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siderable increase in the production of beef cattle in the United 

 States, it will come from the establishment of small herds on 

 many farms rather than of large herds on extensive areas. This 

 means, if it means anything, that the price will be fixed by the 

 cost of producing cattle on improved farms, so that ultimately 

 the producer will be by far the most important factor in fixing 

 the price of beef. This does not mean that producers will be per- 

 mitted to fix a price altogether out of proportion with the cost of 

 production, but one entirely consistent with it. 



"Obviously, beef will be most extensively produced where 

 conditions favor its economical production. Can it be denied that 

 any considerable area in this or in any other country offers more 

 favorable conditions for beef production than the corn belt? If 

 not, then the corn belt holds the key to the solution of the cattle 

 situation. Conditions surrounding the industry and the cost of 

 producing beef cattle in the corn belt, therefore, will likely 

 be a large factor in determining the answer to the question of 

 a price basis which will represent the cost of production and a 

 modest profit. Fortunately, nowhere in the country has the cost 

 of production been more carefully worked out or more accu- 

 rately determined. The largest and most advantageous use of 

 these data is one of the problems of the corn-belt cattlemen. 



"No price basis can prevail which does not represent the 

 greatest use of the best methods in cattle production. The cattle 

 raiser who does not and will not avail himself of the most eco- 

 nomical practice must be content to accept lessened or, in many 

 instances, no profits. This means that ultimately he must change 

 his ways or go out of business. 



"The resumption of cattle raising on many of the smaller 

 corn-belt farms will present problems of marketing which will 

 need adjustment. The producer of less than a carload is now 

 distinctly handicapped, and yet it has just been predicted that the 

 bulk of the cattle in the future will be produced by men who have 

 considerably less than a carload of cattle ready for market at any 

 one time during the year. There will need to be developed, there- 

 fore, some method of marketing which gives to the smaller oper- 

 ator substantially the same advantages enjoyed by the larger 

 operators." 



