Standing on the threshold of a new decade, Texas agriculture is faced with three major problems. The first of these problems is the imperative need for a sound soil and water conservation program. Texas has been struggling with this problem for fifty years and has made some progress toward its solution. During the war, however, it was an all-out production of food regardless of cost, either in terms of dollars or resources. As a result, the conservation problem is more acute today than ever before. The second problem is that farm production is out of balance. Lucrative prices for oil and grain crops, plus the increasing shortage of farm labor, turned thousands of farmers from the more stable diversified farm program which had been built up during the '30s. Now, they are again faced with quotas and acreage allotments. This calls for necessarily early and probably extensive readjustment of the entire agricultural production program. The third major change in the agricultural picture is the rapid industrialization of Texas during and since the war. This increase in urban population in this state means an increased market right at the farmer's door for more livestock, dairy, poultry, fruit, and vegetable production. Fortunately, the solution of these three problems is found in one answer. Pasture grass, forage crops, and legumes provide the best means of soil and water conservation and soil building. Inclusion of these crops in a diversified and balanced cropping program will solve the problem of marketing quotas and acreage allotments. Marketing through livestock will provide the abundance of these foods which is needed to meet the growing demands of Texas markets.

This report consists of a presentation of prices paid for the various classifications and grades of cattle sold in the Fort Worth Livestock Market during 1952; a comparison of 1951-1952 prices showing a sharp decline in the price of all grades and classifications which began in June of 1952; and an examination of some of the major factors contributing to the decline in cattle prices as reflected in the Livestock Market, Fort Worth, Texas. From a study of cattle prices that prevailed in the Fort Worth market during 1951 and 1952, and a consideration of some of the factors contributing thereto, the following conclusions are drawn: First, prices of all grades of cattle soared to unusually high levels during 1951, thereby accentuating the drop in price which occurred in the latter part of 1952. Second, the withholding of cattle from slaughter, during a cattle build-up process, rather than a scarcity of cattle in this country was primarily responsible for extremely high prices in 1951. Third, cattle production in this country has progressed in cycles of eight to ten years duration of each; the period under consideration was on the build-up side of the present cycle which began in 1949; and prices for 1951 and 1952 were definitely affected by cyclical influences.