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Show MEAT INDUSTRY IS IMPORTANT ONE TQ FARMERS The tremendous importance of , moat animals to the American farmer is revealed in Department of Agriculture figures. Last year, these animals brought the farmer about a third of his cash income nearly 2 times as much as he earned from any other crop. And the total paid to the farmer by the packers reached the astronomical figure of $10,000,000,000. Edible livestock, therefore, is the biggest single crop in the agricultural agricul-tural economy. And its importance doesn't stop there. Much of the $10,000,000,000 the farmers received re-ceived went for feed, labor, machinery, ma-chinery, and materials of all kinds. Its impact was felt throughout the entire country. This illustrates the fallacy of proposals to reduce our livestock population. The result would be an unnecessary financial blow to farmers, and to every section of America. Furthermore, our great and growing demand for meat is an inevitable development of our increasing population, and the high living standards that prevail in the United States. Equally important, experience indicates dangers that would lie in a return to rationing and price control. Under the competitive system, the farmer receives a fair price for his meat. Packers and others concerning in handling and selling it receive small profits per unit sale. And the consumer gets a sanitary product, of established quality, at the lowest possible cost, instead of black market robbery and uninspected products. |