Gunnison news-champion., 1924-06-27

results Of the cattle sales held IN Iowa
last rall when 400 head of prime
steers and COWS were taken TO Marshal
town. Iowa by Is GGunlson county
stockmen and sold direct ~ auction 10
the corn belt farmer At a recent
meeting Of the Stock Growers Asso-
cia,ion here in GunnisOn. the secretary
was instructed 20 write TO the purchas-
ers and determine, II possible, the
success Of the experiment from the
feeders standpoint IL WIS felt that
il the Iowa farmers were satisfied
with results il would De much easier
10 dispose OF our high grade mountain
stuff by this method should another
shipment be decided upon iu October
or November of 1924.
From Frank b. Anderson, secretary
Of the association. New Champion Sc
cures copy Of the Iowa homestead.
published at De- NoIUcs, wherein
these result are detailed at consider
able length, and actual statements ard
photos secured from the farmers. So
far as can b. determined. the corn belt
feeders are highly pleased with their
purchase. feel that they made money
and are anxious To try the direct
salcs. cooperative method again.
Some Of these statements are reprint
ed herewith.
During the middle Of November last
year the Western Slope Stock Grow
erS' Association. the North Park Stock
Grower Association, the Gunnison
Cattle Grower Association, all of
Colorado, and the Laramie Cattle
Cattle Grower Association, Of Cen
tsnnial. Wyoming. shipped. in round
numbers. 5000 high-grade Shorthom
and Hereford calves, ycarlings and
two-year-old cattle into Iowa in hopes
Of finding an outlet for a portion of
their annual output,
The cattle were all sold at public
auctions held ai Creston, Atlantic,
Narshalltown and Cedar Rapids. They
found ready sale. Iowa farmers were
eager for the cattle and bought them
for les-eyerythIng considered-than
they could have purchased the same
cattle for had they been bought on
the Omaha or some other central mar
ket. At the same time the cattle rats
ers felt that they received better
price for their stock than they could
have obtained had they sold them on
a central market. II was case OF
cooperative cattle grower a Ssocia-
tions dealing directly with Iowa cattle
feeders and in 30 doing efecting a
saving to all concerned. There is no
reason why producers and finishers OF
cattle should not cooperate with each
other in this manner on a large scale
and thus save handling and shipping
charges.
Iowa cattle feeders will be inter
ested in knowing something about ne
outcome Of this cooperative deal Dld
the cattle do we'll? Did they prove To
be good doors in the feed LOTT And
did the feeders make any money on
the deal7 These are questions which
we will try 10 answer in the following
discussion Of the results obtained BY
a number of feeders in Marshall coun-
ty. who were visited and interviewed
q short time ago.
The cattle shipped to Marshalltown
were auctioned off on November 10,
1928. They were all high-grade Her
fords Of excellent quality and very
uniform in appearance. They were
the kind of cattle that experienced
feeders like to see in the feed lot.
They were a joy to the men who
bought them from the very day they
entered their feed lots. Some had been
sold at the time We visited the feeders
and some were still running in the
feed lots, while one bunch was on
pasture.
Garfield Wooten, of Union, purchas-
ed "a head Of these cattle at s4i.5o
per head. They were sold by the head
rather than by the pound. When the
steers arrived at Union, they weighed
SIT pounds. On that weight, there
fore the cost was sS.4l per hundred
weight The cattle were first turned
into new seeding clover where they
ran for about thirty days. On De-
cember 18th, Mr.. Wooten began feed.
ing shocked corn-all they cared to
eat. On January lst they were giver
some ear corn once 4 day in addition
to the shocked corn. Later on, when
the shocked corn was used up, a mix
ture of alsike and medium red clover
| hay was fed as roughage. By Febru.
airy 18th, the cattle were consuming &c
bushels of corn per day and what hay
they cared to eat. About the first Of
April small amount of oil meal
| tnree-IOurIhS OF u pOuIiu per Hedu pei
day-was added to the ration mention
ed.
Unfortunately, Mr.. Wooten did moi
keep a definite record of the feed con.
sumed by these cattle for the reason
that some 140 head of hogs ran in the
feed lots with them. They, of course
got their share of the corn. Half OF
these hogs were marketed during the
early part of May, while the Other
half We're left in the feed lot and were
ready for market when the cattle wers
sold. Mr.. Wooten, however, has fec
cattle for good many years anc
made the statement that these Colora.
do cattle were more uniform in size
and of better quality than any Other
cattle he had ever fed before. He
was exceedingly well satisfied with
them and figures that they made him
a fair profit. So well satisfied was he
with the cattle on the day of our visit
! that he was anxiously inquirine
whether some more of the same kind