The Union County Journal

FARM PRODUCE PRICES UP 6 POINTS OVER 1946 LEVEL

But Buying Power of Farmer's Dollar Keeps His Net Income Down.

Price rises for livestock, corn, cotton, rice, and potatoes took the level of prices farmers received for their products in mid-July six points above the average they were getting during the first half of 1946. Prices of goods which they bought remained at the high point reached in June, 1947.

Rural economists at Ohio State University say Ohio farmers in July, 1947, had gained only 19 percent in purchasing power over the level prevailing in 1910-14. Farm product prices have gone up 176 percent, as compared with 1910-14, but costs of production also have risen enough to slow down the farmers' net gain.

Farmers cash receipts on sales for the first half of 1947 had climbed 27 percent from the 1946 total for the same period, but government production payments decreased enough to hold the gain in farm income to 22 percent.

Taxes on farm land went up 12 percent in 1946 and reached the highest point since 1931.

The continued rise in farm prices widens the gap between prevailing price levels and the prices farmers would receive under the government price support plan. Corn, on July 15, 1947, was 73 cents a bushel above parity. Hogs were $8.79 a hundredweight above, beef cattle were $9.12 a hundredweight above parity, and milk was $1.07 a hundredweight above the support level.

Economists expect the high price level for farm products to continue as long as city workmen get well filled envelopes. Foreign demand for agricultural products is a factor in the high prices but only a small fraction of the total U. S. farm production is exported.