Nation's Meat

big jobs in this country the raising of livestock and the production of meat ifers who dress them tailers who sell the meat and all the others who play a part in the picture it keeps more people busy than any other industry in the US raised Western rain ve from 10,000 dairy farms lamb from the high pastures of and the Feats of the Prairie State for from farms everywhere in the country all these must be brought to central points slaughtered and dressed and the meat then distributed over the whole nation because the big livestock growing areas must be far from the great and average of a th000 miles before it reaches customers dinner table to handle the livestock produ the meat and to distribute it to those dinner tables takes kinds of organization this picture a story of those people and their methods and the organizations which make their work possible as the nation has become more and more conscious of the importance of nutrition and health the choice of foods has become more and more a matter of careful study and selection meat the most satisfying of all foods has taken its place as one of the Great prote protective foods of all sources of proteins minerals and vins in the B group and in countless retail shops the housewife applies her new knowledge as she provides her family with the nourishment it needs for good [Music] health almost all the meat we eat is one form or another of beef pork lamb or ve each one has a story but just to make it simpler let's take beef and see what it takes to transform a steer on the Range into meat ready for a retail Market a th000 mil or more away the feeder Market to be sold to a farmer who will take it to his feeder farm and fatten it on grain until it is ready to go to the Stockyards and be sold to the Meat Plant here it will be dressed and chilled ready for [Music] distribution throughout our West from Texas to the farth Northwest are huge areas of land poorly suited for other uses but ideal for grazing livestock so the bulk of our meat animals are grown in these regions far from City town or railroad as each grazing season ends the cattle are rounded up so that those which are ready for Market may be cut out from the herds and started on their long trail to the railroad [Music] and so in the care of experienced hands to see that they are fed and watered and rested at intervals they are brought to one of the great feeder markets located in cities like St Paul or Kansas City these markets are transfer points where the cattle may be sorted and classified before going to the feed Lots each Rancher's cattle are kept separate from all others generally being consigned to a commission man who will act in the ranchers behalf and arrange for for the sale of them either to cattle feeders that he knows wants the particular kind of animals he has on hand or to dealers who will regroup and classify them to suit the needs of other [Music] feeders some take them with horns some want them without some want them heavy others want them light still others give consideration to age or sex or to the amount of time time it will take to get them ready for [Music] Slaughter but eventually buyers are found for them all and they're started off on one more leg of their long journey to Market located throughout the rich grain raising lands of the Midwest are feeder Farms or feed Lots cattle and Lambs too are brought here by the feeder farmer to be given a carefully balanced ration of grains and minerals and protein feeds it is here that they acquire the quality and finish that will make top grade meat and bring the farmer top prices for his animals the cattle and the Lambs that pass through these feed lots and the Hogs that are raised throughout the Corn Belt contribute much to the economic welfare of the US Farmer for more than half his total cash income comes from the handling of livestock and more than 85% of all the corn raised Finds Its Market in the feeding of meat animals to help the farmer sell his livestock advantageously to supply him with complete up to-the-minute information on market conditions and prices the US Department of Agriculture sends out market reports by mail and radio thus every farmer has access to every bit of information which may help him in making his all important decision the decision to sell his livestock this time the marketplace is the stockyard here they are sold usually through commission men to the Packers of course there are variations from the usual methods of marketing livestock ranchers and Farmers sometimes sell Lambs direct to feeder Farms without the intermediate feeder Market step and it is often true that cattle and Lambs come fat off the range and go directly to the Meat Plant without passing through a feed lot as to Hogs they usually make only one trip to Market coming fat from the farm the farmer may have a commission man handle them for him in the stockyard or he may sell direct from his farm to the plant always choosing the method which he thinks will bring him the most cash ve Cales are largely a product of America's thousands of dairy farms they also may be sent to the Stockyards for sale to the meat plants the Chicago Stockyards is a city within a city the world's largest livestock hotel it is a square mile devoted to livestock and meat preparation it operates as a clearing house for all the transactions which take place between farmer commission man and Packer here are located the meat plants which draw their raw materials from the endless thousands of pens and here is a whole population steeped in the tradition of the yard grown up with it having its own mannerisms its own customs and Rich with its own local color truck after Truck and Train after train pour their livestock into the yards every day as the trains arrive they are announced in the bulletin office together with the name of the commission man or house which is to handle the animal it is here that they gather to check up on the arrival of their livestock and F at what platform or dock their cars will be unloaded while the cattle are in the pens assigned to the commission men they must eat as usual even as you and I and their wants are taken care of by the Stockyards haywagon as they constantly make their rounds [Music] then once more buyer and seller meet as they did in the feeder Market this time the buyers represent meat companies while a feeder farmer is represented by a commission man whose sole interest is in getting the highest price for his client's cattle [Music] in the Chicago Market alone there are available buyers representing 3 to 400 meat plants in the whole us there are more than 1,400 plants which bid on livestock now while it is true that all these cancern buy livestock or sell meat in every city it is also true that none of them can operate without coming into close competition with numerous [Music] competitors when the commission man is satisfied that he's getting the highest possible price for a particular lot of cattle the deal is made and the cattle are on the move once more this time they are headed for the stockyard scales to be [Music] weighed in the scale house the way Master keeps accurate records and operates the lar but delicate balances which are frequently inspected by the Department of Agriculture the weight of the cattle is stamped automatically on the weight ticket and when they come off the scale they are the property of the meat company and are on their way to the plant itself soon to become meat and its many [Music] byproducts and now at last our steers have nearly fulfilled their Destiny in the Spotless cleanliness of the beef dressing floor the sides move slowly Along on their overhead trolleys past the trimming and inspection stations one of the most important jobs in the Meat Plant is the constant inspection of all animals and meat both by plant experts and by the highly trained men of the US Department of agriculture's Bureau of animal industry after each side of beef is carefully scrubbed with a high-press hot water spray and wrapped in a protective cloth it is taken to a chill room or [Music] cooler here the temperature is kept just just above freezing it takes about 36 hours to chill the beef thoroughly and bring the meat to the temperature which will best preserve its freshness and flavor from this point on until the meat is sold over the counter the temperature is never allowed to rise more than a few degre after 24 hours in the cooler the cloths are removed and the government seal of approval is placed where it will appear on the rib round and other Primal Cuts Lambs get the same treatment as beef except that they are left whole and not separated into [Music] sides ve is handled somewhat differently to protect the color and quality of this delicate meat the hides are left on until just before shipment then the protective cloth is applied [Music] on the park line the clean scrub Hogs must also pass the critical eye of the US Department of Agriculture inspector before the government seal can be applied and again a stamp is placed on each of the important cuts into which the pork will be divided [Music] in the case of pork the Meat Plant does the job of dividing and preparing the meat before ship here's the beginning of the P cutting line first the hams are removed one man sawing through the bone while another makes the cut after another saw takes off the shank at the joint the hams are graded according to weight and quality some will be shipped as fresh hams others will be cured and then smoked in scientifically controlled ovens it takes some 40 or 50 hours in hardwood smoke to bring out the best possible color and flavor believe it or not this specialist is a ham smeller if there's anything short of perfection in the interior of any of these hams his nose will find out about it going back to the production line again a cutting wheel divides the side and shoulder as an expert feeds the pork to the knife the shoulder Falls one way and the side the other dropping onto a cutting table here a single expert cut with a u shaped knife removes the loin which is tossed to another table the remaining side goes under a roller forming it into a flat piece for easy handling meanwhile the loin is trimmed and graded each piece will be individually wrapped for Market on another table the spare ribs are cut from the flattened side piece what's left is bacon fat backs and trimmings the side goes to a trimmer who cuts away the excess back leaving a neat rectangular piece for bacon an inspector weighs the bacon size looks them over carefully and grades each one according to standard bacon sides are smoked over hard wood fires just the same as the hams after curing for several weeks in a carefully Blended mixture of salt sugar and other ingredients once again the bacon slabs are squared and flattened This Time by means of forming machine then they are fed to the slicing machine sliced bacon is wrapped in various siiz packages to meet consumer requirements girls do the wrapping right on the scale platform a conveyor takes the packages to other girls who put them into boxes for shipment to satisfy the huge American Appetite for sausage a sizable portion of the total pork output is ground up seasoned and made into familiar [Music] links then again much of it is Blended with beef and other meats seasoned by experts who know American taste down to the last pinch and made into all kinds of fancy sausages and a whole family of table ready meat and in demonstration kitchens everywhere home economics instructors devise new ways to make attractive use of the resulting [Music] Delicacies we couldn't leave this department without at least a mention of the great American hot dog or Frankford made packed and shipped by the million to satisfy a million hungry American [Music] stomachs the fat packs and trimmings used to make lardge receive the same meticulous inspection as every other food product in the plant then go into great rendering kettle finally coming out of the filling machines into packages for shipment to retailers but the meat industry is by no means limited to edible products the bones this man is grading will appear later in the form of buttons knife handles and many other useful articles the wool that comes into the plants on millions of lambs is taken off the hides by wool pullers after treatment to loosen the fiber [Music] the lamb skins too are carefully processed and graded for sale to the Tanners cattle hides are stacked with layers of salt in between to prevent spoilage while curing later they will go to the tanning plants and eventually of course will'll find a useful life as shoes or leather beling or perhaps harness the Meat Packer's genius for making useful articles from materials once thought useless has always played play an extremely important part in the economics of the industry livestock byproducts find their way into an almost unbelievable number of useful and valuable things all of which reflects itself in the form of higher prices paid to the producer for his livestock it is not unusual for the returns from the byproducts to more than pay the expense of buying driving and slaughtering the stock and refrigerating loading shipping and selling selling the meat this margin over the amount needed for expenses is added to the income from meat and the total used to purchase [Music] livestock and so from the open ranges from Rolling Meadows from thousands upon thousands of farms and feed Lots livestock comes to the meat plants to be prepared for consuming markets but there Remains the problem of getting it out of the Meat Plant the millions of consumers broadly speaking there are two ways in which meat is distributed from the plant retailers in smaller cities and towns are served by car routes and receive their supplies direct from the plant by refrigerator car or truck large consuming areas generally get their meat through Branch houses which receive large rail shipments from the plant and then sell to the retail dealers the orders that flow into the plants from salesmen retailers and Branch house managers all over the nation are swiftly typed on the forms which will set the Machinery of distribution in motion shot by pneumatic tube direct to the Departments involved they result quickly in The Wanted meat and supplies being landed on the car route loading platform to be loaded into the truck which will deliver it direct to retailers in smaller towns and Villages strung out a long car route extending perhaps as much as 7 or 800 mil from the plant the Nationwide distribution of meat through Branch houses is handled much differently this group of experts at the loading table has the unique and difficult job of matching the available meat Supply at scattered packing plant to the demand from even more scattered Branch houses and assigning refrigerator cars to make the needed shipments without Lost motion or waste the teletype wires bring them information on the meat available at each plant as well as the orders from the meat company's Branch houses these they must fit together in such a way way as to make full use of all the meat on hand at the plants and supply all the needs of all the branch house areas their job is made more complicated by the little known but very important fact that consumers in different localities have very different tastes Chicago for instance wants its beef to come from cattle at weigh 750 to 850 lb while Boston wants it from cattle weighing 13 to 1,500 100 lb Pine quarters of beef for Philadelphia must be cut like this so that they will have no ribs but Boston Markets insist on having no less than three so the cut must be made here it's the same way with pork with lamb and with ve each big city or section of the country has its own set of Demands which must be met and these men know them all if pork is headed for Los Angeles it should be from lean Hogs weighing between 180 and 220 lb but if it is to go to Baltimore it should be from Hogs weighing as little as 140 [Music] lb the bringing together of these two systems of marketing Branch house and car route creates a distribution system of great economy and flexibility consumers in every part of the country can get exactly the type of product they want and the prices received by the producer for his livestock are not affected by gluts of these foods which would otherwise occur in a few large consuming areas but are rather determined by a matching of supply and demand all over the United [Music] States when the men at the loading table have finished with their work and the day supply and demand is translated into shipping orders the teletype goes into action again and in some distance plant men begin the work of loading an a lotted refrigerator car with meat for some equally distant Branch house even in the loading of the cars the efficiency that is an indispensable part of any packing plant is evident after all the meat that can be hung from the ceiling is in place Dairy poultry and other products are stacked on the floor beneath until the car is loaded to capacity this is typical of the economies which permit the Packer to get get along with a fraction of a cent a pound profit and still pay well for livestock and charge reasonably for the meat and other products beside the car route and Branch house there is another important channel of meat distribution the Army and Navy and other armed forces centralize their buying generally dealing directly with the Packer so it is not uncommon to see uniformed officers inspecting the specially selected and prepared Meats which are shipped in huge quantities everywhere there are Soldiers and Sailors between half and 2/3 of the total packing plant output reaches the public through Branch houses the branch house is as specialized and efficient an organization as is the Meat Plant itself it is geared for quantity and speed the meat as well as the dairy and poultry products that roll into the branch house by the carload must find the market and and find it soon for the product is a perishable one one of the jobs of the branch house is to break down the beef quarters Lambs Hogs and be into cuts that the retail butcher can [Music] use these are the short lines from which come the most popular Stakes [Music] and here's a local retailer on a shopping expedition often buying in person retail dealers are good Traders they shop around for the best they are fussy about the quality of meat they buy for their customers and they bargain vigorously over the price for there are no price tags on the meat at the branch house any more than there are on the cattle in the stock yard in the end the salesman takes what the highest bidding retailers are willing to pay here the price of meat is affected by the same Supply and which operate when the producer offers his livestock for sale but not all dealers can shop in person to serve these there are outside salesmen who go from store to store selling not only meat but poultry butter eggs and cheese this practice of using the same facilities for handling and shipping many products is one of the reasons why the meat industry has reached such a high level of efficiency and economy in marketing and [Music] distribution the meat business moves fast it has to for if the meat fails to reach the consumer fresh and attractive it will certainly fail to command a price sufficient to earn the small margin of profit the Meat Company must have to operate and to pay the producer of livestock well enough to induce him to continue raising top quality animals it is the perishable quality of meat which sets the pace for the whole industry from the hands who round up the cattle to the retailer who sells a steak every task of the industry's million workers is geared to move the meat quickly efficiently and continuously over its average travel of 1,000 Miles because the United States is a country of vast distances large Meat concerns are needed to do the job of bringing producers of livestock and consumers of meat together when the housewife goes to her local deer for a steak a cam or a wants waiting and knows that fresh and good the meat industry is is big enough and far-reaching enough to see that America's meat is the finest and that every housewife in every city town and Village in the nation and buy what she wants whenever she wants it [Music]