Show ays yys ae live livestock stock situation lo 10 I 1 it is doubtful it if there ever has been a more optimistic feeling in the cattle situation generally than prevails at this time an actual shortage of 0 cattle Is claimed by some in the trade others are ot of the opinion that as a matter of 0 fact there are not enough cattle in the country to prove burden burdensome isome yet there may be nothing about the situation to warrant extremely high prices or talk of 0 anything that might be termed an extreme beet beef shortage during the war period when tor for patriotic reasons and under influence ot of high prices an oversupply was created the crash which followed as a result of a lower market ruined many good cattlemen and some in and outers bouters since that time and up until the past year or so deflation was in progress until 1926 most ot of the liquidation of catle was forced because of financial pressure and because of lack of sufficient teed feed personally it seems seema to me that in 1926 and early la in 1927 the movement ot of cattle to market had much the appearance of a cleanup clean up of undesirable cattle the result at least is that at the present time western ranges are pretty well cleaned up of old worn out breeding stock and aged steers the ranges are carrying barely enough cattle to produce enough young stock to move readily at the markets and the ranges are re seeding and better feed conditions are developing aided by good arins night at this time the cattle situation as tar far as the western producer Is concerned is almost ideal there is a ready market tor for everything that cna be produced above actual replacement needs perhaps not at high prices but certainly at satisfactory and profitable prices september receipts at the 67 public livestock markets in the U S as shown by the department ot of agri culture are 17 percent fewer than for the tha 5 year average likewise the slaughter of cattle at those points is 16 percent smaller than a year ago and 10 percent smaller than tor for the 5 year average stocker and feeder movements to the country show a decline of 22 percent from a year go anda 27 percent decrease from the 5 year average despite these figures tor for the country as a whole it Is interesting to note that the slaughter of camite at los angeles the principal jacking center of the pacific coast are actually larger than a year previous for tho the first nine months of 1927 the los angeles slaughter of catle totaled cattle as compared with cattle during the tha corresponding period of 1936 1926 from these contrasting figures the principal lesson which might be gathered la Is that the consumer demand on the pacific coast Is steadily increasing in tho the face ot of admittedly smaller cattle population in the a whole the cattle population in california falls to show a proportionate decrease a slight blight increase being noted as a matter of tact fact thus it may be gathered that supply and demand have had bad a great deal to do with re gulting the cattle population there has been no pressing need of cutting down cattle supplies in california be causes the human population has increased more rapidly than the cattle population but the cattle population Is now well balanced ln in ratio to the market requirements in most sections of the country the best minds in the trade see no reason tor for any rapid expansion of the cattle supply but rather feel that the natural output of beet beef breeding herds will provide all necessary requirements and at satisfactory tory profits to industry F |