Evening star., 1932-07-17
FARMERS CHEERED
| BY HOG PRICE GAIN
Recent Advances Have Put
Western Growers in 0pti-
mistic Mood.
BY ]. H. CLELAND.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

special Dispatch to The Star.
MINNEAPOLIS, Mimi, July 16-
The Northwest's great live stock mar
ket at South St. Paul presents a new
picture, painted in colors of optimism
by rising prices-a far different pic
ture from that of a month or two ago.
Everybody at South st. Paul is happy
the farmers who bring in the animals.
the commission men who sell them and
the packers who buy them, but par
ticularly the farmers.
And 1t Is all because hogs are worth
twice as much today as they were in
late May. In the past six weeks prices
of top" or better quality hogs have
weight To IS or more The going price
for the past two days was $50. More
than $4,000 hogs rolled into South St.
Paul in that time, and most Of them
were good, grown porkers that sold at
IS and up.
Cattle Also Higher.
Along with and largely because Of
the rapid advance in hog prices, the
South st. Paul quotations on beef cat
tie have moved up from S6.75 per 100
choicest young steers, to $3.50. Sheep
and lamb prices have not increased
much, but, on the other hand, they did
not slump as badly as did those OF pigs
and beef cattle last Spring.
But the better prices of the last few
weeks have put we'll over 0,000 900
into the pockets of Northwest farmers.
figuring the hog population OF Mime
sofa, the Dakotas and Montana at
around 100000 and the beef cattle at
1890 900 on the basis Of Government
estimates.
The farmers themselves are enthusi-
aStic over the situation and the better
hog prices that brought it about. Many
OF them claim that the improved cattle
market and this Summers prospect of
q fine grain crop are the two best
breaks that Northwest agriculture has
had In several years.
Two men who brought in animals this
week were glad to talk things over at
the Live Stock Exchange in South ST.
Paul. One was Louis Dupuis of Den
bigh. N. OAK. and the other was S. l..
Huseby Of Twin Valley, MINI.
Out our way. the farmers are feeling
mighty good over the higher cattle and
hog prices" said Mr.. Dupuis. whose
town is not far east Of Minot. I'VE
know. Of course. that even today's bet
ter prices are none too high, but they
are a whole lot better than We were
getting last Spring.
"At around IS for hogs and 81 and
up for beeves. We can make some
money. And there aren't many things
that farmer can sell at profit now
adays. The old prices barely paid the
cost Of transporting hogs to market.
Often 1t didn't even do that Now We
can pay the high freight with what hogs
bring and have some cash left over"
Farmers More Optimistic.
At the new prices, its worth while
to fatten and ship hogs, in the opinion
of Mr. Huseby, whose farm is in North
western Minnesota.
After all, the farm is the place where
good times will have to start from when
they come back he said. so it's a
mighty fine thing to see farmers get
ting more for product as important IN
farming as hogs.
Hog prices were away off. far too
this comeback started. And frankly,
the hog raisers, which means almost
every farmer in this part Of the coun-
try, we're pretty sore. We could not see
any reason why hogs should sell so
cheap that they scarcely paid the cost
of trucking or shipping them in. Now
we feel lot better"
The farmers talk more hopefully than
they were in the habit Of doing last
Spring, and they are looking to the
future with more optimism than has
been the case in long time.
Copyright. 1892, bv North American News
paper Alliance 1nc0