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I'- .-1 'l::l" ~ decreased 28 percent from 1944 to 1959. Average size of farms and ranches, value of land and buildings per farm, and average acreage irrigated have all increased considerably. Thus, fewer farmers are operatiA~ larger farms with a larger investment than any time since 1944. Irrigated farms comprise 96 percent of all farms. Tenancy decreased from 18 percent in 1944 to 9 percent in 1959 (table 4). Markets Most of the cattle sold from the Gunnison Basin are calves. They are sold to contract buyers who ship them by truck to the Midwest for feeding. A few of the calves are fed out locally in the lower elevations where winters are more moderate. Still others go to feed yards in Arizona, Utah, California and in other areas of Colorado Fruit is next in importance to livestock in sales. Apples and peaches move principally by tr_ck to New Mexico, Oklahoma and western Texas. Only the better grades can stand the cost of shipping such a long distance, and, too, they arrive in better shape than poorer grades. Southwestern States, including Texas, buy most of the dry beans produced in the Montrose-Delta area. Sugar beets are proce~sed at the local factory in Delta. Denver constitutes the market for vegetables produced and it is also the best market for meadow hay grown in the Upper Gunnison Subbasin. Alfalfa hay, most of the meadow hay and feed grains are fed in the Basin. Corn is shipped to Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. Moravian (malting) barley is grown for the Coors Distillery at Golden, Colorado. Transportation The main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad passes through Grand Junction. A branch extends to Montrose and RidgMay and also connects with Paonia and Somerset. Transcontinental U. S. Highway 50 extends from the eastern edge of the Basin to Grand Junction on the west. U. S. Highway 550 provides a route from Montrose to Durango and points west and south. Many state highways inter- sect the Basin and provide adequate transportation facilities. Relationship Between Irrigated Lands and Rangelands Most of the cattle ranchers are dependent upon national forest lands and national land reserve for their dry range. Most ranchers with grazing per- mits have the same number of beef cows for their breeding herd as their permitted number on the National Forest. Thus, meadow hay supplies the dry winter feed while irrigated pasture and field residue supply the remaining feed that the Federal range cannot. Ranchers in the Basin estimate the average value of a cow permit at $400 per animal, which includes the value of livestock and other ranch property. . 21 -