Flaxseed Prices and the Tariff

Excerpts: The primary purpose of the study here reported is to determine the influences and factors that have kept domestic prices of flaxseed under parity in recent years. Several factors have contributed to the keeping of flaxseed prices under parity since 1920: (1) World production of flaxseed was increased from an average of 111,000,000 bushels annually in the years 1909-13 to an average of 140,000,000 bushels annually in the years 1922-37. (2) The use of oils other than linseed oil in the drying industries also was increased; linseed oil, which accounted for about 90 percent of the total oil used for drying purposes in this country in the pre-war period, has accounted for less than 70 percent of the total, on the average, since 1930. (3) Chiefly because of increased world supplies of feed grains and high protein feeds, prices of linseed meal have been below “parity” since 1920; linseed cake and meal accounts for about 30 percent of the total value of flaxseed products in this country. (4) The margin between farm and retail prices of farm products generally was widened as a result of the higher processing and distribution costs brought about by the rise in industrial wage rates, salaries, freight rates, rents, and capital charges during the World War and immediate post-war years.