A chorus of mournful noise is issuing from the cattle-feeding pens of Colorado, Texas and the Middle Westand not just from the steers awaiting slaughter. The feed-lot operators are moaning too, because a consumer rebellion against beef and soaring costs of fattening cattle threaten to trim their profits to the bone. Says an official of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association: "A lot of boys are going to belly up."
The trouble traces to the same rise in beef prices that brought prosperity to the feed lots in previous years. During 1973, budget-conscious housewives switched to more economical sources...