,ooo pounds
Of pork products for October COM
pared with about 100000 pounds
In October a year ago, and the
e1p8ft orders placeable by the Food
Administration for November, amount
to 170,OO0,OO0 pounds as contrast
ed with the lesser exports OF
es, s,ooo,o 900 for November, 1917. The
demands Of the allies are
continuing, and are In themselves
proof of the necessity for the large
production for which the Food Admin
istration asked. The increase In ex-
port demands appears to be amply
sufficient to take up the Increase IN
hog production, but unfavorable mar
ket conditions existing in October al
ford no fair index Of the aggregate
supply and demand
It must be evident that the enor-
NOUS shortage In fats in the Central
Empires and neutral countries wculo
Immediately upon peace result IN ad-
ditional demands for pork products
which, on top Of the heavy shipments
to the Allies, would tend materially
To Increase the American exports, in
asmuch as no considerable reservoir OF
supplies exists outside OF the United
States. It seems probable that the
present prospective supplies would De
Inadequate to meet this world demand
with the return to peace. So far as 1t
is possible to interpret this fact. 1t ap-
pears that there should be even
stronger demand for pork products
after the war, and therefore any alarm
of hog producers as to the effect OF
peace Is unwarranted by the outlook.
In the light of these circumstances
Il is the conclusion Of the conference
that attempts to hold the price OF hogs
to the price Of corn may work out to
the disadvantage Of pork producers.
It is the conclusion that any interpre-
tntion Of the formula should be
broad gagged policy applied over
long period. 1t is the opinion OF the
conference that in substitution OF the
previous plans Of stabilization the
Live Stock Subcommittee Of the Agri-
cultural Advisory Board, together with
the specially invited swine representa-