Evening star., 1947-10-24
PouItry|ess Thursday
To Continue; Growers
Plan Held Inadequate
BY the Assoeiotsd Press

Poultryless and eggless Thurs
day will continue to be a part of
the voluntary campaign to save
grain for Western Europe.
Announcing this decision last
night, Chairman Charles Luckman
of the Citizens Food Committee
said the no-poultry day is more
effective than an alternate program
advanced by the National Poultry
Producers Federation. He left the
door open for the federation to
offer a new plan.
Mr.. Luckn1an said the offer
by the producers was not an ade-
quate substitute because:
THE federation does not offer to
reduce the production of new chicks
and broilers and fryers below the
present level and it does not
promise to reduce or Gull flocks on
the farms beyond what will be ac-
complished in normal operations.
Final Offer Made.
The decision came after a week
of conferences brought to climax
Tuesday when the federation made
what it called a final offer" to
reduce focks if poultryless Thursday
was called off.
The federation argued that If
the use of fowls for food is discour-
aged, more of them will be left
on farms to eat more grain.
In reply to these contentious Mr.
Luckman made public a letter from
Secretary of Agriculture Anderson
advising:
/. Since poultryless Thursdays be-
gan, marketings of fowl have drop
ped to 80 per cent of the preconser-
vation program rate.
q. While department figures show
that cold storage stocks of poultry
on October were the highest on
record for that date, freezer storage
space was occupied only 81 per cent
of-capacity, 6 per cent below year
ago.
Business as Usual"
Mr.. Anderson's letter admonished:
Eve must always remember that
we need to have food available for
periods of short supply. There is
normally a seasonal reduction in
availability of red meat in the
spring"
Mr.. Anderson said the substitute
program advanced by the poultry
federation provides only for "busi-
ness as usual" The federation pro-
posed to curtail broiler chick pro-
duction by rs per cent in the next
three months. and pledged to re-
duce fiocks by at least 100000
birds by the end of the year.
OF the latter proposal Mr.. An
derson said this looks again like an
empty promise" because "a reduc-
ton of approximately this number
usually occurs during the last quar-
ter of each year" He also said
demand for broiler chicks is down
Is per cent.
IT feel that poultry men should
be urged to reduce their f1ocks by
an additional 10000, 900 birds below
the goals originally recommended" !"
Anderson said.
Mr.. Luckman also said farmers
should Gull out their flocks as mat
ter of self interest since poultry
prices are relatively low and feed
costs are high.
Exemption Pleas Rejected.
Mr.. Luckman emphasized that he
will not continue poultryless Thurs
day any longer than is absolutely
necessary to meet grain export re-
quirements. s
The committee chairman rejected
appeals by IA small distillers for
exemption as special hardship cases
from the 60-day distilling holiday
scheduled to start at midnight to-
morrow. He said the evidence did
not support their contentious.
In another move related to the
program of saving 100,000,000 BUSH
els of grain for Europe, the Com
merce Department announced that
controls will be restored tomorrow
on shipment of malt abroad.