Show the livestock k situation m bail BY L A mcnaughton 4 constantly rising grain and liny hay prices are giving stockmen stoc kmen and dairymen some cause for concern even to tile the point of attempting to establish in theli their own icline inline whether or not feed prices will ft bo be so high as to prohibit opportunity for profit A few days da a ago it a largo large cattle and feeder was in ili my office and asked sonie some advice lie ile told me what ft hat lie he was bid for ills his hay and barley bailey and said that lie he knew lie ho would make ft a good profit it lie he sold ills his crops tit it present prices lie ile wondered it if he could mako W a profit it if lie he continued feeding eattle and hogs it has been the experience of most stockmen stoc kmen that the real profits in the ibe livestock business come when feed prices are aro high because livestock and dairy product prices are arc corre 1 4 pon high it seems to uio 11 11 that i af the in and outer in thellie the livestock business d doea acs neither himself nor tie industry any good but the man mail who carries on oil ills his feeding operations erat ions year inand in and year out Is the man mail whose average am ago profit carries can lea him through ili rough there is of course a temptation to sell feed but it Is well ft ell to keep in ili mind that it if you sou are going to put yourself out of tile the livestock business there la Is much to consider and the fact that livestock Is aliene thug mat flut ling has at all times been readily convertible into cash besides it furnishes constant employment tile the v very e raf fact that feed prices are high Is 14 proof that supplies of hay and grain are aie rather scarce by I 1 the same reasoning it proves that less livestock can bo be fed the livestock grower or feeder Is most interested in ili the margin between cost and selling price and abid it makes very little difference fiffe rence wh what atthe the cost Is inthe it alie selling price is sufficiently high io to afford a profitable working margin tile the law ladof of supply and demand is bound to work for it always lids lias worked la in the ilia past iti it la s not the intention of this writer to give advice but rather to present facts for what they are worth yet so many reaid readers have asked my opinion on tile the outlook for livestock prices that there seems seema to be fairclause fair cause tor me outsole out some of evolved from nil all statistics available we have a very decided reduction in numbers of hogs in ill this country and it 16 Is utterly impossible Imps sible for supplies to reach burdensome numbers for a matter of several years the con census of opinion throughout the trade Is may expect a satisfactory price condition in favor of the producer Prodder for some time to come government buying of cattle in drouth areas Is continuing at an enormous rate ate r and probably will continue for the balance of the year another thing I 1 to keep in mind is the big percentage of cows that are being cut out of the herds under present conditions certainly the greater percentage of the millions of cattle being purchased by the government are of beef hypo cype largely arop range areas this must mean that we are going tofate a period of years when supplies will be much smaller than during the past seve me ral years the consumer wants boot best and probably the price to be paid for beef will depend largely upon the ability of the consumers to buy frankly there are many close market observers who tear fear that prices will go too high for tho the good of the industry it jeems logical that high feed prices and high livestock prices should go dana band in hand As aa usual there will be a premi premium umon on the efficient feeder who by good practices and utilizing the best type and breeding available will stand a chance to make a profit I 1 doubt ifko have ever seen scon the wide vide margin that t exists today on tile the eastern markets between com coin mon and good cattle the poorer classes of cattle are becoming less each month and will eventually ventu ally pass out of trade channels which in itself will help tile tho price structure for the better beafter classes of cattle tills this process will eventually narrow the wide margin that now exists bc tween the common and good kinds hinds |