Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-27
LIVE STOCK PRICES
IN HIGHER TREND
Hous and Cattle Have Grad
uaIIy Worked Upward.
Lambs Lower.
BY FRANK I. WELLER,

Associated Press Farm Editor:
Reaching, in the upper brackets, .
and cents, respectively, hogs and cattle
have attained the goal bcckoning TO
them for the last two months.
1t took a drop of almost $4,000 head
In hog receipts, as compared with
week ago, to boost the best porKers
to So a hundred and then the bulk
did we'll to make $40. The advance
made by grain-fed steers and yearllngs
elected a lit e more confidence because
of the seasonal thinning out OF good
to choice offerings. The proportion OF
grassy cattle has expanded, when
makes for smaller and less attractive
tonnage of beef in the aggregate ana
infers that the 25 to so cent advance
and in some instances rs cents, may
hold on finished kinds as the price
spread widenS.
Cattle Prices.
Cattle prices have lot to do yet
before they get any one excited: Inc
extremely low average OF Sl3.5o ioI
choice and prime around the mloole
of January slid down to $3.50 Tor tne
last week of May and was barely ooo-
bing above So last week. The loss OF
SIS a hundred in five months cut tne
feet from under the whole range Oh
values and shippers are gong 10 nave
to burn up the market for cattle wen
enough finished to bring 1925 ana
better before the best stuff moves
toward the place it belongs.
The attitude of readjuStment. now
ever. has become very apparent ana
there now seems to be double dis
criminaton-one against weight ana
the other against plain quality UP 10
a few weeks ago the proportion OF pet
ter-grade steers was running Sharply
over a year earlier. but recently this
has abated and buyers say that even
the best grades are yielding as much as
/ per cent less in the beef.
That can only mean. as many OBJ
servers have been expecting for weeks.
that we'll finished stock is disappear
ing and that a definite two-way mar
ket is at hand-one for the premium
grades answering the active demand
for light beef and one for the less de-
sirable grasSers and short-feds.
Replacement Demand.
Feeder and stocker cattle and calves
have been running in too poor qua!!lV
10 determine whether the country Is
responding to the upturn from May
lows Replacement demand. neverthe-
less. appears to be broadening mod
erately. with prices rejecting little
strength here and there Most of the
offerings are grassy, light, thin-f1eshed
natives selling at $3.50 to $5.50--an
attractive price if feed costs continue
low and a better consuming power
catches the country snort OF beef next
year because of almost constant Equl-
cation.
Slow demand, rejecting a weak fresh
pork market, has kept light hogs away
from the advance started last week
and only about STEADY with the closing
prices of the last marketing period.
Heavier weights are weak to 25 cents
lower and packing sowS are OFF about
Is cents.
The price spread was widened late
last week at the expense of heavy kinds.
and the current weeks trading has not
acted to narrow the range: Packing
sows continue to arrive in liberal num-
bers. but pigs and light lights comprise
a relatively small percentage OF the run.
There is some indication that a large
volume of lightweight hogs might be
moved to market if prices hover around
the SO mark
Lamb Prices.
Inequalities of distribution and COM
para lively large receipts at the II big
markets for the second consecutive week
has depressed fat lamb prices. The
spread between native and range lambs
also shifted around for no apparent
reason, with the former outselling the
latter 40 cents hundred. creating an
out-of-line condition which appears to
have been corrected.
The fact that most native lambs
have been dressing out we'll probably
influenced small killers to pay upward
to SO for few choice loads when range
lambs found it hard to beat $3.50.
Early last week range lambs reached a
seasons peak of $685..