MARKET METHODS AND PROBLEMS 519 



164. MARKETING AT THE STOCKYARDS 1 

 BY K. F. WARNER 



To whichever market live stock is consigned, the marketing sys- 

 tem that handles them upon arrival is practically the same. There 

 is a stockyards company at each market which is an independent 

 organization, and which provides pens and other facilities near the 

 packing houses where animals are received and cared for until sold. 

 While under different managements and ownerships, the yards of one 

 market are almost identical with those of another and practically the 

 same system of selling is followed in all of them. 



Although a packer may control the stockyards company through 

 stock ownership, as at South St. Paul, it should be emphasized again 

 that the latter is always a separate company with its own organization 

 and officials. It owns the pens, yards, and equipment of the yards 

 proper; it receives and reships the stock; provides a supply of feed and 

 water ; and weighs all animals for both buyer and seller. The commis- 

 sion firms are composed of men whose business it is to sell or buy for 

 their patrons; they act principally as experienced salesmen, whose 

 training and experience make them better* able to transact business 

 in the yards than the strangers who ship in the stock. 



A load of cattle arrives on the. Monday market, which is usually 

 the strongest and largest. When hauled to the unloading platform, 

 the stockyards company receives, unloads, counts, and yards it in the 

 pens assigned to the consignees. Stock is not consigned to individuals 

 but to commission firms operating in the yards. The pens are owned 

 by the company and allotted to the commission firms, but rent is 

 charged to the shipper as a per head yardage fee. Upon receiving the 

 load, the commission man sorts it to the best advantage for selling, 

 and supervises the feeding and watering until sold. 



All animals that pass through the stockyards market are sold 

 according to the classes and grades to which they belong. The classi- 

 fication is based on the use to which the animals will be put, this being 

 determined chiefly by their sex, age, weight, form, quality, and con- 

 dition. The grades within the classes run from prime and choice to 

 inferior, and represent the different degrees of excellence in quality con- 

 dition or fleshings, and form. The classifications are comparatively 



1 Adapted from "The Marketing of Live-Stock Products in Minnesota," 

 University of Minnesota Studies in the Social Sciences, No. 4, pp 17-21. (Copy- 

 right by the University of Minnesota.) 



