Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1921-05-26
tiy J. w. RIDCWAy
uofinssiy Professor Dairy liusbandr,
Texas A. A NJ. collcgc)

Tcxna A. a NJ. Collcgc)
What In the outlook for dnlryIng 4
Texas during the coming fall aud win
Ter u question TINT In causing tn,
producer no little concern following IN,
sharp drop In butter which had Il
elimination about May LIST. when On
ifas were quoted on the Chicago mar
kct at soc with standards ga cents be
low.
Iluttcr In the principal dairy croI
IT Texas aud largely governs the prize,
~ other dairy products. A review Of
the causes Of this radical slump In the
butter markets will throw some light
an the present situation and futur,
market.
In the first place. by way of com.
parison. II IN IL some interest 10 note
that this important indispensable hu.
man food has held up under the down.
ward pressure brought ON all farm
commodities. better than any Of the
products Of live stock or any staple
farm crop.
April 1891 prices paid the farmers In
Texas for buttcrfat was approximately
3ic net to them. as against approx.
inateiy b6c for April one year ago. or a
decline 81 slightly less than 40 per cent.
Directing this reduction In butterfat
prices we find u reduction In standard
leeds Of approximately so per cent. In
comparison with other animal products
we find In the case of eggs and poultry
u reduction ~ about 70 per cent. hogs
md RAfft.a AaFNtnsr la 1. IN
cent, while In the staple crops such as
cotton and grain, we find In the case
III the former the astonishing reduction
"i more than 30 per cent. with the bulk
Of small grains carrying decline oi
more than 30 per cent. With such con.
ditions M these II was only a question
of time before butter would be- fore.
cd To tho level of other commodities.
The direct and contributing cause
of the sharp and radical drop In the
price of butter may be briefly sum
married as follows:
An open winter favorable for proluc.
tion. with a large feed crop on hand;
the clusing of number Of condenser.
les IN the East and West. thus over.
crowding the butter industry: aud. fin.
ally the rate of exchange encouraging
butter importation. all contributed to
over production. Coupled with the
above mentioned conditions. we find a
depleted purchasing power " consum.
era due to unemployment and wage
reduction. and last but not least. a
1ight money market. discouraging the
absorption of surplus through shortage
briefly. the same combination of fac.
tors that cause the hig break In the
ce. market In late February and carly
March contributed toward tho decline
IN the butter market.
In periods of rcadjus,mcn, the bur.
dcn usually falls ON the producer and
The producer of dairy products will nee.
cssariiy have 10 bear his portion Of this
rca,justment. An analysis of the sit
uation would indicate however that his
outlook In brighter than Il appears ON
the surface.
. In the first place there IL no over.
production of farm dairy products. II
We are To acccp, reports on holdings of
butter In storage al central points. and
indications are that these holdings viii
mot he materially Increased over nor.
NAL holdings due 10 money stringcncy.
The surplus will be forced ON the mar.
kct and absorbed at low price. which
surplus. insofar as Texas In concerned.
VIII be produced largely ON grass.
We have never had an ovcrproduc.
tion II farm dairy products IN Texas
covering a period of twelve months.
The surplus Is usually confined To about
three ~ four months In late spring and
early summer. attributed to fresh cows
aud abundant pasturagc.
Past experiences would therefore
Justify the conclusion that improve.
mcnt In price viii come with the fall
aud winter months. We cannot hope
for the high prices Of last year but
the producer Of buttcrfat IL concerned
primarily In whether the price Of but
tcriat will bc such as to enable him
a. market his feed crop through his
cows at q better price than he can sell
such feed crops In the market
Conditions would justify n prediction
that fall and winter prices Tor butter.
fat viii not fall ,,clow ssc with u good
indication that tho price will aver.
age above that figure. Using this fig
urc rs a basis. the farmer might ask