“The late 1800s saw a significant increase in the number of livestock auction barns throughout the United States. They were particularly prevalent in the Midwest, where agriculture was booming. Many of these barns were owned and operated by the farmers themselves, who saw the value in pooling their resources to sell their livestock.

The first sale barn of this type in the US was the Union Stock Yards in Chicago, which opened in 1865. It quickly became the largest livestock market in the world, with over 600 acres of land dedicated to selling livestock.

Sale barns began popping up all over the country, with notable examples including:

- Fort Worth Stockyards - Texas: Established in 1866, the Fort Worth Stockyards became the largest livestock market in the Southwest.

- South St. Paul Stockyards - Minnesota: Established in 1886, this sale barn was one of the largest in the Midwest, handling over 3 million head of cattle each year.

- National Stockyards - Illinois: Established in 1870, the National Stockyards in East St. Louis, Illinois, became the largest livestock market east of the Mississippi River.

- Kansas City Stockyards - Missouri: Established in 1871, the Kansas City Stockyards were once the second-largest stockyards in the country, handling over 2 million head of cattle each year.

- Union Stockyards - Nebraska: Established in 1883, the Union Stockyards in Omaha were once the largest livestock market in the world, covering over 400 acres and handling over 5 million head of cattle each year.

- Eastern Livestock Company - Kentucky: This company operated several livestock auction/sale barns throughout the Eastern United States, including one in New Holland, Pennsylvania that was once the largest auction in the world.” - continue reading

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The Weather 20/20 Crystal Ball made another prediction using knowledge of the cycling pattern. Last week’s storm was predicted by Weather 20/20 35-days ago in our Severe Weather Guide. Here is that prediction:

Now here is the same prediction map overlayed with actual storm reports from March 14-17. There are those on social media praising the Storm Prediction Center for their one and two day predictions, so keep in mind the Weather 20/20 forecast was made 35-days before the horrific severe weather outbreak, dust storms, and blizzards.

Each dot on this map above shows a severe weather report, the damaging winds, large hail, flooding, and tornado reports. Our prediction wasn’t perfect, but it was close. If the LRC was in wide use, then one benefit is in lives saved. If the region predicted to have a severe weather outbreak got the LRC warnings weeks to months in advance, then perhaps a few people would have planned differently and had been better prepared. Lives would have been saved through this advanced warning, and businesses could have been prepared for this event, at least with a plan in place without scrambling around at the last minute which is what usually happens with just a day to days notice.

The weather pattern is cycling at close to every six weeks or so. That means this part of the pattern will cycle back through in late April. Here is the prediction also made and just updated for the late April timeframe: