Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-29
OF KING PRODUCTION
BsilrOsdsr Says it Beats Out ths Combine
Of Packers.
LIONS SHARE OF PROFITS TO FARMERS
High Prices for Beef on the Hoof
Tnrns Golden Harvest Into Peck
els Of stock Raisers
and

"If these people who talk about the beef
trust would look into the real facts they
would ascertain a condition Of affairs that
would demoralize their random state
ments," said a prominent trafic official.
Talk about your beef trust; why. It is
nothing compared with the trust formed
by King Production All the ranters have
TO advance about the beef trust is the high
prices that obtain. True, they do, but l
can show you that the packers are not
making a cent more than they did FIVE years
ago, and II that is the case, where does
the trust come in?
Last Friday a man brought into South
Omaha fifty head Of steers. weighing about
1900 pounds each as they stood. For those
steers be got Z cents a pound on the hoof,
q total average Of $li3.75 for each animal.
Marvellous. isn't it-but nevertheless true.
Now. just explain to me how the packers
are making SO much money off beef that
costs them Z cents a pound on the hoof,
even II their fancy steaks do sell at retail
for 20 cents a pound. Think Of what a
small proportion OF that 1900 pounds is left
TO be actual beef for sale. Hide, hoofs,
much OF the legs, head and most Of the
carcass-all is trimmed off, leaving a COM
p~arative few pounds Of steak out Of an
animal which cost Sl13.75.
The whole trouble is simply that the
demand far exceeds the supply; that con-
sumption is exceeding production just now
by a margin almost unheard Of before this
time.
Scarcity of beef Cattle.
Notice this fact in proof. l have re-
Gently been out over the country. | con-
troll the trafic Of many hundreds OF miles
OF a railroad which taps the best section
of the middle West. l want to say that
there are not 100 carloads of fat beef cattle
TO be found in all that territory we tap,
not 100 carloads in all those hundreds Of
thousands OF square miles. Don't you see
how valuable the few must be? The farm
ers are simply coming money, especially
those lucky enough to have a few head OF
cattle. A man came into South Omaha
last week with one carload Of steers. He
went way with 1900 in cash. that sum
representing the sale price OF that single
carload. And yet they howl about the beef
trust and the packers reaping rich re-
wards. They are making not a cent more
now than when they were buying cattle at
{ cents a pound on the hoof.
fTt is almost as bad with hogs. Send
put for a thousand hogs now. What do you
get? A bunch OF 6-month-old shoats. There
are scarcely any big hogs to be had.
Profits More Than Cover Feed.
at may be said that the high price Of
feed more than offsets for him the high
price the farmer gets for his stock from
the packers, but that is not true. He has
a big margin left over. Let me cite a case
IN point. A farmer friend Of mine had a
bunch Of hogs last fall and, becoming ap-
palled at the h~eavenward trend of feed
prices, he tried TO sell them. He offered
the bunch for $3.50, but could find no takers
ut the price. Then he spanked up, deter
mined to take a risk and began feeding
them up. All winter he did this, with
feed at 65 cents a bushel. A week ago he
sold the bunch at a price which cleared
him sees over and above all expenses OF
The winter. feed and all. Thus his profits
alone were more than what he asked for
the hogs in the fall. That shows how the
farmers can laugh at expensive feed"