OCR Text |
Show iLivestock: BSit u ationj The dairy cattle industry throughout through-out the country is facing an acute crisis as a result of an apparent overproduction. over-production. Cold storage holdings of butter on January 1 totaled 81,-837,000 81,-837,000 pounds, as compared with only 43,783,000 a year previous. Butter But-ter prices have dropped, sharply during dur-ing recent weeks until prevailing prices are considerably -under cost s of production, according to creamery authorities. Not only is the producer taking a severe loss on his present butterfat output but it appears that the creameries are in a very hazardous hazard-ous position. The decline in Imtturfat prices hs been brought about largely by overproduction over-production and, it is said, particularly by over-production -of fluid milk in herds adjacent to the large consuming consum-ing centers. Surplu s milk has been amg into the creameries for butter! manufacture American dairjmen have had increased competition .from' foreign, sources and of course, various var-ious oil and animal : fat substitutes for butter have prov ;n serious competition. com-petition. It looks as thou.g h the hog will1 offer of-fer the dairyman iche best and most profitable means to dispose of his surplus milk. Millk is a great hog feed and, with supplies of hogs in the entire western country at a low e bb, it would appear good business for the dairyman to invite the lowly porker pork-er to aid in the present predicament. With a thick snow blanket covering in the intermountain country and the Rocky Mountain districts, and "heavy soaking rainfall over the' remainder of the Pacific Coast, stockmen are looking forward to good feed for the spring and summer season. Sheepmen Sheep-men in Utah and Nevada were facing fac-ing extremely dry weather and the snow came just in time to provide water. Of course, hay supplies will have to be drawn upon in the colder districts of the northwest ad extremely extreme-ly low temperatures may cause some death losses, yet the snow covering in the long run will prove of enormous benefit to the cowman and the sheepman. sheep-man. There is a good demand for purebred pure-bred bulls of good quality and breeding. breed-ing. This was evidenced at the recent re-cent Ogden Live Stock show when the top Hereford bull sold for $1,000 and the entire consignment of bulls averaged more than $400 per head. Cow'men have received good prices for their young stock, particularly if of good breeding, and they feel that they can well afford to once more purchase good breeding bulls at fair prices. Private reports received by the writer from the intermountain country coun-try and from California indicate that there continues to be a gradual in-j in-j crease in hog production in the territory ter-ritory wich ordinarily ships to the I Los Angeles marked. Ten cent hogs on the Los Angeles market mean pro-i pro-i f itable returns to the general run of bog feeders and the fact that the J'anuary market has generally aver-aTod aver-aTod higher than the late fall market is regarded as a very gratifying sign. Low prices for butterfat may also tend to stimulate interest in hog feeding feed-ing is a dairy cattle sideline. As evidence of the enormous demand de-mand for pork products in Southern California, it is interesting to know that the 1929 slaughter of hogs in Los A.ngeles County totaled 732,535 by far the largest number ever ilaughtojvd in that section in one year, an.d an increase of nearly a half million over 1920. |