Evening star., 1948-07-18

rely getting Into its stride In the
their nations back to economic
health all the sooner.
An additional factor to be con-
sidered abroad is the livestock sit.
uation, including the depleted dairy
herds.
During the recent years Of human
food shortage the milling Of wheat
in Europe has been at q high ex-
traction rate. that Is, 1t Is milled to
get the ultimate in food value into
the loaf of bread. This has helped
keep humans alive, but 1t has meant
that the by-product Of grain milling.
feedstuffs for livestock, has been
less and less. This. plus the demand
for meat, has resulted in q decrease
in herds.
Won't Drive Down Prices
If the crop prospects, and ECA
action, permit a rise In the food
intake Of Europe, part Of 1t will go
into cattle feed via q lower -four
extraction rate in milling. Besides,
the resulting loaf Of bread would
be both more tasty to the human
palate and more pleasing to the
human eye, which are morale fac
tors.
Our domestic production pros
poets appear so good that Chairman
Hope of the House Agriculture Com
mittee this month called on the
Cabinet Food Committee to end all
efforts to limit human consumption
Of grain-just in case any one was
still aware that there was q hang
over from the old Luckman food
saving drive.
Yet the food Of golden grain
from the fields Of America Is nos
going to drive down the price ana
reduce the cost Of living. The rea-
son: Price support, now q standard
Government policy due to 80 on
regardless Of whether Republicans
or Democrats win In November.
The price support for whsat-ths
amount Of money the Government
guarantees the farmers now
1924 a bushel at Kansas City, In
cluding freight. The national av-
erage to farmers was set at 81 q
bushel (not including freight on
June 80 for the new crop year, up
from $l.84 for last year. The riss
reflects the rise in the prices paid
by farmers for commodities used
and for farm family maintainancs
which together make up the par
ity" price. Wheat's price support
figure is set by law at 90 per cent
Of parity at the beginning of the
crop year, July l. a5~
Consumers Outlook Dark
These figures are only q few cents
below current wheat market prices.
Hence a drop In. the farmers in
come from his crop ION . per-
bushel basis, that is) is practically
impossible until there is q material
drop in the cost Of all the other
things he buys. such as machinery
and trucks, and such never-ending
items as taxes.
Thus there Is little prospect OF
break for the city consumer in
the price Of food products derived
from wheat. And wheat has a
habit Of setting the pattern for
other food prices.
Wheat, of which some 200, 900 900
bushels was fed to livestock In 1947-s.
has direct effect on the num-
ber Of cattle and hogs on our farms
and, in turn, on the price Of steaks
and pork chops on our dinner
tables.
The American farm livestock
population now has been declining
for four years In Q row. In 1947
the number went down to the low
est figure since 1899. despite our
increasing human population. High
prices of meat animals encouraged
marketing and high prices for hard
to-get feed discouraged livestock
production.
Cattle decreased in 1o47 by g.
$4,000 head although, the dollar
value leaped ahead.
The excellent wheat and corn crops
now in prospect will help to begin
the rebuilding Of these depleted live
stock herds. But it takes around
three years to replace the Blaugf1-
tered cattle. Pigs can be replaced
in numbers in a year, a good likeli-
hood since nearly 90 per cent Of our
corn goes for cattle feed, chiefly to
the hogs. The better corn crop will
mean less Of the more expensive
wheat fed to pigs and more Of 1t
available for humans.
Key to World Peace
But though the prospect will be
for more meat in q matter OF years,
1t still will not be more per capita
because there are 80 many more
people in the United States and in
the world abroad. 1t will take many
years of good times to forge ahead
to a permanent high level Of meat
consumption for all Americans at