Evening star., 1935-04-09
MEAT SHORTAGE
AND HIGH PRICES
LAID TO A. A. A.
Continued From First Page.)

Continued From First Page)
drought rather than Of the corn-hog
program"
The A. A. A. tells its own story Of
the pork situation:
Hog slaughter under Federal in
spection in January totaled about
5000, 900 head This was 81 per cent
smaller than the December slaughter
and 43 per cent smaller than in jan
uary last year.
1T was the smallest inspected
slaughter for any January since 1911.
Slaughter during the remainder Of the
year is expected to continue below the
average of recent years.
Average weights Of hogs slaughtered
are also running low"
Low Costs No Longer.
Salt pork, ham and bacon were once
staple meats for families of low in
come, but no longer.
Hog prices during the first week in
March were the highest since October.
1880. and If the processing tax Is added
to the market price the cost Of hogs
to packers is now the highest price
since 1929. Current prices are ap-
proximately double those of year
ago. The reduction in slaughter sup
plies has amounted to between 80 and
40 per cent" the latest issue Of the BIZ
weekly Consumers Guide states.
Beef today is at a premium. Four
llonths ago a pound of round steak
was 27.5 cents. Today 1t tops IS
cents and is going upward. Beef is
becoming scarcer daily for two rea-
sons-consumption of slaughtered
beef and lack of feed.
Three farm crops selling above pre-
war parity prices are corn, oats and
barley. Hay is almost at parity. The
number Of cattle on feed this Winter
was the smallest in n. ny years." said
the A. A. A.
Both beef and dairy cattle are
turned out to Craze. Result-reduced
beef, reduced milk, reduced butter,
and higher prices for all three.
Supply Almost Gone.
The economic despair brought to
farmers by the drought led them to
dump most of their better beeves on
the market at one time last Fall. The
price temporarily fell but the years
supply of well-cared beef cattle was
practically gone.
Supplies of beef cattle dropped of
rather sharply in February. Receipts
at seven leading markets In February
were 10000 head. This is II per cent
smaller than in February, 1884," the
A. A. A. discloses.
The acute feed problem, farmers
nightmare caused in great extent by
the reduction program planned as the
farmers path to prosperity, will affect
beef prices for years to come.
Number OF calves dropped this
Spring will be less than in many years,
officials state, and the price of veal
is rocketing with the cost Of beef.
Lambs Plentiful.
Lambs, excluded from any A. A. A.
reduction program or licensing agree
ment, have continued for long period
to sell with little deviation from q
general level
Supply of lamb today is almost as
great as it was year ago. But II
lamb becomes the only available meat
by Midsummer, as seems probable, the
supply will be speedily reduced.
Here are some other official revela-
tions on general food availability:
Market supplies of both poultry and
eggs have been slight. This has re-
suited from the fact that farm fiocks
Of poultry are smaller than q year
ago and also that these flocks are re-
ceiving smaller rations because Of
higher feed costs.
Onion and cabbage supplies are
expected to be rather low.
Potatoes are plentiful.
Lettuce. spinach and carrot pros
poets good for large crop"
Dealers Supply Cut
In a canvass Of local wholesale and
retail meat dealers they declared they
were able to get only about half the
meat stocks to supply the demand.
Seven wholesale meat companies
we're unanimous In their reports that
the meat supply, both pork and beef,
is getting scarcer every week and that
prices are continually on the upswing.
These wholesalers said that although
the receipts Of meats were of so per
cent there was very little change in
the financial returns, since price ad-
vances have taken care Of the lessened
volume
One meat dealer (the Birmingham
Meat Supply Coz said that at the
present rate very few people would
be able to eat meat within q short
time, but that If the supply kept
falling off there would be little or no
meat left for consumption by Mid
summer anyway.
Several of the butchers explained
they had received only half Of what
they had ordered from the whole
salers for the Saturday trade.
-Four Of the wholesale meat dealers
declared III prices keep on going up
we are not going to need the meats,
because people will not be able to
buy them, and If the supply keeps
falling of, We might as well go out
of business, because we won't have
any stock to SELL"