Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-08-15
silage for Beef Cattle.

A northern Iowa correspondent
writes: "Is silage a good feed for
beef cattle? Do you think it will
pay to erect a silo in Oerro Gorde
county? While l am milking a few
COWS, | do not consider that am in
the dairy business. About three
fourths Of my COWS are MIXED by
their calves. ] feed most of these
calves for the market, finishing
them when they are about two and
one-half years old. In addition to
the cattle raise myself generally
purchase one or two carloads OF
steers per year for fattenlng pur-
poses. feed ear corn, shelled corn,
a little bran and from one to three
pounds OF oil meal per head during
the last two months Of the fattening
period. For roughage | use fodder
corn and clover and timothy hay.
The question in my mind is, is it
cheaper to put certain per cent of
my corn in the silo and feed it in
the green state than it is to husk it,
shell and haul the fodder to the
barn for the CATTLE
AS we have repeatedly stated in
these columns, feeding tests con-
Quoted at great many Of our ex-
pertinent stations have demonstrated
that silage isa good feed for beef
cattle. We have also called atten-
.tion to the fact that some of the most
successful beef feeders have been
using silage for a number of years
with most excellent results. English
feeders, than whom there are no
better anywhere, invariably feed
certain amount Of roots to their fat
tening cattle. They do not use sill
age for the reason that corn does
not grow in that country whereas
roots are raised quite economically,
owing to the moist climate. What
is true Of the English feeder with
reference to feeding roots to fatten-
ing cattle is true of the Scotch feed
er as we'll. These people would not
think of getting cattle ready for the
block without some succulent feed.
These and other similar facts, in
our opinion, are sufficient to prove
the value OF ensilage as a cattle feed
in this country.
The question Of labor is the only
one that needs serious consideration.
1t costs more to put up corn in the
green than in the dry state, although
the extra costis comparatively small,
and taking into consideration the
fact that corn fodder is invariably
seriously injured before it is fed, and
t cost of husking and shelling, we
believe that on an average, after a
silo has been erected and ensilage ma
chinery has been secured, the cost Of
putting up green corn is only very
slightly greater than the cost Of put
ting up corn and fodder in the old
way.
That steer can be fattened on a
fewer number of pounds of dry mat
ter when he is fed ensilage is a GER
tainty. Feeders are familiar with the
fact that a steer can be fattened on
pasture with about half the corn re-
quired during the winter months in
the dry lot. Two pecks of corn per
day is considered about an average
feed for mature steer in the dry
lot during the winter, whereas one
peck per day is sufficient for steer
running at pasture. Furthermore,
the one running at pasture will
make greater gains on one peck OF
corn per day than the one in the dry
lot on two pecks. Good corn ensil-
age has feeding value fully equal
to grass, hence it seems as though
no argument would be needed tc
convince any man that silage is a
profitable feed for beef cattle, es.
pecially when from 10 to 15 tons
can be raised per acre.
| wv oA0 SAoA w AoV0 IlldI RTedl
many silos are being erected in Iowa
this year. We have no accurate sta.
tistics as to the number that are be
ing built but we understand that a
single Iowa firm have sold 400 silos
in the state SO far this season. This
is very encouraging and speaks wei
for Iowa farmers.
Since we have so often given facts
and figures to demonstrate that sill
age is profitable feed not only fo1
milk COWS but for beef cattle az
we'll, we shall not repeat these state
ments at this time. What we have
said should be sufficient to convinc,
our correspondent that if he erects
silo this year and fills it with gooe
corn he may expect it to pay for it
self before next spring. In feeding
silage to beef cattle one thing SHOULD
be kept in mind, and that is tha
silage-fed cattle should be well caret
for. A steer that is being fed silag'
cannot Withstand as severe cold a