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STATF DOCUfALINI
WIS. LEG. REF. LIBRARY
WISCONSIN
CROP AND LIVESTOCK REPORTER
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE             WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE
Bureau of Agricultural Economics                  Divislon of Agricultural
Statbitics
Federal-State Crop Reporting Service
Walter H. Ebling,           C. D. Caparoon,            Emery C. Wilcox, 
         Cecil W. Estes
Agwieultural Statitueiaa
Vol. XXIX, No. 2               State Capitol, Madison, Wisconsin        
       February, 1950
IN THIS ISSUE
1950 Livestock Numbers
Wisconsin farmers have more
livestock than a year ago, and
an up-swing in livestock num-
bers is shown for the nation as
a whole. Although there is more
livestock, the total farm value
as shown in the inventory is
lower than last year.
Milk Production
Milk production on Wiscon-
sin farms during January was
a little below January 1949, but
for the nation January milk
production showed an increase
from a year earlier. For this
state, the total 1949 milk pro-
duction was over 151/2 billion
pounds, which was the second
largest annual production on
record.
Egg Production
January egg production on
Wisconsin farms was a record
for the month. For the United
States, January egg production
was also a record. The increased
production both in Wisconsin
and the nation results from
larger flocks and a higher rate
of laying.
Prices Farmers Receive and
Pay
As a result of a sharp drop
in egg prices and smaller de-
creases in the prices farmers
received f o r other products,
Wisconsin's general I e v e I of
farm prices fell 2 percent from
December to January. Farm
product prices are now between
10 and 11 percent below Janu-
ary 1949.
Current Trends
More hogs and sheep and
lambs were slaughtered in Jan-
uary than a year ago, but little
change in the slaughter of other
livestock is reported. Cold stor-
age holdings of butter and
cheese are much above last
winter while total stocks of con-
densed and powdered milk prod-
ucts are smaller. Total factory
employment, industrial produc-
tion, and agricultural income
are below a year ago but total
non-farm income is higher.
Special Items (page 4)
Where Feed is Purchased
Fall Plowing
MORE LIVESTOCK is on Wiscon-
sin farms than a year ago, but
the total value is about 10 percent
less than was shown in the annual
livestock inventory of January 1949.
The 1950 livestock inventory shows
that Wisconsin has more cattle, hogs,
sheep, chickens, and turkeys, b u t
there are fewer horses. Wisconsin
livestock numbers have shown a gen-
eral decline from the high points
reached during the war period, and
the increase this year marks the first
up-swing. The January estimates also
show that an upward trend has taken
place in the livestock population of
the United States as a whole after
declining from the wartime p e a k
reached in 1944.
In spite of more livestock on farms
than a year ago, the total farm value
in Wisconsin is down nearly 85 mil-
lion dollars. January estimates show
the farm value of all Wisconsin live-
stock is $741,864,000 compared with
$826,813,000 a year ago. Milk cows,
hogs, and chickens have dropped in
value considerably since the high
point of last year. Total value of all
livestock, however, is more t h a n
$260,000,000 above the 10-year aver-
age value for the state.
No change from a year ago is
shown in the number of Wisconsin
milk cows although the all cattle pop-
ulation has increased. The larger
number of all cattle results from
more heifers one to two years old
being kept for milk cows and a few
thousand head more of feeder cattle
now t h a n a year ago. Wisconsin
farmers now have 2,432,000 cows and
heifers two years old or over kept for
milk, which is 153,000 head below the
wartime record number.
A small increase in milk cow num-
bers on Wisconsin farms is probable
during the coming year. There are
30,000 more heifers one to two years
old being kept for milk cows than a
year ago. There are now 529,000
head of yearling heifers on farms
which will probably prove to be more
than the usual number needed for re-
placement purposes of the present
cow herds. Farmers in the state usu-
ally save one out of four or five heifer
calves born to be raised for milk
cows, and the 545,000 head of calves
now on farms is about usual for the
number of milk cows now on farms.
More Hogs This Year
With prospects for a larger spring
pig crop, farmers in the state have
more brood sows than a year ago. The
large fall pig crop has also increased
the number of pigs under 6 months
compared with the number a year
ago. A total of 1.666,000 head of
swine is shown in the January inven-
Weather Summary, January 1950
Station
Duluth ----
Spooner --
Park Falls
Rhinealnde,
Wausau---
Marinette
Escanaba_
Minneapolis
Eau Claire
La Crosse
Hancock
Oshkosh--
Green Bay
Manitowoc
Dubuque
Madison -
Bebit  -
Milwaukee
Average for
18 Stations
Tempereture
Degrees Fahrenheit
I
a
:1
-30
-41
-36
-36
-29
21
-19
-24
-26
-19
--25
18
9
-8
_ 9
-8
-- 3
-20.8
lI
X
35
38
38
37
42
43
41
39
41
45
44
46
43
49
51
52
60
60
44.7
3 .6
6.3
7.4
7.6
13.7
17.6
15.2
6.8
9.6
15.8
15.7
18.9
15.7
22.0
21.6
20.5
26.6
24.8
15.0
Z
7.9
10.3
8.7
10.4
14.2
19.0
15.4
12.7
13.4
16.1
14.2
17.2
15.7
19.1
19.1
16.7
20.3
20.6
15.1
a
a;
2.19
2.48
3.13
3.54
2.87
2.28
2.82
1.27
.84
I .34
I .98
2.18
2.64
2.50
1 .76
2.53
2.24
2.17
2.32
P.-iPitation
troches
I
.97
.82
1 .26
.87
1 .05
I .83
I .49
.86
1.14
. .08
1.06
I .22
1 .54
I .43
1 .30
I .38
1 .43
1 .78
I .25
i _
0. I
witI
4-1 .22
+1.66
+1.87
+2.67
+1.82
+0.45
+1.33
+0.41
+0.70
+0.26
+0.92
+0.96
+1.10
+1.07
+0.46
+1 .15
+0.81
+0.39
+1.07
tory, which is 16,000 head more than
a year ago.
Because of more sheep and lambs
on feed than a year ago, the total
sheep and lamb population in Wis-
consin is larger. There is, however,
now the smallest number of stock
sheep in the state since records have
been kept by the Department of Ag-
riculture. Wisconsin now has a total
of 267,000 sheep and lambs, which is
only 7,000 head more than the total
estimated a year ago.
The state's chicken population has
increased during the past year mostly
as a result of more Dullets added to
the laying flocks. There are about
17,954,000 chickens over three months
old on farms, which is approximately
600,000 more than recorded in the
January 1949 inventory. The number
of chickens is now well below the
wartime high point. Probably because
Movement of Wisconsin Livestock
to Packers and Stockyards
Number, 1940-1949
Year     Cattle
1940    457,493
1941     495 458
1942    601 903
1943    464 .710
1944     605 ,653
1945     566,021
1946    468,870
1947    654,208
1948     563,183
1949'    543,591
P'reliminary.
calve.
1.066 .900
1,130,186
1 190,559
1,133,752
1 .313,023
1 .217 446
1 .132,178
1 .294 .086
I .223 .01Z
1 ,221 .381
Hog.
2,388 .426
2 ,314 ,741
2,657,411
2 983 076
3 ,224 ,756
1 976,155
2,083.997
2,151 '518
Z .242 .524
2,534 ,751
Sheep
318,475
328.119
363 476
410 544
369 .426
343 678
331 255
281 .300
288 ,155
201 ,705
-
.!
I
_S