340 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Naturally prices declined, especially on common grades and half-fat 

 stock, and spoiled what might otherwise have been a prospeours year with 

 increased market receipts and better returns to producers and dealers. 



CATTLE. 



Choice cattle were in strong demand nearly all the year, and top prices 

 rose from $5.85 in January to $7.30 and $7.65 in November and December, 

 respectively. Short-fed and poorly bred cattle, on the other hand, sold 

 relatively low, so that for the entire cattle market in a general way prices 

 averaged about the same as in 1903. Native steers of 1200 to 1350 lbs. 

 averages, and 1350 to 1500 lbs. averages, constituting the two leading classes 

 of cattle on the market and possessing the greater weight and higher value 

 per 100 pounds, sold for an average increase of about 20c per 100 pounds, so 

 that notwithstanding the large proportion of thin, poorly bred and half-fat 

 stock thrown on the market, the average valuation of cattle for the year 

 shows about $1.00 per head increase. The falling off in the demand for 

 meats above referred to, due mainly to sensational agitation during the 

 strike, pertained more largely to the cheaper grades, and the cattle mostly 

 affected by it were the thin, common classes having the lighter weight and 

 smaller value per 100 pounds. 



THE EXPERIENCED FEEDERS' OPPORTUNITY. 



While on the average the prices received by stockmen for cattle during 

 the year were no lower than the corresponding average for 1903, yet corn 

 cost more and so results were less satisfactory. For this reason many be- 

 ginners and transient feeders of cattle have dropped out of the business, and 

 this leaves the field to the experienced feeders to operate under more favorable 

 conditions than have obtained at any time during the last five years. Prices 

 for stockers and feeders are at the lowest ebb, top prices having dropped 

 from $5.05 in June to $4.10 in September and $4.25 in December, while 

 average prices have declined to $2.90 in December, the lowest point for 

 many years. So many short-fed cattle having been thrown on the nrarket 

 during the past year and the reluctance of feeders to replace them in the feed 

 lots leave a prospective shortage of finished cattle, and predictions of mate- 

 rially higher prices for such during the coming year are freely made by 

 salesmen. 



At no time in the history of the business has there been a better prospect 

 of a steady demand for finished beef cattle of good breeding and quality. 

 The export demand is strong at the close of the heaviest year's shipments 

 since 1890. The demand for shipment to Eastern cities has been very active, 

 and such shipments the largest on record. The total shipments of cattle 

 from this market during the year numerated 1,326,322, or over forty per 

 cent of the receipts, a total which has not been equaled since the refrigera- 

 tion era was fairly established. There is now a higher degree of healthy 

 competition among the buying interests on the Chicago cattle market than 

 on any market in recent years, and offerings suited to the demands of the 

 market find ready sale at remunerative prices. It is the unsuitable and ill- 

 prepared consignments that disappoint sellers and buyers alike, for the lat- 

 ter has to meet the demands of his customers, and often experiences as 

 much difficulty in finding an outlet for the product of unsuitable, purchases 

 as had the cattle salesmen to find a buyer for the live animals. 



