Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 357, Greencastle, Putnam County, 2 October 1985 — Page 8

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The Putnam County Banner Graphic, Wednesday, Oct. 2,1985

Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Mercantile Exchange

By KEITH E. LEIGHTY AP Business Writer Grain and soybean futures prices were mostly higher Tuesday on the Chicago Board of Trade as the U S. dollar continued to sag against foreign currencies, heightening the prospect for better exports of American farm products. Much of the gain was associated with the strength of foreign currencies, which makes U S. products more attractive for foreign buyers, said Bob Lekberg, a grain analyst in Chicago with Shearson Lehman Brothers. Volume was light. Wheat prices also were boosted by a report that the Agriculture Department had made Morocco eligible to buy 1.5 million tons of U.S. wheat under the export bonus program. However, the European Common Market recently took retaliatory steps against the United States by increasing its wheat subsidies for sales to the Mediterranean basin, the area targeted by the U.S. program. Corn prices were steady. The USDA announced that the Soviet Union bought an additional 800,000 tons of U.S. corn, but the announcement failed to generate much buying. Wheat settled 1 cent to 4M> cents higher with the contract for delivery in December at $3.01a bushel; corn was v 2 cent lower to l*/ 4 cents higher with December at $2.25 1 2 a bushel; oats were >/ 4 cent to 1 3 4 cents higher with December at $1.26 *4 a bushei;

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and soybeans were V 4 cent to 1 cent higher with November at ss.l3M> a bushel. Livestock and meat prices were mixed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Cattle prices came under pressure early in the session, partly because of trends on price charts and partly on concern about a heavy number of delivery notices posted against the October futures contract, said Charlie Richardson, a livestock analyst in Denver with Lind-Waldoek. In addition, he said, futures prices already were 1.5 cents to 2.5 cents higher than current cash quotes. And sales of boxed beef cuts on wholesale markets was sluggish. Hog prices were higher with support partly from the sharp rally in pork bellies, which were helped by trends on price charts. Hog futures also were lower at the start of the session than current cash quotes, which added to the buying sentiment, Richardson said. Live cattle settled unchanged to 1.10 cents lower with the contract for delivery in October at 57.47 cents a pound; feeder cattle were unchanged to .42 cent lower with October at 62.90 cents a pound; live hogs were unchanged to .65 cent higher with October at 41.97 cents a pound; and frozen pork bellies were 1.05 cents to 1.47 cents higher with February at 64.92 cents a pound.

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Corn, bean harvests under way; winter wheat plowing behind

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Some Indiana farmers are harvesting corn four days ahead of last year, but plowing of winter wheat fields is running at a record slow pace, Purdue University reports. The weekly weather and crop report Monday said 8 percent of the state’s corn crop has been harvested, which is normal for the week ending Sept. 29. Five percent was harvested at this time a year ago, placing this year’s progress about four days ahead of 1984. Eight 8 percent of winter wheat has emerged, but only 45 percent of the land intended for wheat has been plowed. That

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total is five days behind 1984 and two days behind the previous record slow progress of 48 percent in 1983. Normally 55 percent has been plowed by Sept. 29, statistician Earl L. Park said. Moisture content of corn harvested last week was 25 percent, down 2 percent from the previous week and more than 3 percent below a year ago. Ninety percent of the corn is mature and safe from frost. Thirteen percent of the soybeans have been combined, on par with last year, but one or two days behind the 15 percent combined for the five-year average, Park said.

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Farm Progress Show mood: Uncertainty

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. t AP) For Tony Cain, the 1985 Farm Progress Show doesn’t mean a chance to shop for new combines and try out other new equip ment. He’s there to learn the tricks that will keep him afloat another year. “Money-wise we’re just going to hold our own, break even this year,” said Cain, 30, who with his brother farms 900 acres of corn and soybeans near Brookston in White County. “I don’t have any money to make any purchases.” The Farm Progress Show is “a selling atmosphere, not a fair,” according to the director of this year’s event, Kevin Wheeler. But farmers attending the opening the show Tuesday expressed uncertainty about their future and for many of them making new investments was out

This bull will be shown Nov. 21 in the Black Division of the National Chianina Show at the North American International Livestock Exposition at Louisville, Ky. The grand champion honor at the Indiana State Fair was the second in a row for Black Valley Farms which last year won with High Rise, a seven-eighths son of Lombard.

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Parity ratio lowest since '32

WASHINGTON (AP) - One measure of how well farmers are faring, the parity ratio, dipped last month to a level it had not hit since the depths of the Great Depression, the Agriculture Department reports. While its significance may be debated by farm economists, the statistic will nonetheless be pointed to by rural activists as yet another sign of deterioration in the farm economy and as further evidence that farm income supports need bolstering. The September parity ratio was 49 percent, the same as the revised August reading and tied for the record low level of June 1932, according to

of the question. “Our bank and several banks in our area are very nervous, not just about our farm, but other farms as well,” Cain said. “This year we had to break even or show some profit or they were going to think about closing us up.” Cain said he and his brother probably will have a small profit this year, but he worries about 1986 and the years after. They rent their land, so they don’t have to worry about mortgages, but the debt from their equipment and other borrowing has built steadily for two or three years, he said. “The small farmer won’t be around someday,” Cain said. “Sometimes you can’t get to sleep at night because you’re thinking about it.” Jim Lacina, Massey-Ferguson Inc.’s product marketing manager for tractors, showed more optimism about the farmers’ attitudes as prospective buyers examined his company’s new rotary combine, which lists at more than SIIB,OOO. "It’s not a negative attitude, and that’s a positive development in itself,” Lacina said. “I guess they’re shopping and looking for something to break here (for the better) in the future. “There are some very interested people. The majority of shoppers just are seeing what’s out there so they can keep up with the industry,” Lacina said. The show, whose site alternates between Illinois, Indiana and lowa, is being held on two farms just west of Knightstown and north of U.S. 40. It drew an estimated 70,000 people on Tuesday, and organizers have predicted a total attendance near 300,000 before it ends Thursday. Carl Martin, one of the host farmers, said each of those people have problems, no matter what the profit column says. “We’re not ready to go into bankruptcy, but anyone involved in agriculture is having his share of problems,” Martin said. “A person has to be really aware of his costs. He has never had any other challenge to be a sharp manager than today.”

department records. That means that now, as in the 19305, farmers theoretically have less than half the purchasing power they did during the prosperous base period of 1910-1914. Many economists say the old parity standard is outmoded and misleading because it doesn’t take into full account changes in farm productivity. But others contend the ratio remains useful in comparing year-to-year changes. The new figure was part of the department's monthly price report issued Monday, which showed prices farmers get for raw products declined 0.8 percent in September