OCR Text |
Show Utah Business Conditions Influenced Strongly By Agricultural Prosperity The Bureau of Economic and Business Research of the University Uni-versity of Utah, in its quarterly publication, "Utah Economic and Business Review," says of farming: farm-ing: "General business conditions are strongly influenced by agricultural ag-ricultural prosperity as reflect- ed in both volume, and value of production. Cash farm income represents a composite of the dollar volume of farm products sold, and is an indication of demand de-mand of farmers for the products pro-ducts and services of non-agricultural products. This is particularly par-ticularly true of a state such as Utah, where agriculture is a major segment of the economy. . In reporting the current farm and livestock situation in Utah the Review paints the following picture: "For the first six months of this year (1948) Utah farmers marketed an estimated 61.3 million dollars worth of crops, livestock and livestock products, compared with 54 million dollar marketings for the first half of 1947. "Almost all of the rise could be attributed to higher prices. Actually the first half of 1948 saw fewer livestock slaughtered than during the same period of 1947, but prices 12 to 30 per cent higher, boosted the farmer's cash intake per animal. "On the whole, farmers were also receiving higher prices for their crops this year than last (grains were an exception) and were marketing larger quantities. quanti-ties. The net result was: Receipts from livestock and livestock products up 5 per cent, crop receipts up 48 per cent, for a net gain of almost 14 per cent in Utah farmers' cash intake. "With the prices of about two thirds of the principal livestock and crop items declining from April 1 to July 1, 1948, the trend of prices received by Utah farmers has been generally downward. "Sharpest decreases were noted in grains, barley dropping over 30 per cent since June 15, oats 20 per cent, and corn and wheat ' 11 per cent. Prices received re-ceived for milk cows, chickens, eggs and milk advanced during the period July 1 to October 1, 1948. Veal, sheep and lambs decreased de-creased in price slightly. "Of interest to the housewife was the drop in meat prices, as increased marketings of hogs and liberal slaughterings of cattle cat-tle during the latter part of September and the first part of October caused beef and pork prices to slip somewhat from their summer peak. 'The farmer was also getting less for his butterfat as balky housewives turned increasingly to margarine, causing butter prices to decrease. Prices of most items were still above those of a year ago, however. "The principal exceptions were grains, potatoes, eggs, butterfat but-terfat and apples, which were bringing Utah farmers 3 to 22 per cent less. "With this year's crop season just over, Utah farmers began totaling up their balance sheets. The result is perhaps best expressed ex-pressed in the words of the Salt Lake office of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics." |