As children, when visiting our grandparents east of Bushnell, we knew that as noon time approached the house needed to become very quiet. That was when my grandfather, a very serious hog farmer, listened to the daily hog market. On his transistor radio he was probably listening to WKAI out of Macomb, however the daily markets Monday through Saturday were also broadcast on WBYS of Canton and WCAZ of Carthage.
Had we chosen to listen with him, we might have heard something like the following: “In the swine divisions of Bushnell Stockyards there were advances of 25 cents in the butcher and sow classes. This was for the week of November 9, 1957. However, major markets showed a decline in sows during the week. This is an indication that hogs around the 220 pound mark are going to be the most popular in the future. Extreme weight hogs on the Bushnell market seemed to have a dull demand and the outlet was somewhat limited except at lower prices. Receipts at the yard were at about normal for the period. The extreme top paid for well sorted meat-type hogs remained at $17.00. There were more hogs selling at $16.75 this week than last week.
Friday, November 8 market quotations follows. Butcher hogs in the 180 to 220 pound division went to killers at $16.50 to $17.00. Those in the weight range of 240 to 300 moved at $15.75 to $16.25. Sows topped at the end of the week at $15.50. Light smooth sows went to the scales at $15.00 to $15.50. Medium weight sows ranged in price from $14.50 to $14.75. Heavy sows were exchanging hands at $14.00 to $14.25.”
Those of us sitting at Grandma’s table eating her ham and mashed potatoes had no idea how complicated the hog business was.
The Bushnell Stockyards was located on highway 41, just east of the main railroad tracks that go through town. There was even a brief time, before the railroad tracks, that the stockyards spread out farther west. The stockyards is just one more thriving business that used to exist in Bushnell, Illinois. That is now just a distant memory.
