The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1920-08-17
|clTTLE RANGES ARE
FAST DISAPPEARING
.-,,,TIS NOW RAISED ON FOR.
W." ,rp GRAZING GROUNDS IN
THE MIDDLE WEST.
HERDS GROWING SMALL
OIL, PROPHETS Fear Steak May
,,n 70 81 a Pound. Many Ranges
wtbout Cattle and Feeders Are
Uniting Operations.

s,.tr, is admittedly in a bad way.
~. more than year the average
:.on has been losing money. The
t t@ are being diminished. More beef
.or+ 10 market direct from the
,oss corn being too costly for fatten-
mo- at the present live stock quota
,:s.s which means more waste and
less meat per head.
Mare land over which the cattle
canned is being turned into wheat, and
.L;s also adds to the depopulation OF
,n,orica,s herds. But in the butcher
.hors If the hamlets and villages, the
,,,aIIar cities and the great centers
tho consumer finds Old Doc High Cost
hos as strong a clutch as ever. Out
horo IN REGIONS where the raw MAJ =
d is raised the traveller finds the Z VT
If 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
reduction of the herds continues at the
present rate steak may jump to W
cents or 81 a pound within year.
Tbev NAV prove wrong or they may
prove right, but in any event the cat
lie question is one of deep concern. At
every stop this tour has made in SIX
states the farmers have talked with
emphasis.
Everywhere evidence was presented
that feeders are quitting operations in
sheer discouragment.
During the last year after buying
cattle from the grass, then feeding
them corn at $3.50 to $3.50 and up
wards a bushel, they have sent their
stock to market only to receive for
the finished product far less than 1t
cost them.
Grain More Profitable.
In Nebraska the state authorities
say hundreds of men are sending cat
tie to market direct from pasture be-
cause feeders will not buy. Out IN the
great cattle region west of Grand Is
land a great falling off in herds Is re-
ported. The growers have found 1t
vastly more profitable to raise grain,
and there cattle have dwindled.
Near Fremont, where a few years
ago there were five large feeders put
ting more porterhouse and sirloin on
animals from the ranges, now only one
is doing business, and not much at
that.
In Kansas one-fourth of the pastures
this year are without herds, so the
state live stock association at Topeka
reported a few days ago. The farm
ers are disposing of their stock so
rapidly that in the first six months
Of this year 16 per cent more calves
were shipped to market than in the
same period in 1919. AS to the old
time Kansas prime four year old
steers scarcity is reported.
Market Them Light.
They are marketing them light these
days at or years old. The associ-
atoms experts say that last year the
average market weight of steers at
Kansas City slumped 100 pounds,
meaning greater percentage OF
waste and a smaller proportion OF
beef.
The Dakota rangers, too, report de-
pleted herds. Some raisers say they
nave lost money on cattle fed even on
cheap pasture land, when the labor
costs are figured in.
Everywhere on the trip stories of
losses have been retailed to the tour
ISIS. At first they appeared to be
mighty exaggerated, but after hearing
me same type of complaint for 1,200
miles, one takes a different view. Here
are few random instances:
Farmers Report Loss.
At Monmouth a 1000 acre farmer
sad ne had prime herd on which
MS loss amounts to more than 500 per
head
At Chillicothe, Mo-, three farmers
SAD their losses during the year were
between 500 and $125 a head and
mat some raisers had Jared even
worse. At Topeka a state official in
al seriousness reported one case where
= raiser had sold bunch on which his
iOSs mad run to $185 per head.
Al Fremont, Nep., a former con-
eretSSman, in close touch with farmers,
Siald losses of $3.50 to $3.50 per head
s "a not been at all uncommon during
me last year.
one comment is heard in every viii
, ~ The only difference is in the
"VrdS, but the tune runs like this:
No. l bought a bit of meat and the
TTuvc3er charged me 60 cents a pound.
"a; asked him what my cattle would
n T1ihg and he said about to 10 cents.
n nney dress one-half, which would make
Vrgat on the hoof worth 20 cents.
mere sa does the other 40 cents go?"
T.. Al the way from Galesburg to Sioux
s. Gus the tourists have heard that
'V sy', with variations as to figures.
and AND usually on top of it comes
o coallAent from the farmer as to CO.
i5 Sg's al marketing. They are talk
~ mat much more than the league