24 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



"Corn is the great energizing, heat-giving, fat-furnishing food for the 

 animals of the farm. No other cereal yields, on a given space and with 

 a given expenditure of labor, so much animal food in both grain and 

 forage. On millions of farms successful animal husbandry rests upon 

 this imperial grain and forage plant." ^ 



Meat export countries. — The export trade of the meat-surplus 

 countries amounts to less than 8 per cent of the entire production of 

 the world. - Over 92 per cent of the world's meat production is 

 consumed in the countries in which it is produced. The principal 

 meat export countries are the United States, Argentina, Australia, 

 New Zealand, Uruguay, Canada, Brazil, and Denmiark, especially the 

 first four. Argentina largely dominates the world's beef export trade. 

 The United States contributes the great bulk of export pork products. 

 Mutton exports originate almost entirely in New Zealand, Australia, 

 and Argentina. Denmark and Canada export considerable high-class 

 bacon, and Uruguay and Brazil make contributions to beef exports. 



Meat import countries. — Great Britain is the leading meat-im- 

 porting country; Germany normally holds second place; and the 

 Netherlands rank third. Other meat-importing nations are Austria- 

 Hungary, Belgium, Cuba, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Russia, 

 Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Imports of live animals are rela- 

 tively small and consist largely of shipments across boundaries to 

 near-by markets. 



The "meat eaters." — Half of the people of the world eat little 

 meat. Meat is consumed in greatest amounts per capita in the 

 countries named in the two preceding paragraphs, to which may be 

 added Greece and Portugal. The annual per capita consumption 

 ranges from over 200 pounds in Australia and New Zealand to about 

 40 pounds in Portugal. ^ The United States ranks third with about 

 164 pounds, of which 14 pounds is lard. , 



Brief survey of North American live-stock industry.-i/-The fore- 

 most live-stock producing region in the United States and in the world 

 is the corn-belt region of the Central West, including the seven states, 

 Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio, and 

 parts of South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oklahoma, 

 Kentucky, and Tennessee. This region leads all others in beef produc- 

 tion and pork production, holds a prominent place in dairying, has 

 about half of the horses of the country, and produces over 70 per cent 

 of the mules. Many cattle and sheep are brought here for feeding. 

 The fattening of meat animals on grain rations is largely confined to 



^Henry and Morrison: Feeds and Feeding, 1915, p. 149. 



2 George K. Holmes: Meat Situation in the United States, U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Rpt. 109, p. 97. 



3U. S. Dept. Agr. Rpt. 109, pp. 131-133. 



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