632 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



a good supply with which to begin spring and summer operations. Moreover, fat cattle 

 prices during preceding months were most attractive. 



Before the severe drouth set in, which was about the latter part of .June, the year 1913 

 gave promise of being the best year for stockers and feeders in the history of St. Louis. 

 Breeders and raisers of both classes were unable to supply the excessive demand and prices 

 were away above any ever before realized. Imagine feeding steers selling above $8 and 

 up to $8.25 and you have a fairly accurate conception of how badly feeders wanted them. 

 Drouth cut short feeding operations, however, and in the late summer and early autumn 

 shipments to country points showed a decided decrease. One remarkable feature was the 

 fact that while the demand was visibly narrowed prices held up admirably, despite the 

 fact that a great many half-fat steers were disposed o£ to the killers for lack of feeding de- 

 mand. Top-feeding steers last year sold for $8.25, nearly a dollar higher than the best 

 price in 1912. The average top on feeders was $7.40; that on stockers $7.05, and the bulk 

 of stockers and feeders in 1913 was $6.06 to $7.27, while at the best time, in 1912 they were 

 selling at $6.25 to $7. 



During the year 1,234,053 head of cattle were slaughtered 

 at Kansas City. In its review of the cattle market for the year 

 the Kansas City Daily Drover's Telegram said: 



The day of extreme high prices for fancy Christmas cattle is a thing of the past in the 

 opinion of the leading biiyers of packing houses. Ever since the sale of the steer Advance 

 in Chicago at $1.50 per pound, the highest price ever paid for a steer, the tendency has 

 been to conservatism and reason in the matter of buying Christmas cattle. The move to 

 keep prices of fancy cattle within a narrow margin of the top prices on the open market 

 was more pronounced this year than ever before and proved a great disappointment to many 

 ambitious feeders throughout the country. At the American Royal Show the prize winners 

 sold at $12.85, while the tops on the open market ranged up to $9.55 in that month. The 

 grand sweepstakes winners at the International Exposition in Chicago sold at $13.25, while 

 the bulk of the finest cattle ever grown sold only at a slight margin above the open market. 

 In Chicago, where prime heavy show cattle were plentiful this year, the prices declined 

 materially and many averaging over i;600 pounds sold down to $7.75, a level far below 

 the range on the open market in the preceding week. The cause of the decline in the prices 

 of premium cattle is the high price of ordinary cattle, and there is no profit in handling 

 them, either to the feeder or the butcher. 



Beef steer prices developed few material fluctuations in the first three months, the 

 tops selling up to $9. In April and May the tops were $8.85 and $8.70 respectively, the 

 only time in the whole year -when the tops ranged under $9 for fed classes. The top price 

 paid during the year was $10, outside of the American Royal show steers, which sold at 

 $12.85. The final four months witnessed a return of prices to the high level of the year 

 for medium and weighty kinds, though $1@2 under the liigh level in 1912. Yearlings gen- 

 erally ranged from $1@2 above 1912 and outsold the weighty classes during the greater 

 part of the year, closing much higher than the heavy weights. Butcher classes ran to mod- 

 erate supplies, and the shortage was felt in every month. There were fewer common range 

 cows and cutters than ever before and prices ruled the highest ever known, mostly above 

 $4.25 to $5, and seldom down around the $4 mark. The highest price paid for cows was 

 $8, and they ranged down to $7.25 at the close of the year. Heifers sold up to $9.25 in 

 October and November and down to $7.75 in January. Mixed yearlings ranged up to 

 $9.75 in January and down to $8.50 in February. In the closing months the tops ranged 

 from $9@9.40. Bulls and stags sold readily at strong to higher prices during the entire 

 year and closed up 25@50 cents above a year ago. 



Shipments of stock cattle from Kansas City in 1913 broke all previous records. The 

 total outgo was 26,797 carloads, 913,701 head, or 39.4 per cent of the entire supply of cat- 

 tle and calves received. 



A review of the stocker and feeder trade and movements in 1913 shows a 

 remarkable state of affairs which completely upset all previous records. The 

 prolonged drouth in the middle west, which began early in the summer and continued un- 

 broken until well into September, caused a shifting of supplies from one section of the coun- 

 try to another on a larger scale than in any previous year. The affected area was the largest 

 ever known and the drouth of the longest duration. Stockmen kept up a hard fight against 

 the inevitable, in the hope that the weather conditions would change and save them from 

 disaster. For months cattle were driven from pasture to pasture where water and grass 

 were available, and finally were forced on the market to prevent starvation. While a good 

 many thin cattle were marketed in June and July, August and September were the big 

 months when forced shipments predominated. While the middle west was suffering the 

 eastern portion of the corn belt was favored with plenty of moisture and bountiful crops 

 maturing. At the same time eastern feed lots were practically depleted — a legacy from the 



