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Show ri mMlrmMMllm1nnlTTTlilllim",:'ta',"f' "" WALTER SHE AD Drop Seen in Farm Prices CONGRESSIONAL mail today from rural areas and smali towns of the country points to the drop in farm prices as ' i the only break in the inflationary spiral. Generally these let- ters say that while the farmers are willing to take a cut from '. the abnormally high farm prices, something should be done ; to relieve them of the brunt of the entire price cut that is, the things the ', farmer must buy should be cut proportionately. i Insofar as this reporter can find out, however, economists here do no1 ' look for much of a letdown in prices for several months. 'j j As for farm prices themselves the consensus is that they will j i go down gradually until they reach the parity floor, when the gov- : j ernment will have to step into the picture and begin buying to ji j maintain the 90 per cent of parity program. Secretary of Agriculture Anderson has temporarily withdrawn from ; ' , the grain buying picture but he still has about 100 million bushels of wheat ;' to buy to meet the government's export commitments. When he does step ,i back into the grain market, probably about April 1, he will be buying to i ! support farm prices as well as to meet overseas commitments. ' As it now looks, the farm income for 1948 likely will be some 16 per cent j: I under the 1947 total or about equal to the 1946 income, which was a record j 1 ; high until topped by 1947. In the meantime, not many farmers were hurt ii i by the spectacular grain drop, most of them having sold before the crash, lilt |