ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 AT 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014494284 
 
UNITED STATES 
 
 FOOD Administration 
 
 MEAT DIVISION 
 
 PRICES OF HOGS 
 
 STATEMENT OF JOSEPH P. COTTON, CHIEF OF 
 THE MEAT DIVISION 
 
 CHICAGO 
 1917 
 
United States Food Administration 
 meat division 
 
 Chicago, November 3, 1917. 
 
 Joseph P. Cotton, chief of the U. S. Food Administration 
 meat division, today issued the folloiwing statement relative to the 
 prices of hogs : 
 
 The main purposes of the Food Administration as to hogs are 
 four: To see that the producer at all times can count on a fair 
 price for his hogs so that it will be profitable to him, to see that the 
 farmer increases the number of hogs bred, to limit the profit of the 
 packer and the "middleman and to eliminate speculation. 
 
 All these purposes are necessary because we must have more 
 hogs, so that the ultimate consumer shall at all times get an ade- 
 quate supply of hogs at the lowest feasible price. 
 
 We shall establish rigid control of the packer. Fair prices 
 to the farmer for his hogs, w« believe, will be brought about by 
 the full control which the Food Administration has over the buy- 
 ing of the Allies, our Army and Navy, the Red Cross, the Belgian 
 Relief and the neutrals, which together constitute a considerable 
 factor in the market. 
 
 The first step is to stop the sudden break in prices paid for 
 hogs at the central markets. These prices must become stable so 
 that the farmer knows where he stands, and will feel justified in 
 increasing hogs for next winter. The iprices so far as we can affect 
 them will not go below a minimum of about $15.50 per hundred 
 weight for the average of the packers' droves on the Chicago market 
 until further notice. 
 
 We have had, and shall have, the advice of a board composed 
 of practical hog growers and experts. That board advises that the 
 best yardstick to measure the cost of production of the hog is the 
 cost of corn. That board further advises that the ratio of corn price 
 to hog price on the average over a series of years has been about 
 twelve to one (or a little less). In the past, when the ratio has 
 gone lower than twelve to onS, the stock of hogs in the country 
 has decreased. When it was higher than twelve, the hogs h^ve 
 increased. That board has given its judgment that to bring the 
 
stock of hogs back to normal under present conditions the ratio 
 should be about thirteen. Therefore, as to the hogs farrowed next 
 spring, we will try to stabilize the price so that the farmer can 
 count on getting for each 100 pounds of hog ready for market, 
 thirteen times the average cost per bushel of the corn fed into the 
 hogs. 
 
 Let there be no misunderstanding of this statement. It is not 
 a guarantee backed by money. It is not a promise by the packers. 
 It is a statement of the intention and policy of the Food Admin- 
 istration which means to do justice to the farmer.