MARKETING CATTLE WHEN FINISHED 29I 



Chief among the influences that determine the sea- 

 son fixed upon for marketing are: (i) The foods avail- 

 able for finishing; (2) the class of the animal to be 

 finished; and (3) the nature of the market. 



The ranchman can only market his cattle at one sea- 

 son of the year, that is, the late summer or the autumn, 

 when they are in the best condition of flesh reached at 

 any time during the year. The farmer who finishes on 

 grass is more restricted to the summer and autumn mar- 

 kets in which to make sales of finished animals. The 

 one who finishes by feeding coarse fodders, roots, and 

 concentrates may market at any season of the year. But 

 the aim should be to market at seasons when usually 

 the markets are least crowded, that is, during the months 

 of the year preceding the rush that usually characterizes 

 the last months of the same. 



Cull cattle are usually most profitably sold without 

 finish unless they can be fattened on cheap grasses. 

 Light-weight cattle may be sold at any time, but usually 

 bring the best price, relatively, in the late spring and 

 .summer months. Heavy cattle may generally be most 

 safely marketed in the winter and early spring months. 



Where the market is exclusively local, and sufficient 

 to use all the meat grown, those who fatten cattle may 

 usually sell the animals in the order in which they are 

 ready, so that the local dealer can select the animals for 

 slaughter according to the degree of the finish which 

 they possess, thus leaving the less highly finished for 

 further feeding. But when the animals are to be 

 shipped, the selecting of animals of superior finish for 

 early shipment is not possible when fed in less than car- 

 load lots. 



The degree of the finish to give is influenced by such 

 considerations as: (i) The capacity of the animals to 

 make finish; (2) the opportunities for making it; and 

 (3) the market in which they must be sold. It will not 

 pay to stall feed some classes of cattle from the inability 



