The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-09-09

Sioux Falls.-The cattle industry 10
admittedly in a bad way. For more
than year the average raiser has
been losing money The herds are be-
ing diminished More beef is sent to
market direct from the grass, corn be-
Ing too costly for fattening at the pres.
ent live stock quotations, which means
more waste and less meat per head.
More land over which the cattle
roamed is being turned into wheat and
this also adds to the depopulation of
Americas herds. But in the butcher
shops Of the hamlets and villages, the
smaller cities and the great centers.
the consumer finds Old Doc High Cost
has as strong a clutch as ever. Out
here in regions where the raw ma
terial is raised the traveller finds the
price of beefsteak and pork chops over
the counter is as much problem for
the family budget as it Is in the big
cities.
Cattle Question Important
Some gloomy prophets say If the re-
duction of the herds continues at the
present rate steak may jump to 90
cents or 81 n pound within a year
They may prove wrong or they may
prove right, but in any event the cat
tie question is one of deep concern.
At every stop that has been made
in six states, the farmers have talked
with emphasis.
Everywhere evidence was presented
that feeders are quitting operations
in sheer Encouragement.
During the last year after buying
cattle from the grass, then feeding
them corn Mt $50 to $50 and up
ward a bushel, they have sent their
stock to market, only to receive for the
finished product far less than it cost
them.
In Nebraska the state authorities say
! hundreds Of men are sending cattle
10 market direct from pasture because
feeders will not buy.
In Kansas one-fourth of the pas
lures this year are without herds, so
the state live stock association at To-
peka reported a few days ago.
aaTey are marketIng them llghtstheso
4 days at . or years old. The associa
/ TONS experts say that last year the
average market weight Of steers at
Kansas City sIumped 100 pounds,
meaning 4 greater percentage of waste
and a smaller proportion Of beef.
Everywhere on the trip stories Of
losses have been retailed TO the tour
lists. At first they appeared to be high
ly exaggerated, but after hearing the
same type Of complaint for LOO miles,
one takes a different view. Here are
few random instances;
Farmer Reports Loss.
At Monmouth a 1000 acre farmer
said he had a prime herd on which
his loss amounts to more than 500
per head.
At Chillicothe Mo, three farmers
said their losses during the year ran
between 500 and 1926 head and that
some raisers had Jared even worse
At Topeka a state official in all seri-
business reported one case where a
raiser had sold bunch on which his
loss had run TO S1S5 per head.
At Fremont, Neb., former con
gresham, in close touch with farmers
said losses of $3.50 to $50 per head
had not been at all uncommon during
the last year.
One con~nent is heard in every VII
Iage The only difference is in tht
words, but the tune runs like this:
81 bought bit of meat and the
butcher charged me GO cents a pound
l asked him what my cattle woult
bring and he said about to 10 cents
They dress onehaf which would make
meat on the hoof worth 90 cents
Where does the other 40 cents go|-
Arthur NJ. Evans in Chicago Tribune.