OCR Text |
Show Livestock Feed Relat ions Good In view of present livestock numbers. range condition and feed stocks, there is no basis for pessimism in the livestock indus-' indus-' try in Utah for the coming year, Dee A. Broadbent, research assistant as-sistant of agricultural economics, reported today. j Feed supplies are not seriously I out of balance with livestock I numbers in the whole nation, al- j though total livestock have over-, taken feed- supplies with the re- j suit that there is more livestock than prospective feed supplied in : spite of better than average crop yields, he said. The feed situation is more favorable fa-vorable in Utah than in many parts of the nation and range j livestock numbers are substan-I substan-I tially lower than previous peaks. ! National numbers of cattle are at new high peaks and increasing, j Professor Broadbent urged Utah beef cattle men not to expand beyond optimum stocking of the range thus materially, improving their economic pijsition by fol-; lowing a vigorous culling program. ! Such a program will result In ' improved quality of breeding herds - ana conversion of culls and surplus sur-plus stock to cash at favorable , prices. . i He suggested that livestock producers set up a balance sheet I of supplies of feed and livestock feed requirements arid make adjustments ad-justments that will bring feed and livestock in balance and still leave more than normal feed carry-over as insurance to industry in-dustry in the future. The 1944 numbers of stock sheep in the western states and Utah were at their lowest level in 25 years although production of livestock and livestock prod- j ucts in the United States reached new high records during the past two years, he said. In view of national record number of cattle and heavy demand de-mand for meats by the government govern-ment and consumers, this is a good time to cull, not increase herds, professor Broadbent said. A heavy culling program during the next few years will improve quality of herds and alleviate the potential economic problem in the postwar adjustment period. The long time position of the cattle industry is always weak when numbers are at the top of the cycle. The risk involved in maintaining present cattle numbers num-bers in Utah is a market risk rather than a feed risk. |