history of the cattle industry
Evan Jodlowski
December 3, 2014
Ag Marketing-Steve Wolf
Optional Essay
History of the Beef Cattle Market
From the very beginning when settlers brought longhorn cattle to America, beef cattle have been a major source of protein in the United States. Cattle have always been a favorite of mine to work with, having worked on a successful beef farm for five years now. I wanted to explore the history of the market and how the market has gone from a farmer buying 600 cows for $5400 in 1867(history on the net), to now when that same amount of cows would be worth over $1.3 million dollars. First I will explore how the market began in the late 1800s, next I will discuss how cattle futures operate, and finally I will talk about how the cattle market rose to an all-time high currently. In 1836, Texas split away from Mexico and the Mexicans left all their cattle behind. Cattleman claimed these cattle and set up ranches. They had their cattle out on the open range and followed their cattle. In the early 1830s and into the 1840s beef was not a popular meat. Most people just wanted the hide of the cattle to be used for various leather items. In the 1850s, the demand for beef rose until the Civil War broke out in the early 1860s. During the War, the economy was battered in the South, but cattle numbers increased during the time of the war. In 1865, there were around 5 million cattle in Texas alone, but there was no market for beef in the South. There was however, a very large market in the North. The ranchers had to find a way to market their cattle to the North, because if they could, they could make ten times what they would get in the South. Joseph McCoy, a livestock trader in Chicago, recognized the need to bring the cattle to the North for market. He couldn’t drive the animals up on horseback because homesteaders in Kansas objected to the cattle crossing their land because of a deadly tick that could be spread. So McCoy went to the other only viable mode of
December 3, 2014
Ag Marketing-Steve Wolf
Optional Essay
History of the Beef Cattle Market
From the very beginning when settlers brought longhorn cattle to America, beef cattle have been a major source of protein in the United States. Cattle have always been a favorite of mine to work with, having worked on a successful beef farm for five years now. I wanted to explore the history of the market and how the market has gone from a farmer buying 600 cows for $5400 in 1867(history on the net), to now when that same amount of cows would be worth over $1.3 million dollars. First I will explore how the market began in the late 1800s, next I will discuss how cattle futures operate, and finally I will talk about how the cattle market rose to an all-time high currently. In 1836, Texas split away from Mexico and the Mexicans left all their cattle behind. Cattleman claimed these cattle and set up ranches. They had their cattle out on the open range and followed their cattle. In the early 1830s and into the 1840s beef was not a popular meat. Most people just wanted the hide of the cattle to be used for various leather items. In the 1850s, the demand for beef rose until the Civil War broke out in the early 1860s. During the War, the economy was battered in the South, but cattle numbers increased during the time of the war. In 1865, there were around 5 million cattle in Texas alone, but there was no market for beef in the South. There was however, a very large market in the North. The ranchers had to find a way to market their cattle to the North, because if they could, they could make ten times what they would get in the South. Joseph McCoy, a livestock trader in Chicago, recognized the need to bring the cattle to the North for market. He couldn’t drive the animals up on horseback because homesteaders in Kansas objected to the cattle crossing their land because of a deadly tick that could be spread. So McCoy went to the other only viable mode of