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Show Material Increase in Wool Growing Industry i Due to Advanced Price drAncc Is 100 Per Cent; Lateness of Season Causes Decrease of 30 Per Cent in Lambing; Operating Costs Double in Year, Tfl K great rornns.-rt iri IV, a turn in tlin wool growing iii'lnstry luring lur-ing the pa.-t your, making up in si mcjtMiir fov 1, 1 1 r h::ivy losses r-f I f ) wiim t ho mi at rriii I inrrftso in thr I'um.iiiTrin I ji I ue ot wool rnl hirriliH. Thr: yvnv opciifii with wool NflliriK nraiiiiil Mi) cents a pound, finally ht:lliii up l (i" ' o a t ;i pournl tor tin; hr-t flipH, Ihn tup ot the market hiin -v;t'r.f in July. Owin to tin'-, lati-ni'ss of the flrason, tfm laml-in;; period vas short, ami the ini-rcii.-.c win J';.r Udow normal, avur-ii'intf avur-ii'intf from (" t ."in per emt, rornprinvd wil.ii 0 per i'i'i)t as a niinimiiin under (''rii mid norma I wn-i.thrr rondirions. ' 1'iin ti the hrn y inms-usi.' in the coat ! of supplier, higher w iicn ilue to soarc- it v of labor and other f ontinrncirs, 1 ilio c.ortt ol running sheep in Utah was alinn.-tf. double during 1117 that it was in HNI. Iuriiitf tin- very o.ohi period of (ant winter ni.iiiy id tho f lorUniasters pit id an hij'li us $50 a ton for hay. Outlook hf Bright. Thr onlfook for the coining spring is ! ;irtk'iil;irly bright and the, bht-cp iun jnd irijJito an hx! ru larj;o crop of lnrnhH and a hruvy wool dip pxcrpt i" iho extreme, .southern part ot: the state, j whrrn the f.-ill months were unusually l dry itnri the ranijei si re poor. I The opinion is expressed by C B. j St e art , secret ury of the Utah State 1 W ool I ( rowers ' assin'in tion anil ehair-m ehair-m m ii of the stitte livestock commission, rliat tho detrimental effect of the eat-no eat-no lamlj c:upain, ina-iiRurated by the federal foot." adniinistralor, wUl ho felt t throughout Mu: I'nited States before mil ii y months and will be reflected in i an ononiiouK di'erense in flocks. In-I In-I stead of conserving, lr. SJewart de-. de-. e.tnroH, tho profaanda will have the opposite effect, in reducing the number num-ber of sheep on he ranges. Reduces Public .Range. : The floe km asters of Utah also are vitally interested in the working of the (-ilO-acre homeviead net, which, it is declined, de-clined, will riLitez-ially reduce tho ex-. ex-. lent of the public: nuipe. .It is urged iliar unless the sbtvp industry is to be driven out of the tuto completely, the I federal govern men t nuinf. take an in-: in-: t crest in the preservation of summer i mid wiutei: ranges and provide for the i maintenance of open trails from the mi miner to winter ranges, to corrals and to shipping points. There are in Utah today approxi- mutely 1,500,000 sheep, a decrease of ; about 23 per cent from t.lie previous ' year, due largely to the backward priii- and the consequent heavy loss of lambs, together with tho depreda-. depreda-. rions bv predatory wild animals, sta-. sta-. list ics showing that the latter loss J amounts to approximately 500,000 ! ,I:cep annually. I In an effort to eradicate predatory : animals the state and federal anthor- ities have been co-operating for years. ' "With an annual appropriation of $25,-000 $25,-000 the state livestock commission is now maintaining a force of about sixty trappers in the field. Scouring Plant. One of the bright spots on the hori-, hori-, ;-.on for the flockinaster is believed to i be an early materialisation of tho prop-i prop-i os it ion of building and operating a ! wool scouring plant in Salt Lake, which ' has been the dream of some of the sheep men for many years. It is be-, be-, lie ed that such a plant will be in op- eiation in time to treat the sprbig clip of wool. Operated along proper lines, it is es-imated es-imated that a wool scouring plant will , uable the wool grower, through dim-I dim-I Vint ion of commissions paid to the jobbers, freight and' other charges, to i realise from o to lo cents more a j pound for their wool than is now pos-i pos-i sible by shipping the wool to eastern points m the grease. .1. L. Halman, representing large ea stern capitalists, has spent considerable consider-able time in Ttah during the past year, presenting tho proposition to the- sheep men. The. Commercial club did miR'h t oward bringing the proposition to a locus, and Boston capitalists finally have consented to put- up and equip the plant, and the wool growers of the state have given it support by guaranteeing guaran-teeing sufficient wool to keep it in operation op-eration during the wool season. One of the greatest hindrances to the establishment of a wool scouring plant in the west, which existed for vears. but which finally has been elim-, inated. has been that of freight rates., The railroads, it is understood, have now ghen the wool growers a through i rate on wool hi the grease from the dipping point to Salt Lake, and from Salt 1-ake to the eastern wool markets ; on scoured wool, thus removing the last ; obstacle. I ! Saves Much Freight. Ctah produces annually between j ' 1 1. 000.000 and lo00l,0'Ht pounds of wool in the grease. On this a shrink- ' ' age of from fiO to 73 per cent must be ' estimated in the scouring. On this i enormous amount of dirt in the wool as , ;' it is taken from the sheeps' backs the I growers have been paying an average! of 1 cent a pound freight lo the east-I east-I era commission houses. X decrease in receipts of sheep and ! lambs of approximately 1.. "00. 000 head i in compared with the previous yea r. at t he seven principal western , markets, Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, St. Ivouis. St. Joseph. Sioux City and . St. Paul, tells the story of depleted flocks and a lamb crop that was even shorter than was expected. This decrease de-crease was dee to a considerable extent ex-tent to liquidation during recent years, but the poor lamb crop wa-s principally responsible. Poring the past year prices rule high, but a a general condition the. dressed mutton trade was anything but heaithv. Lambs came from the range in poor condition, and as the finishing ! ope rat ion in recent years had proved profitable, feeders ignored the fat mar-; mar-; Kft and set the pace in making prices. 1 hus creating an abnormal, if not an ) ogcthcr unhealthy, condition. It was j .ear of live conservation, the de-i de-i d for breeding stock being as i hy as that, for the feeding grades. -al Market. i Wi siiol western ewe soared to a 1 would have been considered j i,r'rir f;it iambs a few years I ul.cn trV",fi.ral'tl'e' market for ' ,r ft ft dirt10'- Kxploitation of ' ' y cainjt'ftigu by vis ionaries had some effect on prices, but demand for breeding stuck was normal and prices legitimate when the producing produc-ing c a pacit y of a t: wo rcidvi ng cure under the present price conditions is ta ken into con s id era t ion. Sow high price ma ike' h were tot up eadi month and it is probable that some of tiierii will remain permanently. Colorado feeders scored the third successful season and tho winter crop was marketed everywhere at substantial substan-tial profit despite the advancing cost of feed, expense incident to finishing being I ho highest in trade history. The sou t hern crop of lambs was short and fewer nativo lambs were available than ever before. -Nativo ewe Iambs were carefully conserved. Breeders took a larg share of the western finale stock ami as a consequence the mature sheep trade was maintained at a high level. Range of Prices. The western movement began late, owiug to a backward season. Omaha received Idaho lambs late in June, but none appeared in the Chicago market until the second -week in July. The initial sale of western lambs at Omaha was made at $1S.40, but by the first week in July the top price had been marked down to $15. 75, the market developing de-veloping an extremely erratic tendency at the inception of the season. July found most, of the fat western lambs selling at $15. -o and $15.75, with $15. So the very top. Feeders were quoted at $15 and $15.50. Prior to this year $11.80 was the July top figure on Idaho grass lambs, that price having been puid in 19 Hi. In 1915 the early western season top was $9.75; in 1914, $9.35, and in 191H, $7.25. A heavy feeder end was carried by the western run at the outset, but grass was plentiful in the corn belt, and instead of being a detriment it proved a boon, as feeders went to it greedily, forcing packers to pay much higher ' prices than would have been possible had the bulk been fit for the butcher. Omaha made a high market for feeders that prevented much of the. thin end of the crop from passing tho Missouri river. iowa was the big buyer. Injures Market. The eat-no-lamb agitation, bearing j approval of the food administrator, j gave the market a slap in the face : I while early western lambs were mov- : jing, according to largo producers, cans-j 1 ing a $".25 to $2.50 slump late in January Jan-uary and heralding the vicissitude to which the market was subjected all through the range season. August witnessed a swelling movement, move-ment, the meager July run of westerns being trebled. Further declines reflected re-flected a continuance of restricted consumptive con-sumptive demand, but as tho "mouth worked along a healthy reaction occurred oc-curred and the closing August prices were $2.50 per hundred higher on lambs and $1.25 higher on sheep than the early low prices. The average price for the month for fat lambs was $15.50, or $-1.50 per hundredweight hun-dredweight above the August average for 191(3. Tho sheep average was $9.75, or $2.-10 above the August price of "1916. California lambs scored the $17.75 top, and Washington and Nevada Ne-vada $17, while $15 took much of the western stock early, in the month. Idaho yearlings, with weight, reached $11.15 and Washington yearlings sold as high as $13. A few range wethers were sold at $12.50 and small lots of western ewes around $11. Feeder yearlings year-lings reached $13, feeder wethers $10.25 and ewes $9. California feeding lambs were taken out as high as $17.65 and breeders paid as much as $17.35 for western ewe lambs. Heavy Movement. September developed an enormous volume of feeder ami breeder trade, a heavv movement of western stuff making mak-ing it possible. TIeeord breaking was of daily occurrence. Fat lambs made a net gain of 25 cents during the month, but. closed at 50 to 75 cents under un-der the September high. Sheep values were marked up 25 and 50 cents. The average price of fat lambs for the month was $17.50, or 50 cents abo.ve the previous one-month record in May, and $6.90 above the average for September, Sep-tember, 1916. Fat sheep averaged $11.15, or $1.40 higher than August, and $3.35 above September, 1916. Kan go ewes went to the packers as high as $11.75 and Oregon wethers .crossed the $12 line. Kange yearlings went to slaughter as high as $1.4.50 and an $18 top was made by Nevada lambs, other range lambs reaching $13.30. Feeding lambs gained 35 to 50 cents during the month, and feeding and breed iu g sheep advanced from $1 to $2. Feeding lambs reached a. top price of $1 8.40. the bulk selling at $17.50 to SIS. many reaching $is!25 at the high time. Feeding wethers sold up to $12. feeding yearlings to $13.75 and feeding ewes to $10. Many full-mouthed full-mouthed western ewes were ta"ken by breeders at from 12 to $14, while western west-ern ewe lambs found an outlet as high as $$.60. Yearlings Advance. Sheep and yearlings advanced 25 to 75 cents during October and lambs reacted re-acted to the level of the September high price. Breeding ewes were not available in required numbers, and orders or-ders for thousands remained unfilled. The country bought such stock greedily, greed-ily, paying from $13.50 to $14 per hundredweight, hun-dredweight, and a record of $20 was made on Washington yearling ewes. Packers bought fat western ewes as high as $11.90 and paid up to $12.75 for western wethers. Feeding vearlings made a new record at $14.25. Montana and Idaho lambs went to killers at $l?.5.i and feeders reached as high as $1S. 50. The bulk of the feeding lambs ; sold at from $17.50 to $1S.40, killers : topping at $1.23 for fat lambs at a1 rime when feeders were paying $1S.50. i The latter part- of October witnessed ! a sharp slump, breeding ewes and stroug weight feeders losing most heavily. heav-ily. Late in the month $17.50 was the limit on light feeding lambs, $16.50 taking the heavy stuff. The top price paid by ihe packers at the close of the I month was $16.90, and the limit on fat ewes was $11.25. Aged breeding ewes closed the mrtVhiVuV-Th a decline of $2. November travel'at'L' Jls ',fl l'yc' ceding rco' ect m;r irado came and went alt.' tSiublished'''m,I1rv ;if1'1-"vre., ;if1'1-"vre., v"' and show-v h'-.- slumped, western lambs dropping to $16. When money again became available avail-able the market was restored to a $17 and $17.50 basis. Choice fat lambs opened in November at from $16 to $16.50, a lot of "comeback"' western stuff that had been running in corn fields beiug unloaded short of flesh. Sheep Became Scarce. Sheep became scarce and entered a class by themselves. By the middle of the month feeding lambs had advanced $1, Omaha sending them out at $18 or better. Fat lambs advanced in sympathy. sym-pathy. Toward the close of the month unevenness, with wild fluctuations, developed, de-veloped, lambs that looked exactly aliko selling a dollar apart. The hign spot on lambs for the month was $17.25, from which there was a break of 75 cents. The market recovered to $16.90 on tho close, finishing on a $17 and $17.50 basis. Closing prices were 35 and 50 cents lower than at the end of October on lambs, but $4 and $4.25 higher than at the corresponding time last year. The finish was 15 and 25 cents under the high figure. Sheep fluctuated within a narrow rnnge. The average price of lambs for the month was $10.75, or 65 cents below be-low October, but $5.35 higlrer than for November, 1916. Sheep averaged $11.25. or 40 cents lower than October, 1916, but $3.25 higher than November,! 1916. Yearlings averaged $13.75, or $4.10 higher than the previous year. During November a lot of western lambs which had been running in com fields returned to the market, selling at 75 cents to $1 per hundredweight lower than when taken out, but where they made substantial gains there was actual profit in the transaction, owing to the price paid for the gain. This explains why feeders have been able to pay from $17 to $1S per hundredweight hundred-weight for western lambs and market ; them finished at a lower price without : losing money. 1917 Unique Year. In a trade sense the year 1917 was unique in many respects. Prices ruled abnormally high because of scarcity, for which the light lamb crop was largely responsible. Feeders and not j packers directed the course of the j market the greater part of the time, i as far as prices were concerned, and had it not been for irrational and artificial arti-ficial interference with consumption by self-styled conservationists, it is maintained main-tained by the growers, consumption of lamb would have been on a much larger scale. A revival of interest in heep husbandry hus-bandry was responsible for an unprecedented unprece-dented market for all kinds of breeding stock at a range of from 10 to $20 per bund red w ei gh t . The annual convention of the Utah State Wool Growers' association will j be held in this city, at the Hotel j Utah, January 15 and 16, a few" days j prior to the annual convention of the ; National Wool Growers' association.) The officers of the I'tah organization f are John W. Thorniey. president; John i S-T. Seely. vice president, and C. B. j Stewart, secretary. The directors are George Austin, Wilford Day, W. 1. Onndland, W. A. Crane. A. James Aagard. C M. Stillman. Richard done?.: Svl ve;v;, Pro;-d hey t, Thomas Sew, J. t iTV '.:: ni' ifla.-,i -n'l.-.ng. J. C .1.1 -ai'cs. tu fi' rely- Smith. ' - John n,- |
