Show Letters etters to the Editor I Reader Tells Cattlemen's Cattlemen Woes With Federal Aid Programs Salt Lake City Utah May 27 1957 Times Independent Moab Utah Dear Sam and Fellow Readers For the past year I have traveled travel ed over Utah gathering cattle history his tory to write a book for the Utah State Cattlemen's Association Recently Recently Re Re- one of my acquaintances whom I considered to be a well well- informed business man remarked that the cattle business must surely surely sur ely have changed when the rugged rug ged individualist of a cowman asked for and took help from the government Had he been right he would have been oh ohl so right But Dut lets let's look at the facts That the cattleman did and do need help no one who has seen their ranges can deny A drouth isn't cured in one year no matter how much rain falls in that season sea son as I am sure some parts of Texas will agree right now It will take ten good years better years than any living cow man has ever seen to recruit the ranges and reestablish re reo establish the water level That Isn't within the power of man The government tried however to do something to save the cattle industry of the West setting up three different programs buyIng buying buy buy- buying ing hamburger supplemental feeding feed ing and loaning money to Mexico to buy surplus drouth cattle That's That what they said In the hamburger program the pa packers kers were allowed to go into the open market rn with no restrictions restrictions restrictions and buy cattle to kill and grind up for hamburger which the government bought for tor 34 cents a pound and stored Not only is the gov government stuck with several I I million pounds of hamburger to store but not one stockman sold solda I a cow tOW for tor any more than the pittance pittance pit pit- tance she would bring on the open market because of her thin con Hamburger was selling for foras as 36 cents a pound in the meat markets mar mar- at the time tune The supplemental feeding turned turned turn turn- ed into a real fial graft It was set up that If U a man bought hay he could be repaid a ton and some lOme of them were However the price of hay bay ra raised from 10 to 12 a ton overnight as soon as this thU bonus was announced Furthermore Furthermore Fur Fur- I it crystallized the situation sit situation sit sit- for fOt the speculators who had d contracted the hay bay for tor re sale No one up to that time tim knew exactly what the cattlemen catt eD were going to do and some of ot the hay speculators speculator were W getting uneasy Now if tf it looked lik like the government was at last a wart aware of the situation and was going to help the cowman hang on he would surely have to have that hay Feeders had already bought their hay and a lot lotof of them came in on the a ton for hay they bought for around 20 which they always bought anyway Range men even Jf if they got the a ton had to pay as much muchas as 30 in some cases for hay to save their breeding stock Then the grain grate those who fed grain could get it for tor off the market price this same grain that Is costing you and me mil mil- millions millions lions In tax money to store Grain however Isn't a range feed The program was Ineffectual for tor cattlemen cat I because they couldn't use it to any great extent But Out the Mexican drought cattle buying with our money there was the pay To date dare they have bought only young registered reg stuff she-stuff of dairy breeds with one bull I believe And they didn't buy those Holsteins off orf the open range Ill I'll tell you When someone said But the Mexican needs dairy stock it was al almost almost al al- most too much I suppose In the Final analysis all these programs helped someone turn a profit but make no mistake about it It it was not the cattlemen Now there is some talk of paying pay ing cattlemen not to run cows something on the soil soU bank setup Already the situation Is moving out of hand because it is s proposed proposed pro pro- posed to pay on oa deeded land These run their livestock livestock livestock live live- stock on an P MIc 1111 Domain and on wi withe the National Forests paying about as much grazing fee tee as the traffic I fic tic will bear In the case of forest permits men who have made their living from their cattle have been so severely restricted with as high as 50 per cent in their permits cut that after niter a life lite time of becoming becoming be be- I coming trained cattlemen they find they are not allowed to run enough livestock to make a liv live ing tog Too there is some talk that the bill which the stockmen managed man mane aged to get through the State Legislature this past term tenn based I Ion on the same kind of program that I Ithe the sheep shee-p and poultry industries I I have carried on for tor some years will wiil be declared unconstitutional When they want to voluntarily contribute Q 10 cents a head heid for beet beef sates sales promotional program to Improve their markets market it is against the law Articles Article are carried in livestock magazines magazine about these matters I but the general genera public needs need to 1 know mow about them and you can ear ar this same story from any cowman you ask Sincerely yours PEARL BIDDLECOME BAKER n |