The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 1, 1917, Page 10

A L R R B G e e e e s memm e o A new department of the Ieader E s, faects, information st to farm- a business, devoted to and opinic of - int ers and farming Tracing Steers to the Consumers Figures Which Give Some Idea on Costs of Marketiné Live Stock Today have recently been compiled in regard to live stock marketing costs to farmers and profits and mar- gins taken by various middlemen, etc., before the meat reaches the consumer. A lot consisting of 632 good western steers, which had been grazed in the Milk river country of Montana was traced from the range to the consum- er. The result was as follows: They were originally yearlings, ship- ped from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and run in Montana three sum- mers and two winters, being marketed when four years old. They were ship- ped from Malta, Mont., billed to, Chic- ago, being unloaded at New Rockford, N. D.,, and St. Paul, Minn., for feed, water and rest. They arrived in Chic- ago five days after shipment, sold on the same day and slaughtered the fol- lowing day at one of the big Chicago packing houses. The beef from 31 steers of the lot, all of which was trac- ed to the consumer, was marketed at Boston and Lynn, Mass., Providence, R. I, Wilmington, Del,, and Dover, N. J., the distributing of the meat being done through the branch houses of the packer who-slaughtered the lot. The steers brought an average of $96.88 each at Chicago. The Montana shipper had to pay an average of $7.19 as marketing expenses,- which left the net return to the shipper, on the aver- age, $88.69 per steer. The marketing expense per steer was as follows: Freight and terminal switching, $5.93 per steer; feed in transit, 23 cents per steer; yardage, 25 cents per steer; feed and insurance, 16 <cents per steer; broker’s commission, 62 cents per steer. Total marketing cost, $7.19 per steer. EACH STEER TRACED THROUGH ALL HANDS The cost to the packer was $96.88 per steer. The packer realized on the meat, hide, etc., $109.41 per steer, making the packer’'s margin $12.53 per steer. The retajlers paid for the beef at the rate of $88.31 per steer and sold it at the rate of $142.89 per steer, making the re- tailer’'s margin $54.58 per steer. XNo record was made of the ultimate disposal of the by-products of slaught- ering and packing,” which netted the packer $21.10 per steer, as follows: Hide, $13.04 per steer; oleo fat, $3.74 per steer; offal, $4.32 per steer. To recapitulate, the consumers paid S OME extremely interesting figures . $163.99 for what the Montana stock- man received $89.69.- The $89.69 was what the shipper got for each steer, on the average, after paying marketing costs. The $163.99 is what the public paid for the meat from each steer plus what the packer got for the by-pro- ducts. On each steer the following margins went to each handler and the producer: The packer got a margin of..... $12.53 The railroads and brokers got... 7.19 The retailers got a margin of.... 54.58 The stock raiser got............ 89.69 Total consumer paid........... $163.99 The figures do not show what it cost the stockman to feed the steers three Yyears or what their original cost to him was when they were yearlings, which would be interesting reading. The fig- ures do not show the profits to the packer on the manufactured by-pro- ducts. hide, oleo fat and offal were valued at before manufactured. CASE OF COW GIVES INTERESTING FIGURES A medium butcher cow, hauled by wagon by a farmer to LaCrosse, Wis., sold to a farmers’ co-operative com- pany, slaughtered and retailed by two dealers at LaCrosse, was traced through all hands to the ultimate consumer with the following results: Marketing Cow 1 cow, 1,100 pounds, at $4....3$44.00 Marketing cost ......... 5 .80 Proceeds, to producer ............ $43.20 Slaughtering and Wholesaling Cost of live cow to packer (weight delivered at plant), 1,100 pounds,s‘M % id zgnl)geedst: 9c..$22.32 Beef, one side,’ s., at 9c..$22. Beef, one side, 236 1bs., at 835c 19.47 Hide, 70 1bs., at 14%c .... 10.15 # Offal, as per following items: at $4 ........ Head meat, 6 1bs., at 10%c .. 63 Tongue, 4% lbs,, at 8c . .36 Heart, 4% lbs., at 8c . . .36 Liver, 12 Ibs., at 7c , . 84 CASINES +:nsrrnensnnssan o), Blood,gZ gallons, at 20¢ ....... .40 Tail, 132 IDS. .eevesessesavescs .10, GEAT PACKING They merely show what the. - however, be pointed out in- this con- . is one of the biggest business problems % Kk, 31 3-16 Ibs. round steak, at 18c. 59? F;::ttsc'., hte:fi'xdke%u'. % trlpe, 3 f)luc 5 .00 414 1bs. rump, at 17C ...ee.ee 72 i 97 Tallow and tankage, estimated 1.00 614 1bs. heel, at 15¢ ..... K€T..0000-.. 55.84 614 1bs. shank soup bones .30 Total proceeds to packer 5% e E“m}? Houp oy E; i N e S ORI 11.84 33 -lbs. flank cut ..... 5 St maren fo I;Jea{:alifll;lg 2 161/: Ibs. rib cuts, at 15 2.4:! 1. Dealer, LaCrosse,, Wis. 91 1bs. chuck rib roast, at 15¢ 1?;& Bought, one side of cow, 248 Ibs., 2 1bs. chuck rib roast, at 18c 1..43 £ R A e L e e e 1.$22.32 97% lbs. pot roasts, at 15¢ .... 1. Sold 5 1bs. neck ot.geef,tahéOc... gg 1534 1bs. sirlion, at 20c ........ $3.15 214 1bs, cross ribs, at 1lc..... .2 g?}% Ibs.” porterhouse, at 25c.. 1.34 1915 lbs. pot roasts, at 12%c.. %(4’3 1214 Ibs. porterhouse, at 18c .. 2.20 9 lbs. pot roasts, at 1llc.... 1. An Important Industry —_— Packing Business Biggest Business in U. S.‘ MILLIONS OF DOLLARS o 250 600 780 1000 1280 D FLOURMILLS LSRG 01130077 NI T _ _ ORINTING AND PUSLISMING D i _— _ . COTTON GOODS R . _ CLOTNING, MEN'S BOOTS AND SNOLS ‘WOOLEN 00008 TOBACCO RAILROAD SHOPS SAKERIES SLAST FURNACES e e T —— PR s fesimmicn] — CLOTMING, wOMEN'S coPPER SMELTING DiL, COTTONSEED, ARD CAXE P LIQUORS, MALT AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. LEATHER PATENT MEDICINED SUGAR AND MOLASSE® CONFEZCTIONERY SUTTER AND CHELSE PAINT AND VARKISH PAPER AND PULP CARS, STEAM-RARROAD ‘avtomoBILES CHEMICALD FURNITURE MARSLE AND STONS SETROLEUM, REFINING AZATHER.GOONS CLECTRICAL APPARATUS LIQUORS, DISTRLED- ST 00000 008 TOPPER, TIN, AND SHEET IRON [ &1Lx 000DS LEAD SMELTING AND REFINING GAS, ILLUML AND NEATING CARRIAGLS AND WAGONS CANNING AND PRESERVING The black and shaded horizontal lines on this chart represent the value of the products of the leading United States industries. It will be seen that the packing industry leads the list. The business of supplying the people with meat. is the greatest business in the land—a business in’which farmers are the pro- ducers and largely the consumers. The chart is from the last United States cen- sus report. Farming With Efficiency- The “Small Farm Versus the Big Farm” is Discussed HERE has lately developed a wide-Spread protest against the “small farm” propaganda, which for so long has“held full sway, largely because promoted by heavy contribu- tions' for publicity by some railroads, land agents and others who . would benefit by a greater population on the land, regardless of whether that popu- lation could sustain itself adequately or not. y 7 . A recent expression on the subject has the sanction of the United States department of agriculture. 'J. S. Cates of the office of farm management of the department says: “Despite the much-talked-of idea of ‘a little farm well tilled,” actual records from thousands of farms covering pretty well the whole United States, go to show that little farmg do not often ° make big profits, and that as a rule thé profits from farming vary-directly with the size of the business. It might, ers went broke, although they had 31 Years in which to pay for the land. At hearings conducted by the government later it was proved that 380 acres ‘were necessary for each family to make an independent living. ‘ “In a study of the agriculture of Chester county, Penn.”, says Mr. Cates, “115, farmers of the group of 60 acres and under, averaging 40 acres, only 8 per cent made labor incomes of $1000 or more, labor income being the total a farmer receives for his produce less the interest at a fair rate on his in- vestment in the farm. The average labor income for the group of 40-acre farmers was only $404. Of the gTroup ranging in size from 161 to 393 acres, averaging 203 acres, 68 per cent made $1000 or more, the average for the whole group of larger farms being $1,575. . This seems to prove that the bigger the farm the more efficiency is possi- ble and the bigger the profits, just like any other business.: Mr.: Cates has fortified his argument by pages of evi- dence. For instance, ‘he.finds that a nection that the opportunities for loss vary also in ‘the same way.” The proper size of farm Yo maintain that the farmer faces. In some coun- tries, like Australia for instance, it was attempted by law to enforce small farming, regulating the size of farm to a quarter section for each family. The government bought vast tracts of land, broke it up into quarter section plots and sold it to farmers on long time to encourage the idea of “a little farm well tilled.” Most of the farm- age milk yield of 2349 pounds per cow a year, with a feed cost per cow of $43.93, the feed cost per 100 pounds of milk is $1.87. On a larger farm, with 109 cows, for instance, each cow yield- ing 6445 pounds of milk a year on the average, at a feed cost per cow of $62.85, the feed cost per 100 pounds of milk was only 98 cents. In other ‘words, on the big farm twice the milk ig pro- TEN farmer with 16 cows, getting an aver- . 234 1bs. brisket (fresh), at 8¢ .20 21% 1bs. plate piece .......... 2.15 14% 1bs. shin soup bones, at 5c .73 1% ]bs. sausage meat, at 12’;%c .16 hamburger (flank),” C ... s Jbs. shop fat 8 1bs. bones ... 1% lbs: trimmings, at 12%c 171b. tallow ...... R e = ] 6 lbs. waste .....i.ieiiinean 236 1-16 Total proceeds to retailer........ 29.88 Gross margin to retailer ...,.....$ 7.54 Per cent gross margin, 33.78. . Dealer, Cross, Wis. Bought one side of cow, 236 lbs. ats 81 c R OO 0 £ 2B ¥ { Sold - Loin cuts, 44.4 1bs., at 18c ....$8.00 Round steaks, 23.9 Ibs., at 18c.. 4.30 Rump, 8.6 Ibs., at 12¢c ........ 1.03 Heel, 5 1bs., at 12¢.......... e .60 Flank, steak, 1.6 lbs., at 15c .. .24 Outside flank '(stewfi, 10 Ibs., satiBe TR SR oA L) Rib cut, 11 Ibs., at 15¢ .......: 1.65 Chuck rib roasts, 40 1Ibs., at A2 i sseass 5.00 Chuck steaks, 10 1bs., at 1234c 1.25 Pot roasts (plate and brisket) . 23 1bs., at 10 cents ........ .. 2.30 Cross ribs, 32.5 Ibs., at 10c .... 3.25 S!éank soup bones, 8.1 lbs., at - . eSS i A S Gon sese .49 Total proceeds to retailer ........$28.71 Gross.margin to retailer ..........$ 9.24 PACIFIC CROP The Pacific northwest can: be ex- pected to do its share toward contrib- uting to a wheat harvest this fall that will bring the nation’s food reserves up ‘to normal, according to the Spo- kane Chronicle. Early estimates place the yield at 75,000,000 bushels, or one- tenth of the probable yield of the na- tion. The 1816 yield of this district was approximately = 50,000,000 bushels against 75,000,000 to 80,000,000 in 1915 when the nation’s crop exceeded a bil~ lion bushels. Much of the Pacific dig- trict works on a summer fallow sched= ule, allowing the land to lie idle every other year or once in three years. This is the year for the fallow acreage to be cut to a minimum. - Snows were heavy during the win« ter and the soil is in excellent condi- ° tion for spring planting. The winter crop was well protected, although the acreage is not up to normal because of a dry fall in 1916. DIFFERS WITH QUAM Tappen, N. D., Jan. 19, Editor Nonpartisan Leader: . After reading Theodore Quam'’s let- ter in regard to hunting chicken dure ing December, January, February and March, I can’t see it his way. But the chickens do need protection of some kind for three years and I wish to sug- gest two ways of doing so: First, by prohibiting hunting with dogs for three years, which would give everybody an equal chance, and also give the chickens a chance for their lives. I am not-saying this because I haven’t got a dog, for I have a good chicken dog that I wouldn’t take $50 for. The other way is to protect the chickens altogether for three‘years, As it is the chickens will soon be extinct, and as for hunting them:'in December, Jantary, February and March, that would be giving a few People'a ochiance to slaughter them down. In that case they would.lay out feed for-them and kill them off in no time- and - there “would be no sport in that kind of hunt- Ing at all. We would run’out of chickens in a short time that way, - ‘We all should be in favor of protect- ing the prairie chicken, for ‘they are the only game bird that stays with us all the year around., ey L. LE CLAIR. ~ GOT THIRTY SIGNERS L ‘Mohall, N. Dy Editor Nonpartisan Leader; - - \ I have sent to the ‘Secretary of th senate . a. petition signed by. over: 30 voters, asking that the bill to have a new constitution for the state of North Dakota, be put through with the least possible delay. Also I wrote: Senator Edward Hamerly a ghort létter with reference to the matter., I only hope some one in every precinct has done his duty and sent in a petition. I could have gotten some more signers, but the weather has been too cold to do the necessary driving that I had to quit, and gent in what I had. If there i3 anything I can do for the cause let me know. ; 7 JAMES KING, JR. ————— e o A e e ————— . L - ""'Mmo,w;;.._._._...._..-.‘..__.._.« v -