cepted in the contention that the chief 

 difficulty of the beef cattle man during 

 the post-war period has been the low 

 purchasing power of the beef dollar, 

 which is to say beef prices have been 

 too low compared with production costs. 

 In this difficulty Montana beef producers 

 have been almost equally handicapped 

 with all other beef producers of the na- 

 tion. 



PURCHASING POWER OF BEEF IMPROVING 



With the contraction of inventories during the past six years, there has 

 been a steady improvement in the purchasing power of cattle and calves since 

 the low point of 1921, although the present purchasing power of beef is still 

 below that of 1918 and 1919, and it has not recovered proportionally the same 

 ground as has been regained by sheep, lambs and hogs. 



PURCHASING POWER OF BEEF COMPARED WITH OTHER MEAT ANIMALS 



Year 



1918 



1919 



1920 



1921 



1922 



1923 



1924 



1925 



1926 



CHANGES IN MARKETING AGE OF CATTLE 



Partly as a result of the disproportionately high costs of beef production 

 in contrast with low beef prices and partly as a result of preference in market 

 demand for younger beef, Montana cattlemen have been lowering the age of 

 their marketings. 



SHIFTS IN AGE IN MONTANA 



As on 

 January 1st 



1900 Census 



1910 Census 



1920 Census 



1926 Sample Survey 



As on 



January 1st 

 1900 Census 

 1910 Census 

 1920 Census 

 1925 Census 



Steers over 2 years. 

 Per cent of Total 



% 



64 



48 

 39 



Number Steers 



Per 100 Cows 



100 



70 



59 



AGE AND SEX GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES 



Results of the 1925 census of agriculture are not yet available for a com- 

 parison to date of age and sex groups of beef cattle for the United States. 



However, the trend as shown in the following table between 1900 and 1920 

 shows a decrease in steer classification, especially in the classification of two 

 years and over. 



CHANGES IN AGE AND SEX GROUPS BEEF CATTLE, UNITED STATES 



Class and Sex 



Calves under 1 year 



Heifers 1 and under 2 



Cows 2 and over 



Bulls 1 and over 



Steers 1 and under 2 



Steers 2 and over 



Total Beef Cattle 100.0 



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