444 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



livestock interests in particular, or marketing problems of agricultural 

 products in general. 



The third activity was to be the making of a detailed investigation and 

 study of some particular class of livestock to demonstrate the possi- 

 bilities of such intensive methods and the desirability of devoting the 

 time and expense to similar work with other kinds of stock. This was to 

 include the securing of all possible information as to receipts, prices, 

 pnces of the derived products, the relations between receipts and prices, 

 and between the prices of products and of the raw material. The class 

 of stock chosen was native beef steers, including yearlings. This choice 

 was made because of the generally unsatisfactory conditions existing in 

 the fed-cattle industry, and also because Iowa is the leading state in the 

 marketing of these cattle, and especially of the better grades, which are 

 exclusively a grain-fed product. 



The work done has been very largely along the three lines as above 

 enumerated. But the development of the office, or bureau, as it is called, 

 as a sort of clearing house for shippers' complaints has not grown to 

 the extent that it was thought it might, altho some little time has been 

 given to investigating both individual and general complaints as to rail- 

 way service and feed charges, and to securing explanations as to items 

 in account-sales, etc. The reasons for the failure to make use of this 

 service have not been so much that there were no grounds for complaints, 

 but partly that shippers were not generally aware that such a service 

 was at their disposal, and mostly that because the great declines in 

 prices in the process of general commodity price deflation have brought 

 such serious losses that shippers have become more or less insensible .to 

 minor marketing disabilities and disinclined to complain of them. 



So far as transportation conditions are concerned, there is no doubt 

 that there have been fewer grounds for complaint since the middle of 

 this year than in past years, the great falling off in the total amount of 

 traffic and the increased labor efficiency having put the railroad com- 

 panies in a much better situation for handling the shipments of livestock. 

 There are still in some sections of the state restrictions on loading and 

 shipping that make the movement more difficult than in pre-war days, but 

 there are favorable indications that these will be eliminated shortly after 

 the new year and that livestock schedules and marketing movement will 

 show progressive improvement. 



There has been very considerable opportunity for activity along the 

 second line indicated, that of representing Iowa livestock interests at 

 meetings, conferences, etc. There have been a great many of these during 

 the past nine months, and for a variety of purposes. Among those at- 

 tended have been livestock-shipping-loss prevention meetings, general 

 marketing and special livestock-marketing conferences of the American 

 Farm Bureau Federation, livestock-financing conferences, railroad-rate 

 hearings, stock yards and packing-house employees wage hearings and 

 numerous smaller conferences. 



But the greater part of the activity, and the one that gives promise of 

 the most valuable permanent results, has been devoted to the making of 



