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VOL. LXVI I INDIANAPOLIS, APRIL 12, 1913 NO. 15 The Beef Cattle Situation and Its Solution Why aro beefsteaks and beef cattle so high in price as compari'd to six, ten or fifteen years ago? Will twenty-five cent oats and thirty-five cent corn bring the price of beef down to its former level? These are some of the questions which people in every walk of life are asking at the present time. In a measure, at .least, this question may be answered by the application of ByW. J. Kennedy, Agricultural .Extension Dept., Iowa State College large number of the range cattle men out of business. Even the corn belt states have fallen off from 25 to 50 per cent In beef cattle during the past ten years. In the past, Iowa has been famous cattle through the winter months in the stalk fields and finished them on corn and grass during the summer and fall months. Where the cattle have been well bought and Judiciously handled, very satisfactory results have been fallen off very rapidly in recent years. This meanl that tbe "cattle feeder" as We know him in tlie past, must in a measure give way to the "beef produc- l-I'e" Beef production is the all Important question of the day. Iowa needs on an average 1,000 "beef producers" ln each county. Bach man to market about IS or 20 good 1,000 pound to 1- Some of the cattle on the large farms of J. J. Totten, near Fairland. Mr. Totten is one of the largest stock raisers in the State. the law of supply an:; demand. During the past twelve years our population has increased about 2 5 per cent, while out- .supply of beef cattle has de- (-reused over 30 per cent. These figures would not indicate any very immediate relief to the consumer. The end is not yet. Next year and each succeeding year for at least three years "ill see a mueh shorter supply of beef cattle than at the present time. This will be due to the fact that the present nigh prices for beef cattle are causing thousands upon thousands of cows and heifers to be sent to the slaughter house, which under ordinary circumstances would and should be retained for breeding purposes. It is a case of killing the goose that laid the golden 'gg. The ranges of the Northwest, the Wert and Southwest, which, in the bast, constituted the greatest feeder cattle producing territory in the world, have seen their best days. They are carrying today just about one-half the number of cattle they carried eight, ten or fifteen years ago. Irrigation, dry land farming, and the more general Introduction of sheep, have driven a as a cattle fe<.ding state. True we have had some real "beef producers" but the large majority of our men have been "cattle feeders." From now, conditions will gradually change. Heel' production will become a more and more important industry. With It will come more silos, more blue grass pastures, a largely increased acreage of alfalfa, lets soil robbing, and a more permanent form of agriculture. Feeding Cattle for Market. P.y the term cattle feeding, we mean the fattening of more or less mature sst, .-rs for the market. These cattle may be home grown or produced on the ranges of the West. In the past the majority of such cattle have come from the range sections and have remained on our farms from four to twelve months, or long enough to make them marketable beef. The length of time and method of feeding used depended upon the size and condition of the cattle and the purpose of the feeder. Some men have followed dry lot feeding, which was done during the fall, winter or spring months. Other men roughed their obtained from both methods of feeding. Getting the Most From the Corn Crop. Until very recent years but little or no attention was given to the amount of corn fed to the cattle. The hog has always been a part of the cattle feeding business. He was used to utilize what the steer wasted. With plenty of thrifty, light-weight hogs to follow the cattle, but little corn was wasted except in real wet weather and in muddy feed lots. Such methods of feeding were wasteful of the corn stalks. These were seldom utilized. They were either burned or plowed under. With the introduction of the silo came a method for the more general utilization of the entire corn plant. Even at the present time over half of the corn stalks are really allowed to go to waste. With the use of more silos this waste will be gradually lessened. Tlie Demand For Feeders. The most difficult problem which now confronts, the cattle feeder is the source of his supply of feeders. Tn former years the ranges produced an abundance of feeder cattle. This supply has 200 pound fat animals each year at $85 to $100 per head making a grand total of from $175,000,000 to $200,000,000 worth of beef each year. This would leave 100,000 farmers for the dairy business. It would mean the marketing of crops in the form of meat and dairy products and would prove a wonderful aid in the conservation of the fertility of our soil. It would mean one or more silos on each farm,—thus the utilization of our corn stalks. We would then be on a par with the good farmers of England and Scotland and our land would be paying dividends on from a $200 to a $300 per acre valuation. Producing Beef Requires Skill. By beef production we mean the growing and finishing of our own cattle for market. This requires skill and good management to insure 81* I lap hazard methods of breeding and feeding have no place on the farm p( the "beef producer." Good beef of the early maturing kind, will be demanded. Corn silage, alfalfa and other palatable forms of roughage will be led Continued on page 19.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1913, v. 68, no. 15 (Apr. 12) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA6815 |
Date of Original | 1913 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2011-04-18 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript | VOL. LXVI I INDIANAPOLIS, APRIL 12, 1913 NO. 15 The Beef Cattle Situation and Its Solution Why aro beefsteaks and beef cattle so high in price as compari'd to six, ten or fifteen years ago? Will twenty-five cent oats and thirty-five cent corn bring the price of beef down to its former level? These are some of the questions which people in every walk of life are asking at the present time. In a measure, at .least, this question may be answered by the application of ByW. J. Kennedy, Agricultural .Extension Dept., Iowa State College large number of the range cattle men out of business. Even the corn belt states have fallen off from 25 to 50 per cent In beef cattle during the past ten years. In the past, Iowa has been famous cattle through the winter months in the stalk fields and finished them on corn and grass during the summer and fall months. Where the cattle have been well bought and Judiciously handled, very satisfactory results have been fallen off very rapidly in recent years. This meanl that tbe "cattle feeder" as We know him in tlie past, must in a measure give way to the "beef produc- l-I'e" Beef production is the all Important question of the day. Iowa needs on an average 1,000 "beef producers" ln each county. Bach man to market about IS or 20 good 1,000 pound to 1- Some of the cattle on the large farms of J. J. Totten, near Fairland. Mr. Totten is one of the largest stock raisers in the State. the law of supply an:; demand. During the past twelve years our population has increased about 2 5 per cent, while out- .supply of beef cattle has de- (-reused over 30 per cent. These figures would not indicate any very immediate relief to the consumer. The end is not yet. Next year and each succeeding year for at least three years "ill see a mueh shorter supply of beef cattle than at the present time. This will be due to the fact that the present nigh prices for beef cattle are causing thousands upon thousands of cows and heifers to be sent to the slaughter house, which under ordinary circumstances would and should be retained for breeding purposes. It is a case of killing the goose that laid the golden 'gg. The ranges of the Northwest, the Wert and Southwest, which, in the bast, constituted the greatest feeder cattle producing territory in the world, have seen their best days. They are carrying today just about one-half the number of cattle they carried eight, ten or fifteen years ago. Irrigation, dry land farming, and the more general Introduction of sheep, have driven a as a cattle fe<.ding state. True we have had some real "beef producers" but the large majority of our men have been "cattle feeders." From now, conditions will gradually change. Heel' production will become a more and more important industry. With It will come more silos, more blue grass pastures, a largely increased acreage of alfalfa, lets soil robbing, and a more permanent form of agriculture. Feeding Cattle for Market. P.y the term cattle feeding, we mean the fattening of more or less mature sst, .-rs for the market. These cattle may be home grown or produced on the ranges of the West. In the past the majority of such cattle have come from the range sections and have remained on our farms from four to twelve months, or long enough to make them marketable beef. The length of time and method of feeding used depended upon the size and condition of the cattle and the purpose of the feeder. Some men have followed dry lot feeding, which was done during the fall, winter or spring months. Other men roughed their obtained from both methods of feeding. Getting the Most From the Corn Crop. Until very recent years but little or no attention was given to the amount of corn fed to the cattle. The hog has always been a part of the cattle feeding business. He was used to utilize what the steer wasted. With plenty of thrifty, light-weight hogs to follow the cattle, but little corn was wasted except in real wet weather and in muddy feed lots. Such methods of feeding were wasteful of the corn stalks. These were seldom utilized. They were either burned or plowed under. With the introduction of the silo came a method for the more general utilization of the entire corn plant. Even at the present time over half of the corn stalks are really allowed to go to waste. With the use of more silos this waste will be gradually lessened. Tlie Demand For Feeders. The most difficult problem which now confronts, the cattle feeder is the source of his supply of feeders. Tn former years the ranges produced an abundance of feeder cattle. This supply has 200 pound fat animals each year at $85 to $100 per head making a grand total of from $175,000,000 to $200,000,000 worth of beef each year. This would leave 100,000 farmers for the dairy business. It would mean the marketing of crops in the form of meat and dairy products and would prove a wonderful aid in the conservation of the fertility of our soil. It would mean one or more silos on each farm,—thus the utilization of our corn stalks. We would then be on a par with the good farmers of England and Scotland and our land would be paying dividends on from a $200 to a $300 per acre valuation. Producing Beef Requires Skill. By beef production we mean the growing and finishing of our own cattle for market. This requires skill and good management to insure 81* I lap hazard methods of breeding and feeding have no place on the farm p( the "beef producer." Good beef of the early maturing kind, will be demanded. Corn silage, alfalfa and other palatable forms of roughage will be led Continued on page 19. |
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