Show market cattle early Is advice of range specialists market range cattle early this Is the advice of range specialists of the I 1 U S department of agriculture and loading leading western stockmen stoc kmen who are advocating a program of marketing soon and liberally in the interests of maximum beef supplies to meet war needs and also for the good of tin the range and future production early marketing of animals in good condition according to range men of the departments forest service will 1 provide increased beef supplies urgently needed now 2 save range forage and feed needed for breeding herds 3 protect future range production by avoiding damage from too heavy grazing in wartime says the forest service when maximum alv livestock stock production Is needed there Is a temptation to place more animals on the range ranga and to hold marketable animals there too long in the hope of further weight gains maximum production of beef and veal cannot be maintained by turning more cattle onto range already fully stocked and in the west there is little possibility of greater supplementary feeding for such feed is becoming scarcer under the circumstances careful sustained production requires e early arl y marketing of cattle when they have reached the top weight that available forage will wili produce in general according to forest service range men it is well to sell animals including those from close culling of breeding herds when they them fat before their rate of gain slackens materially and certainly before material loss in weight occurs if drouth conditions should develop it is good business to move market animals off the range even earlier in III order to sell them while still in reasonably good condition to save forage I 1 for the breeding herd and to avoid axce excessive asive damage to the range itself the time that cattle reach peak market condition varies in different regions legions studies by the forest service and coope cooperating ratling agencies in the northern great plains for instance show that on conservatively grazed range in normal years cattle gain well through september but tend to lose weight if carried on oil the range into october on overstocked over stocked ranges gains do not hold up beyond late august and cattle must be marketed at least by then to avoid losses on the southern great plains most rapid gains are made prior to mid july although with late rains gains may resume for a month or more in late summer in the southwest gains are made mainly through july august and september the regions rainy season and may hold into october therefore the gains if any are small and there is danger of loss in weight in the intermountain intel mountain region on conservatively ively grazed mountain ranges cattle gain normally until mid sep or early october on mountain ranges in california maximum weights make marketing advisable on the average by mid september on the foothill ranges gains taper off as the forage dries during june and july jul and losses occur in august cattle gains taper off on high summer ranges of the pacific northwest by mid august or early september on the high d esert desert of southeastern oregon best gains occur before july ca cattle atle in the 17 western states at the beginning of this year numbered head near an all time high the department reports range forage prod production action was exceptionally good both in 1941 and 1042 1942 western hay and grain reserves for livestock however were drawn down materially in those two years and by the spring of 1943 had practically vanished |