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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1937-07-01, Page 3API DA PACKERS- U, REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS N' r w Bacons, f.o.b., Ontario Countryo M -'9 The tenth 'kcal year o4 Canada Paekerg TAm$4d ended atc� UM rias been ..,.$7,1,4 per The fiscal of Canada Pacicera Limit4c1 ended - ' e Yearly averages have been. as lle 1937 193 ... ,; ............".., 8.21 Profit, after Depreciation, Bond, �: +" , i come ax, 1s' ....�.,t.a a, t' Intexest and In.• 1935 �. " " r: $ 10 ,I, , $1,522,662.69x936 ., is a s Zit has Shares, decided per Shat^ l -- rhe fundamental fact i that froth ds into Hogs reit may a Pro lain Equivalent, n , Out of Divide sum it been do ndShares, disributAlee growing feeds and converting th s that current fi on yea Common 00prusing for a certain period prices ofoGe ins x ay hPigsgh;xandtduring i s period current fiscal. year $3.00 per Sh ee $ Q00,0lly that Grains would sell for m The Profit applicable to the Common hares is sur statitially higher •produce. would year. Shareholders may feel, in the circumstances, In such ease the Farmer, if h* feeds, aloes not grow his Grain b buys . But be than in any previous ! ant would not make a Loss. The feeds that a larger Dividend might have been justified; ',[calls f e in oli y of Plant would make e Loss. Fax him, the fluctuations i the Grain axed, but the decision was against an increase because 4 polity it on the market, But the'. farmer who grows the fens may expansion tohe year Company. is committed. o market are a serious matter. During the year just closed, Plant extensions were 030..72 continue producing Hogthe assurance that the safest life made totalling $1,067, taws Agreement Hog production an or the coma who e 00 lbs. d f coming year extensions have been farm) h can count on the necessary feed,this authorized 'Walling, g, 4150,000,00 Farmer, therefore, In view of these heavy expenditures Directors thoug�ht.it necessary problem a sling th d t t liana approximately '1 o the a , lq one. He need not even stop to d tures the Dlrec o s conviction makes the to conserve Working"Capital. consider whether he -will or will not s eed, failed year after year, it is a Shareholders may inquire whether so large programme ing the nine But for the I+'armer, whose crops ! cannot feed, ex preceding ywas eas (Le.esin The answerliesin hquite different matter. Without the aGrra a ee appreciably retardedwideiareas preceding years since the Company was formed) net Plant f crop failure of the last seven y tures had amountedthat to only b been to build up Working in Hog production. Crop' failures have in fact been the chief reason why Duringl, all time the molal objective had be Canada has not yet reached the Quota for Bacon allotted in the Ottawa Capital, which had increased from- $3,617,944.44 Agreement of 1932. That Quota was the equivalent of 2,500,000 Hogs per 1927 7,042,457.71 year. to 1936 ,' Since 1932 there has been :every incentive to increase Hog production. Prices have been high, and the .GraintHog ratio favourable. And in spite of and as a first step a Plant was built at Edmonton, Alberta. f .l roduetion has greatly increased. This is evident from the cost approxrma e Y table f Hog marketings an p Last year, it was decided to extend operations to thePaThs Planfic t crop failures p c`L" Bacon experts: t ifollowing to e o It is one of the finest industrial Plants in Canada, combining a beau- *In the above discussion no mention is made of the other tiful exterior with high operating efficiency. costs which enter into Hog production, including labour and plant Plans for the coming year include a new Plant a plants When overhead. These items are consiith and therefore do not affect also extensions andnewexistingt which has to 'ac, With fluctuating Grain prices. e s. W a - rest , •� l T NGS this programme is completed, equipment at several of a the argument, Al,E `< Directors look forward to another p IIOC, re toPlant teztsion Mouth `1935 1936 :�`% Inc.+'' 1937 st in respect an ex January 2.97,325 275,553. Total Sale's Total Tonnage the year were $72;699,519.48 February263,005 257,301' 774,270,797 lbs. , 695' 3b .,iia March 229,$22 ,312, The Net Profit (,...$1,522,662.69_-..) is, therefore, equi- 312 719 312,695 valent to : =: 2.10% of Sales or to 115c per lb. of product sold The above figures relate to total operations, including products other than those derived from Live Stock. On products derived from Live Stock, Profit is equivalent to: - 16.8c per 100 lb. i.e. 11Gc per lb. Sales increased from .......$63,586,883.36, year ended March, 1936 to 72,699,519.48, year ended March, 1937 that is $ 9,112,636.12 ...e'er 14.3% Tonnage increased from_' 659774,706,572 7 lbs. to that is.... 114,564,224 lbs. or 17.4% These large increases are due partly to new business deriving from the Edmonton Plant; also to increased exports of Bacon. But all Plante enjoyed an increased domestic volume, reflecting the improved economic conditions in Canada. That improvement, se far as Agriculture is concerned, is indicated in the following table of prices of farm products. FARM PRODUCTS.• Average Price - Month. March Years 1930-1937 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 Port mune: wheat -No. 1 Northern $1.0011 $ .56%5 .63 5 .49 5 •.66%.81%6 $ .82% $1.40 Cattle --good Steers, 1,050 lbs. down, 'Toronto 10.20 6.10 5.13 4.21 5.25 5.74 4.90 6.32 12.75 7.19 4.40 4.61 8.36 7.43 8.15 8.16 Bogs-Bacons-e.o.b. Ontario points Toronto 11.86 9.21 7.30 , 6.42 8.47 7.14 8.92 10.08 Lambs -Good Han�iy-weights, Hides -Native Packer 133 oy .06 053< o8�i 0935 .13%17 Steers, Toronto .05 .03% .03% .04,,6 •0731, •05% .06% Wool -Lamb le, Toronto .. .07Sa wool -Lamb B, Toronto . • 29 .17% .15 .15 .31 .21 .35 .45 Over wide areas, Canadian Farmers are still suffering from a succes- sion of crop failures. But in every other respect Canadian Agriculture has emerged from the depression. The low point of the depression. fell in the, first quarter of 1933-i•e. just more than four years ago. It is difficult now, even to recall how bleak the outlook seemed at that tune. Not only were prices,;Of farad-.prothicts at or; near all-9me .lows, but there were Heavy sur- pluses for which there seemed.tb be' no `gct'dteee tntlet ti"1'ek y price, That 'was particularly the case'.in respect of .Wheat and of Cat'tfe.' All this'is now changed. Tlie surplus wheat has gone. At the end of the present crop year the carry-over will be less than in any year since 1926. And the price of Wheat (at Prairie points) is more than three times that of February, 1933. This disappearance of the overhanging surplus and the rapid advance in the pr:ce (and with it in prices of other Grains) was the signal which, to the Fanner, marked the final passing of the depression. But this very event brought with it a complication in the.Live Stock field: -particularly that of Hogs. Hogs are produced from Grains. The cost -of -production of the Hog is in direct ratio to the pr'.ce of the Grains. Between March, 1936, and March, 1937, the price of Wheat advanced from ..... 82c to .... $1.40 per bushel,- and usheland other Grains in similar ratio. But the price of Hogs advanced not at all. This disparity in movement, as between Grain and Hog prices, present- _ ed a problem to the Farmer which he -had not had to 'consider for six years. Would he feed Hogs, or would be sell his Grain? The question became acute just at the beginning of the major breeding season, i.e., September. In that month Grains began a spectacular advance, and Hogs declined. The following table sets' forth these prices, -Wheat and Hogs, - (monthly averages), since March, 1936. 'siheat per bushel March, 1936 $ .82e/e April .80% .763/9, J use .79 ee July .92% August 1.021/4 September 1.03 % October 1.10% November 1.0814, December 1.20 3b January, 1937 1.24% February 1.278,16 March 1.40' Under such conditions it takes seine courage , on the Farmer's part to breed sows (the progeny of which will be marketed from 10 to 12 months later), unless he has the necessary feed actually in his granary. Many Farness, -Perhaps most, -are not so .situated. Hence , there cleyeloped a good deal of hesitation, and since September there. has certainly been tome diminution in breedings. As to the extent of this diminution no sta- tisthcu are to be had, and the scale of it will not beeknown until the progeny arrive at the markets, July 1937, forward. On each fain the decision whether to breed or not• to breed is an important one. It determines in advance that portion ,of farm operations for almost a year. (The litter is farrowed four months. of Thb r�reaedinng, er and o the Pigs aro marketed six to nine months: after berth.) breeds, thereby elects to market his Grain through: the medium of Pigs. On the other hared, the decision not to breed, is equwalent to that of selling the Grain for cash. But the important factor to consider is clearly not the relative price of Grain and Pigs at .the time the sow is bred. It is the average price of Grain for a period of 4 to 10111 months forward, in rela- tion to the prig of Hogs on the marketing day (unknown) 10111 months away.'' If, therefore, the Farmer seeks, at breeding time, to determine whether the sows should or should not be bred, he is faced with factors which are not known and cannot be known. But a study of the past comes to his aid, and enables him to base his decision on other and knowable factors. If a period of years is considered, it is found that, providing feeding methods are efficient, there is an as- sured Profit in continuously. • raising Hogs. This is not. conjecture, but his - .tory. A Farmer cannot know, in the case of any particular litter, whether the Pigs will, sell for a greater 'sum than the ve n° of the ai . required to 11 d % ro glee them. Nevertheless, he can be certain that if he feeds Hogs all the time, he will snake a Prefrt, and a good Profit, as against selling his Grain,• On the other hand, it is equally a matter of history that the in - and -out feeder generally gets in before a decline and out before an advance. (In discussions as to the Profit or Los's •bf produtying Hogs, there is ;sometimes confusion on -a most },inpo.'takt point. During the last three years Hog prices have been high and star The low monthly average price Bacon Hogs F.O.B. Ontario Country Points, per 100 lbs. $8.15 8.02 7.81 • 8.52 8.71 8.89 8.13 7.66 '7.24 7.86 8.18 7.93 April May June July August September October November December Total January February •March April May June July August Septeinber' October November December ............ 1 f.. 228,556 270, ` '1704- 204,540 F- 204,540 •310,685, 414 225,58.6 226,14. .25 173,$69 235,70a 36,0 192,103 323,146 • 68.2 287,855 376;08'!. '",,z 30.3 252,800 '415,141 =" 64.2 301;631 --471,468 56.3 2,969,311 3x745,498. 26.1 BACON EXPORTS (In terms of Hogs) 113,378 100,473 11.5 134,864 73.9 123,043 92,088 - 3.1 152,965 39.5 113,096 109,651 -25.1 138,146 50.0 69,549 77,547 -11.4 138,192 87.5 103,445 120,642 16.6 92,420 99,207 7.3 87,991 108,776 23.5 68,791 96,128 39.7 320,607 345,696 397,213 337,236 % Inc, 16.3 34.0 27.0 26.2 51,973 92,014 77.0 54,328 115,818 113.1 95,936 130,495 36.0 62,107 146,902 136.5 • Total 1,030,0571,26 41 if,.24.5 These figures give ground for thiuking that if feed had been plentiful last Fall, and the HoglGrain ratio favourable, Canada would now be well on the way towards filling her Bacon Quota in Great Britain. This question as to whether, (and how soon), Canada will achieve her Bacon Quota is the most important one in Canadian Agriculture. As to whether Canada will fill her Quota, there should and only onehis Quota gns vse . For Canada is naturally, a Hog producing er the opportunity, on the most favourable terms, of establishing herself in the greatest Bacon market of the world The opportunity lies in the factethat the Agreement permits her rapidly to increase shipments, and at the esame time assures her a stable price. Such a situation. 'never obtained before, and is inconceivable except under a Quota plan. At any 'previous time So rapid an increase in sh°pments would have brought about a drastic fall in•;ricE But no fall has occurred, for the British plan is to keep the total quantity ofeBacon approximately constant. As Canadian shipments increased,Timports.from other countries were cor- veepe ,.ditealer „.cot. .down. Canal '"' .policy should clearly be to establish herself firmly while t'hese.eondit' att.: • That Canadian. Farmers have ° grasp of te'vaittefthlBntthereQsoan- is shown by their efforts to increase Hog production. element in the situation to which they are likely to give less thought than its importance merits, viz.: -that time is of the essence of the situation. Canada is assured another three years of the Quota. Within that time it is most important. (a) That she take maximum advantage of the opportunity by filling the Quota. (b) That she keep in mind constantly the tine will certainly come again when Canadian Bacon will •have to compete, without pie- ferenc'e, with Bacon from Denmark and other European coun- tries. What will Canada's position then be? Theon? l answerah Bacon be abt°w °chld its haslaee in such a received too •little attention. hinges on a point It -will depend upon efficiency in breeding and Canadian feeding methods relatively to those of Denmark and other European countries. How do the efficiencies now compare? The answer brings"us hack to the fact that Hogs are produced from or itsequivalent. t alt iii Exact Denmark,tonstics are not avex average, 3% lbs. of Grin produbut the e best1 lb. orned view is as t i lb. of Piggy whereas in Canada, on average, 5 lbs. of Grain are consumed in producing 1 lb. of Pig. In other words, that the cost of production in Canada as compared to Denmark 5: 3?✓9 is as 20:15 i.e• as . - 0: 5 i.e. as - This means that, providing the price of Grain. is the seine, it costs one-third more to produce Bacon Hogs in Canada than in Denmark. Applied to the actual data of production the significance of the above facts is as follows: Canada will produce this year approximately They will be marketed at an average weight of approximately would take to On the basis 5:1 each Hog produce would take to On the basis 33/4:1, each Hog produce many rnorp Hoge than sire herself can coxiatitac� The great ninrliet for the surplus Macon of the World. in this market Canada at present enjoys a proferred. position of $hs gxea est ixnportaxice. or the tinge being the price of Bacon in Great Britain, (and the uer. responding price of Bogs in. Canada) is such that even on a basis of pro- duction 5:1 there Is a large Profit In producing Hoge. But the high price of Bacon in .Great Britain as maintained only by a Government plan of restricting imports. (Under this plata: Canada is al. lotted the large Quota of 21/4 million Hogs). Canada is increasing production at a rate which, with favourable crop conditions, will enable her to fill her Quota within two or three years (per- haps earlier). Canada's volume of shipments to Great Britain will tnen be almesst im- on a par with those of Denmark. This will afford iz. a�anadian Bacon by , an proving Canadian product and service, to peptil e C extent never before possible. This can be done only by making Canadian Bacon equal in quality to Danish. For this the first requisite is to make Canadian Hogs as good as Danish. - A substantial improvement has been made in Canadian Hogs in the last 15 years. The best Canadians arestillCanot s goodiate probld as the em st Danish, but nevertheless they are y good. is to bring all her Hogs up to the standard of her best. But Canada's chief remaining problems is, during this "protected" period, to prepare herself for the time when she etwill again have to meet Denmark without preference on the British ma For this the inexorable requirement is to achieve an efficiency In Hog production equal to that of Denmark. If Canada ns such an efficiency will then have an ade vantage over Denmark. For feeds can be produced in Canada more cheaply than they can be bought in Denmark. efficiency is the most im The achieving of this standard of feeding Y portant single objective in Canadian Agriculture. On it depends whether Canada will advance to first place in the British market, or will at some future date be driven from that market as has more than once occurred in the past. The record in the Cattle Industry is much more cheerful than in any CATTLE: year e Cattle market froxn the 1930 since the The pressme tla market for Canada's surplus.r. That forwardupluswasr the diroughly g surplus is roughly 200,000 Cattle per year. Exports (live Cattle) for the last 10 years have been: 212,599 1932 25,576 166,874 19331934 160,103 1935 24 883 7,000,000 Hogs 209 lbs. 1,00 lbs. of 7l0 df II 1927 1928 1929 1931 1930 36,308 1936 197,901 The recent relief has come through shipments to United States. Tender the be shippedninto Unitedde Stateseement a at a Duty of numberc per lb. This to concession may be Shipp after was secured from the United States Administration AmericanoCattle Producers. d negotiations. It was strenuously son under way between It is supposed that negotiations are at present Canada, Great Britain and the United States, looking towards an expan- sion of trade between these three countries. To secure ecu a such u goan an concessions will be asked for, and given, by certain advantages tries. Canada undoubtedly will be asked to give concess onatCanada 1 should o sfirmlyl stand expect iscin connection dadvantages. with Cattle. If the United States insists on a Quota (as they probably will) she shoutear. Thisd seek to enlarge that Quota from 155,000 to 200,000 Cattle per y of the totalnumbereofStates Cattle marketed n. certainly n United States each year. 1% But more important still is the rate of Duty. If United States is to admit any stated hether those Cate pay,it makes a 2 Duty or no Duty at all.difference to heTh s is can Producer tthe Prw great modification that P to needs Quota number, --were admitted to Agreement. d IfCanadian Duty, this Stateswithout Duty, this concession would automatically add 2e per lb. ap- proximately ....$20.00.... per head) to the value of all the Cattle in Canada. And the concession would cost United States nothing. In this Report to Shareholders, the Directors again wish to pay tribute to loyal and efficient work of all ranks of Employees. eDuring riw onhra year thre have been two increases in Plant wag appreciable extent these sub- stantially higher' than the rates of 1929. To an app advanced wages have been offset b higher efficiency, is bettert than t by co- operation of Employees. The quality Tprs is due to the pride atany previous time in the Company's history. work- manship on the part of Plant Employees, fortified by co-operation of all other ranks. J. S. MCLEAN, President Toronto, 1st June, 1037. Extra1 be mail l to anyo ee requesting them. Address tis Rport are availableand so o Canada as they last oil Packers Limited, Toronto. 56,003 60,193 109,638 • Grain it The extra cost of producing Hogs in Canada, 250 +, expressed in Grain is An average price of Grain at the Farm may be taken at ._..11/4c.... per 'lb. In other words, the extra cost -o -production per Hog, due to feeding inefficiency in Canada - relatively to Denmark is - $3.10 per Hog lieee x 250, i.e. $21.,70$3.10 ,000 on 7,000,000 I3.ogs If the relative feeding ratios ale correct, there can be ult7lb oiut tthis figure. And the statement of ratios is based on the hest s formation in each country. But to Canadian Hog Producers the figures have still greater signific- ance. . Many Canadian Farriers, both and ut tWest, The statementttis basce ataretie ...8 :1• There is no doubt ab1is on carefully kept records. is it follows Remembering that of them, -the e basis production rp production ecu not be one many atter than 6:1. What then is the difference beta -cell of eGragin required and low b. cost within Canada? On the basis of 6:1, the quantity 1,200 lbs• to produce a 200 ib Hog is - 700 On the basis 31%2 :1,hquantity - Therefore, the difference between high and low pro- duction is per Ho77.c "ic ' lb, 500 " $6.25 per Hog a i l Do these 6:1 Farmers realize that a saving is to be made from im- proved feeding methods equivalent to more than ....3c..., per lb.? The argument of the preceding paragraphs may be summarized as The Bacon follows: on Hogis the farm animal 'Aida Canada is best endowed h nature to pxoclure" The .least suitable foeds can be grown here perhaps more cheaply than in any other country. LESSON L --J GOD HEARS A PEOPLE'S ES5CR•Y Exodus 1: 1-22; PRRINTED TEXT Exodus 1: 6-14; 2: 23-25 GOLDEN TEXT il] answer,"Before they call, speaking, I and while they are yet will hear." Isaiah 65: 24. THE LESSON IN ITS SETTING Place: -Tile children of Israel lived, for the eost part, during theidr r residence in Egypt, e eastern part ofGEgypt, north of thted in e southern point 9fD,,Yp, if the Nile Delta. Time: -I3 C. 1643-B.C. 1578. "And Joseph died, and all bbis brethren, and all that generation." 'rssi was the t the Hebrew people whose prestige in -Egypt 'were allowed so many favors, strang- ees as they were in the land of Egypt. With the papain;; of any great statesman, or captain of industry, or military commander, there conies, sooner or later, necessarily, a change in the circumstances, organization, and leadership over which the de- ceased once so completely dominat- ed. It is perfectly natural that the statement of the death of all those of Joseph's genorati,n should be fol- lowed by a record of a radical change in the conditions pertaining to Jos- eph's people. "And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceed- ingly mighty; and the land was filled with then." In this verse, the writer employs the very expressions "were fruitful," "increased abundantly," which are found in Gen. 1: 22, 28 and 8: 17. "This points to a strictly extraordinary or miraculous rapidity in the rate of increase, though, of course, miracle has its limits of pos- sibility in accelerating the rate of increase through birth. The follow- ing are naturally favoring circum- stances for such a rapid multiplica- tion: the proverbial fruitfulness of women in Egypt; the peculiar full- ness of vitality in the lsraelitish race, which still continues; a pros- perous settlement in a good land in 4 circumstances fitted for abundant physical life." "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph." "The Hebrew word `arose' is almost always used to describe a new commence- ment, as in Deut• 34: 10; the word 'new' occurs in connection with an entire change (as in Dent. 32: 17; Judges 5: 8) ; while the expression 'knew not' (Deut. 28: 36) is applied not so much to absolute want of knowledge as to the absence of friendly acquaintanceship." "And he said unto his people, Be- hold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out illy war, they also join themselves ants our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land." There was absolutely no justifica- tion for such a suspicious attitude toward the Hebrew people, for, in the first place, they have never been known as a warlike nation, and, in the second place, they were so fav- orably situated in Egypt, that there would have been no reason tor r ene- mies. ris:ng up to unite with Ez yp Moreover, the llebrew people had no alliances with of all lretl e nations around Egypt, gyp , peo- ple in the world, the most independ- ent, i.e., a people who were bound more by their miraculous out -calling by God than they were by any blood ties with other peoples. "Therefore they did set over them taskmasters." Literally, these were "captains of labor -gangs," the word Inas be'n "the technical tern for a body of men employed on forced la- bor, as in I hinge 5: 13, 14, etc." "To afflict them with their burdens." The word here traaslate.l "afflict" means "to bend," "to wear out any- one's strength," and is the word used in the prophecy in Gen. 15: 18 that this would be the actual experience of Israel in Egypt hundreds of years after the prophecy was uttered.