Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-01-15
Why Cost of Butter is
[- High ca
High

Salt Lake City, Utah. Jan. 1s, 1910
To The Deserct News.
Dear Sirs:
VIII you kindly publish this let
ter containing few ideas on the pres
ent price of butter, also other articles
and conditions.
The creamerles in this state, are
generally buying cream from the
farmers based on the Salt Lake City
market. When the market goes up.
the price goes up to the farmer When
the market goes down, the price goes
down to the farmer. My company has
made it practise TO publish the
price that we pay for butterfat in the
Semi-Weclsly Deseret News. Anybody
interested In the subject can find our
quotation on butterfat in this paper
every week in the year. The price
Paiu is the same to everybody in
Utah and Idaho. AT the present time
we are paying IS cents per pound for
putterfat delivered to Salt Lake City
or Pocatello, Idaho.
In arriving at the price which but
are guided largely by what is being
PAID or what must be paid for. but
tertat to the farmers, The high prices
OF teed have been the cause of a good
many farmers letting their cows go
dry this winter. and the production
OF Dutter is at least IS per cent less
In the Inter-Mountain region than it
was one year ago; so it becomes neces-
sary to pay price that Will keep the
aro inf sx.
must also be stated that on account
of the long cold winter a great deal
OF Iced Is being fed to range cattle
ana sheep in order to keep them alive
until spring. The question of cost of
the feed is not generally considered
when 1t comes to keeping the live
stock from starvation
The recent advance in butter. and
the advance in butterfat to the farmer
was caused by these conditions and
also by the high prices prevailing for
butter In Butte. Montana. Seattle and
spokane, Washington and Portland.
oregon. Butterfat advanced to 3S
cents In Idaho and northern Utah
before the Utah crcameries and
butter dealers saw flt to advance the
market In Salt Lake City in order to
hoid their shippers and in order to keep
up the make of butter. The price paid
Tor cream and butterfat is largely a
competitive condition and we are af
fected by the large cities north and
west of us who are buyers In our state.
when our prices Will permit them to do
SO, This competitive condition affects
Idaho and northern Utah.
1t can perhaps be said, that the State
OF Utah south of Salt Lake City is not
affected by this outside competition.
but Is 1t fair to expect that the farmer
living south of Salt Lake should be
paid less for his cream than the farmer
living north of Salt Lake City: and Is
1t FAIR to argue that the cream producer
In Utah should be paid less for his prod
uct than the cream producer receives
In Idaho. In order that butter might be
sold on the Salt Lake market at a lower
price than 1t is sold at In other largo
cities? don't believe any of your read
ers Will recommend or consider that
the farmers In Utah should be paid
less than their product Is worth. The
creamery man is not the Judge, nor is
he the active factor in establishing the
butter market. Same Is being estaJb-
lished in the large butter markets OF
New York, Chicago. Elgin. Illinois, and
these markets must and do govern the
butter markets of the country as a
whole
The consumer In Salt Lake Is not
paying excessive prices In comparison
with other markets. We can take it for
granted that such towns as Kansas
City. Missouri and Topeka, Kan, locat-
ed in the Missouri River valley, where
there Is heavy over-production of
butter, enjoy comparatively the lowest
prices on butter of any part of the
United States, and ] have made some
comparisons. I find that the retail price
OF butter In Salt Lake City during the
year 1909 averaged 3]z cents per pound