Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-12-30
SYSTEM CHANGES
IN LAMB SALES
HALF FINISHED ANIMALS BRING BEST
PRICE AS FEEDERS SAVE
BUYER
Marketing Method of Montana
Growers Also Aids Purchaser, Declares
Wisconsin Man Who Annually Buys
Thousands of Lamb for Feed Lots

New practices in the raising and de-
veloping of lambs In northern Mon
tana Is becoming evident. according to
{. G. Biederman of Edgerton, Wis, a
feeder. who was In Montana recently
10 supervise the loading OF As cars of
lambs, the largest single shipment OF
the season.
Many sheepmen today. instead OF put
ting all their lambs on the market at
weaving time. are holding over some Of
the herd. putting Is or 30 more pounds
on them at a proportionately small adj
ditional cost N realizing as much as
50 per head more for them.
Mr.. Biederman has operated as a feed
err in Wisconsin for 20 years, shipping
lambs of Montana into his state for
feeders. finishing them off and then put
ting them on the market in Chicago. He
is very nue. in favor OF the new system
that is being evolved. as are all the Wis
consin feeders, he says.
Formerly, all lambs that farmers
wished to sell were taken up by the feed
ers in September or October" said Mr.
Biederman. Now. however, only a part
at that time of year and the remainder
is purchased at q later date.
This is a much more advantageous
system to both the grower and the buyer
Of feeders. 1t is also a better system from
the railroads point Of view, for it re-
lieves car congestion"
Buys $4,000 Lambs
Mr.. Biederman, through Phil Cole OF
Choteau, his Montana buyer, purchased
IS, 900 lambs between Sept. 40 and Oct
10 this year, shipping them to Edgerton
Wis, where they were finished off In
about 80 or 80 days and then put on the
market.
A price of IL cents per pound on the
hoof +. o. b. the cars was paid for the
last shipment, he said. representing
about $140, 900 to the growers.
The lambs that we are buying now
are bringing the growers about 50 pei
head more than those which we bought
in September and October at weaving
time" he said. 1T has cost the grower
but little to finish these lambs to theii
present state, known as half-finished, foI
in many instances they have been fec
waste stuff, such as sugar beet tops. The
grower has probably been put to some
additional work in bringing the lambs tc
this point. between 30 and 30 pounds
but he is receiving a bonus Of about 81 q
head for doing it.
Aids Wisconsin Feeders
This system Of marketing lambs In
September and then another bath in De-
cember, will be a great aid to the Wis
consin feeders. They can handle them
much more efficiently If the annual crop
can be strung out in this way"
Wisconsin feeders follow the same
practice as some Montana growers in fin
ishing off the lambs they buy, Mr.. Bed
erman said. There are many pea can
neries In the state and the feeders are
fed pea vines n screenings, a very
cheap feed, but one which proves a good
f1nisher.
Mr.. Biederman's latest batch of lambs
was loaded at three north Montana
points, Chinook, Cascade and Harlem.
North Montana lambs make very salts
factory feeders. If not the very best II
the northwest. he said. Their hide is
not heavy, the fleece is free Of burrs and
is of a good quality. They finish vel
and are in good demand On the markets