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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 1960)
Medford Tribune SECTION B MEDFORD, ORKGON, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1960 PAGES 1 to 8 Problems of Beef Industry Reviewed for Cattlemen Here Main problem In the beef in dustry is that too many cat tle will be going to the market during the next few years, Nelson R. Crow, pub lisher of the Western Live stock Journal and other farm magazines, told the Oregon Cattlemen's association here Friday. "The beef herd is 117 per cent greater than it was 40 years ago while the human population has increased 42 per cent. This has placed the cattle market in a tight fix," the publisher said. "I have re ceived many letters from peo ple out in the country on this problem." National statistics show that 1 per cent more cattle are on . feed now than a year ago. In California, 20 per cent more are on feed than a year ago. These cattle represent 45 per cent of the feeder cattle in the United States. Over-Expand Feed Lot The California people have greatly over-expanded their feed lot capacity and the num ber of cattle on feed, Crow pointed out. California, how ever, must bring in 1V4 mil lion stocker and feeder cattle from other states, he noted. "The big question is - Is there too much beef produc tion to support a fair beef mar ket price?" Crow asked. Another problem affecting the beef market is the "over estimate" of the beef market by United States department of agriculture economists, the publisher said. "A recent re port by an official in the cat tle industry shows the USDA has overestimated the U. S. cattle population on the first 31 states' report by 4 million head. The American Meat In stitute has made a similar re port. The secretary of agriculture has been asked for an explana tion of the 7 per cent differ ence. This has had a psycho logical effect on the market, Crow pointed out. "Such government outlet re ports have cost the industry and its people a great deal of money," the Western Live stock publisher noted. "I feel prices should be established in the open market rather than in the government outlet re ports." Has Deep Respect Crow said he has "a deep respect for the brilliant and hard working, conscientious men in the USDA" who are re sponsible for the outlook re ports. However, a good many people in the livestock busi ness feel that when the gov ernment Says livestock prices are going to go down it puts a powerful bargaining tool in the hands of the buyer. The government forecast carries a lot more weight than the pri vate forecast or guess, he pointed out. "Many people, according to our own surveys, believe the USDA should limit its efforts to compiling and publicizing accurate statistics on the live stock industry, and let the av erage stockman figure out for himself what is going to hap pen," the publisher pointed out. "Political leaders in both parties profess to want to do something about the farm problem. But spokesmen for neither party have in any way indicated an understanding of the most serious problem of all - that of huge imports of meat from foreign countries, admitted to our markets at ridiculously low duties," Crow remarked. Present Import Duties Present import duties on beef and lamb and live cattle should be three times as high as they were in the 1930's when choice steers were sell ing at 6 to 8 cents per nound. the publisher stated. Instead, the tariff In 1947 was reduced as much as 50 per cent of the 1930 tariff and remains that way. Crow said Australian cat tlemen have told him that the price of cattle "down under" has increased more than 100 per cent because of the mar ket they enjoy in this coun try. Meanwhile, U. S. beef prices have declined sharply. "Our decline of 2 to 3 cents per pound on range cows for slaughter can be directly at tributed to this heavy flow of imported beef. That means a loss of $20 to. $30 per head on the average cow. "It's a tragic situation for the U. S. producers that the only way they can be protect ed against the price depressing effect of imports is to let our own market decline to depres sion levels that threaten to break the cattlemen - and the sheepmen - in this country," he said. Beef Grading Beef grading is also one of the big subjects in the indus try and is difficult to tamper with. It's hard to understand why there is such a great va riation in government stand ards even within an area or a city. The real problem is the personal element in beef grad ing, Crow noted. The govern ment stamp helps the retailer sell much beef. The publisher noted that per capita beef consumption is going up. In the 1930's. per capita consumption was 53.75 pounds, in the 1950's 75.21 pounds and in the 1960's over 80 pounds. The public likes choice beef, Crow pointed out. The beef product is con stantly being improved, he noted. Even more important than what goes on in the feed lot where the animal is finish ed is the ranch and range man agement which produces the animal, Crow pointed out. The trend now Is to feed lot fin ish beef to the specifications of chain store and large mar ket buyers. Limit for Feeders Now a carcass weighing over 650 pounds is heavy and 700 pounds is the limit for feeders. Feeders are finding that it is much cheaper to fin ish off beef at high good grade. This may mean that It would pay cattlemen to shift from stocker to cow and calf operations, he said. However, the real problem is breeding. Crow recommended that com mercial cattlemen make their vacation trips to the feed lots to see what the feeders do with their cattle and how they finish out to market de mands. "There is no better educa tion for a cattleman than to check with the feed lot ope rator who represents a smart and Intelligent group," Crow concluded. SP Passenger Train Hits, Kills Woman Mt. Shasta, Callf.-(UPD-The northbound Southern Pacific Shasta Daylight passenger train struck and killed Mrs. Flora Turner, 78, Mt. Shasta, at the Elma street crossing here Friday afternoon. Trainmen reported the light on the engine was working, the bell was ringing and the signal at the crossing was op erating. They said they did not see the woman until just before the accident. Police said the woman was wearing a hearing aid, but it could not be determined if it was operating. Engineer of the train was John B. Harrell, Dunsmuir, Calif. POPULATION RATIO The U.S. i twice as densely populated as all of Russia. 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