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Show 4 los Angeles, California, April S, l'.Ml Most important news affecting af-fecting the livestock industry is the announci mont of a price pegging program by the United States iK partnient of agriculture.; The program moans that the dc-pi.rtment dc-pi.rtment is prepared to go into the commodity markits and buy, sufficient amounts of the pro-duets pro-duets to keep prices up to the following Kvels (at Chicago). As' we understand it, these are mini-! mum and net maximum prices ill- j though it is reasonable to suppose, that prices will continue at about1 t ho pegged point and a prosit many hog; producers feel that if Hie market is so maintain! it will lie reasonably saisfactory at present feed prices. Hons. ! per cwt.; butler, 31c a pound; chickens, 15c a pound; and eggs, 25c a dozen. Prices of other airy products will be determined de-termined later and will be based on the price of butter. Comparing these prices with those prevailing before the program pro-gram was announced, we find that the prices of butter, eggs and chickens are substantially the same as before. Hogs, however, have been selling at $7.75 to $7.S5 p.r cwt. at Chicago for grain-fed hutihers. with occasional sales as high as JS.00. The new price will have the probable effect of boosting boost-ing hog prices from $1.00 to $1.25 per cwt. all over the country, since our pork prices out here in the west are based on those at the eastern markets, .California is a pork deficient area, that is, we produce less pork than we require, re-quire, and have to import more than half of our pork from other states, sending as far east as the corn belt for much of our pork. The hog prices at the river markets, mar-kets, such as Omaha and Kansas City, are on a differential basis of about 30c per cwt. under Chicago Chi-cago which would establish about SS.70 as against the Chicago base price of !?9.00. Our market today is $10.25 which ip $1.25 l-.fcrher than Chicago and $1.55 higher than the Missouri river markets. Nothing so far has been said about an attempt to peg cattle prices which, to my mind, would be rather a difficult problem to . work out although something along that line might materialize ; later. The difficulty would apply largely in the difference in the finish hetween the oast and the , west, based upon difference in I feed. Further, in this connection, press reports indicate that all re-' re-' strictions are taken off planting, apparently to the end of increas-' increas-' ing hog production. ! The government's purchases i will be used, according to the de-: de-: partment of agriculture, to accu-j accu-j mulate reserve supplies of food. I These supplies may be shipped to j the British and other countries j who have the same view point as ourselves under the lease-lend ; act; for release on the market in 1 case of unwarranted speculative price increases which had disas-i disas-i trous results in the first World war; to meet requests from the i Red Cross for shipment to war j refugee areas and for direct dis-I dis-I tribution through school-lunch J programs or ' through state wel-j wel-j fare departments to needy fami- lies in this country. I M |