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Show Livestock Situation! LOS ANGELES, August 23, 1934 j The rank and file of livestock producer pro-ducer have the most hopeful outlook out-look for an improved price structure than has been the case in a long time- Drouth conditions at the moment mo-ment are Intensely serious and it is a question whether or not some producers pro-ducers will be able to pull through wlthv sufficient foundation stock to take advantage of the better price levels- However, on the Pacific Coast, if weather conditions during the coming season are favorable, it seems very probable that this section sec-tion will enjoy a degree of prosperity. prosper-ity. All livestock supplies in 1935 will be greatly reduced from the numbers num-bers on hand during the past several sev-eral years. Already, the hog market mar-ket has reflected the greatly reduced re-duced number available and prices have made rapid advances to the best levels since 1931. While this price structure may be subject to some revision, there is a general opinion in the trade that we will see no great increase in market supplies, sup-plies, as usually may be expected in the fall, clue to decreased farrowing last spring and shortage of feeds and relatively high prices. The Federal government has purchased pur-chased more than three and a half million cattle in its drouth relief program and apparently millions more will be purchased. In North : Dakota, practically 50 per cent of all the cattle in the state have gone to Federal buyers- There , Is talk that the Government buying may eventually take ten million and possibly pos-sibly fourteen million cattle; this number running to a great extent to breeding stock- Heavy forced marketing of cattle is generally anticipated an-ticipated until January 1st, with estimates es-timates that the Government -will buy a million or more a month for the balance of this year- This program pro-gram is going to either force middle western feeders to pay higher prices or else greatly curtail -their feeding operations. In either event, the only on-ly answer must be reduced supplies, not only in 1935, but for some years ' to come. The long time outlook certainly cer-tainly is for a higher price scale. Much the same situation exists on sheep and lambs. Government buying buy-ing that is now getting under way is expected to call for approximately five million ewes, which certainly will cut down production in 1935. Government planning is to be anticipated an-ticipated and it is doubtful if the present administration will permit any great increase in production of foods, at least to a point considered beyond what consumers will and can take at fair prices- For thosf who are in position to grasp advantage, advan-tage, the present situation seems to offer an ideal time to become established estab-lished in the livestock business, whe ther for beef cattle, swine or lamb production. |