The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-07-09
INCREASE IN
BEEF OUTPUT
IS EXPECTED
In the Far West but the Cost of
Production Will Increase,
Say Experts.

WASHINGTON. July s. That
hereafter there should be slow in
crease in tho output Of beef and NUT
ton in the range states Of the West,
but that this increase Is likely to be
accompanied by an increase In the
cost Of production, are the chief con-
illusions Of a report on Live Stock
Production In the Eleven Far West
ern Range States" which the depart
ment of agriculture has Just publish
ed. This report is one Of the five sec
lions Of the exhaustive report on the
meat situation In the United States,
In the preparation Of which the de-
partment specialists have been en-
gagged for some time. 1t discusses
the reasons for the long decline in
meat production in the West and ex-
plains why there is reason to believe
that this is now a thing Of the past.
In addition 1t includes detailed stu
dies Of the present cost Of producing
steers and lambs
Numbers Decline.
Between 1910 and 1914, the year
in which the investigations on which
the report is based were made. the
numbers Of live stock in the eleven
states of Arizona, California, Colo
RADIO. Idaho, Montana, Nevada. New
Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington
and Wyoming declined about thir-
teen per cent For this decline the
report holds the settlement of public
lands and the consequent reduction
Of the range primarily responsible.
A number of other causes have con-
tributed to the downward movement,
but It is pointed out these have been
more than Offset by high prices and
therefore more profitable range ami
mails, and the general agricultural
development which have favored pro-
duCtion by leading to more wide
spread adoption of the practice Of
winter feeding and winter pasturing
on alfalfa and cultivated crops.
The prediction that this decrease
hereafter will give way to an in
crease is based upon the belief that
the amount of live stock on farms
and homesteads will be greater in
the future, that the stock ranges in
the national forests will continue to
improve, that the carrying capacity
OF the stock ranges on the public
domain may be increased by legal
regulation, and finally that high
prices Of range animals and better
methods will result in a more efIl-
cient utilization OF the available for
age. or, in other words, a greater
production per unit OF forage.
In 1914 it was estimated that no
more than thirty per cent of the new
settlers had more live stock than was
necessary to supply them with work
and mich animals. The situation in
this respect, however, was changing
even then, and the movement for the
production Of more live stock may be
expected to continue because both
market and agricultural conditions
make this indispensable to really sue
cessful farming. The change will be
gradual, it Is said and only a few
head of stock will be added to a farm.
but ultimately and in the aggregate
the increase will be greater than that
which is likely to be accomplished in
any other way. The problem for the
states and the national government, it
is said, is to aid in the change by work.
ing out system which will make
such agriculture profitable,
Can be Enlarged.
In addition to this increase in the
numbers Of farm stock, there is little
doubt that the carrying capacity Of
the existing ranges can be greatly en-
larged. This has been demonstrated