Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-09
MARGIN ON FINISHEDFEEDERS
Financial 0utOOms Of Feeding 0attl, Hard
to Forecast at Present.
ENOUGH CATTLE TO SUPPLY ALL DEMAND;
Price Of New Corn VIII Largely De-
termine the Cost of Making
Beef for the
Market.

An insurance company that would insure
cattle feeders a profit in their operations
would receive, as IL would deserve, a large
patronage. Probably there is no business
Of the same magnitude in the country that
is subject to more vicissitudes, or one that
Involves the same risks az feeding cattle.
Perhaps there has never been a time when
the financial outcome has been harder to
forecast than the present. There is an old
maxim, That goods we'll bought we're half
sold" Those who practice this bit OF wis
dom are the ones who will come out ahead.
Many Of those who bought feeders up to
October intended to feed them about three
or four months and put them on the market
after the supply of grass beef is exhausted,
when they will probably find a favorable
market and bring good prices. Those who
bought feeders expecting to feed them
through until spring months have paid a
price that will require good management
to return a profit.
Big supply of Feeders.
The receipts Of cattle at six principal
western points last week were beyond
25O,o 900. II is fair to estimate that one-half
Of these we're feeders and that in the
months of August and September 1000, 900
head Of cattle went into feed yards. The
prospect is good for as many more to fol-
low, thus making 1900, 900 rangers that
Will be cornfed. This number added to the
farm-grown steers will give a heavy supply
of cornfed cattle next spring. 1t would be
a bold prophet indeed who should forecast
the price OF beef so far in advance, but
unless all laws Of supply and demand are
set at naught lower prices must prevail.
A cry is heard that the supply Of feeders
from out Of the range country is running
low. P. L. Decory, from South Dakota, who
was on the South Omaha market last week
with a trainload Of feeders, says the move
ment from his section Of country has hardly
begun and that the northern ranges are
still full of cattle, many of them steers to
8 years old. He says the reduced prices
that cattle brought last week still pay the
ranchmen we'll and that there is a good
profit for him in selling 3-year-old steers
for S25.
T. c. Philips OF Alliance, Neb., says that
there are still plenty of steers in north
western Nebraska, that winter feed is good,
that ranchmen are not disposed to sell their
S-year-olds at any lower prices, but rather
hold them until spring or early summer and
sell them for beef. He puts the price at 81
per hundred pounds and says a steer will
put on 200 pounds from now to spring.
c. L. Christian Of Klrtley, Wyo., SAYS the
bulk Of feeders are shipped from his sec
tion.
Price of Corn.
The two items entering into the cost Of
finished beef are the first cost of cattle
and the cost Of their feed. The Bee has
given some consideration to the cost Of the
cattle; the second item is the cost Of their
fond In -
feeders The Bee could not find one that had
made a price on new corn AS corn is
the main feed used in producing beef and
old corn is out OF the question as feed, so
the price of new corn will largely deter
mine the cost of making cornfed beef.
Merely a whisper has been heard Of 30
cents as the price and a rumor Of a
sale at ~ cents. But many we'll posted
men are Of the opinion that later
in the season sound corn cannot be bought
at these prices. Now, when everything
has settled down we hear reliable reports
from northern Iowa and Nebraska that
there is a large amount Of chaffy and soft
corn that must be fed to save 1t. It will
easy take two bushels OF this kind of corn
to do the work of one bushel Of sound corn
in fattening steers.
"A burnt child breads the fire." Thou
sands OF farmers will not part with their
corn at any price. They will have a
years crop on land at all times. Fully
20 per cent Of the corn crop will be
held as a permanent reserve in the
farmers cribs that are now empty. The
question Of the price and supply of corn
has an important bearing on the cost Of
making beef and it would be we'll to con-
slider what the corn to be fed in the spring
is going to cost. It would seem that there
will be no cheap corn then. These points
should be we'll considered when buying
feeders this fall. There will be a large
number Of cornfed steers that will come on
to the beef markets next spring and early
summer. The prices will be lower than the
price for the same grade of cattle are
now.
Price of FEEDERS.
With the prospect Of lower prices for
feeders and the good prospect for winter
feed on the range grass steers will COM
pete with cornfed steers. How we'll they
have done this the history of the beef mar
kets the last summer testify. When only
only half the usual supply of cornfed beef
was on the market the CRASHED steers
took their place with credit to themselves
and satisfaction to the consumer. With
careful buying and judicious feeding there
should be good money In the business Of
feeding cattle, but a mistake in either
would take all the profit and perhaps make
the profit come out on the wrong side of
the ledger.
The National Provisioner sizes up the
cattle situation as follows: Stockers and
feeders furnish the feature OF the cattle
market. They are being bought in very
large quantities, but at high prices for
such stock. This indicates that next years
market will be well supplied with finished