Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1911-10-05
CORN SILAGE AS A
FACTOR in BEEF
PRODUCTION
How the Silo Is Helping the Iowa
Farmer Make Cheaper Beef.
,, Prof ". J. Kennedy. Is,ya Asrieuituvai csm

For almost quarter or q century
corn silage has been regarded as in
dispensible to the dairyman. He has
long since learned that through the
use of the silo he can keep more COWS
on given area of land. His COWS also
produce more milk. The cost of the
The young stock makes more rapid
growth and keeps in much better
health and condition.
In Iowa We have many good dairy
farmers. We are going to have a great
many more in the next few years
Still the masses of our people have
been and will continue for some time
to come to be interested in some
phase of the beef cattle industry.
Some are breeders of pure-bred cattle,
some are concerned in the production
of baby beef and large number are
engaged in the cattle feeding business.
With high-priced land and high prices
for feeding stuffs the question of uti-
LIKING our corn crop is puzzling many
of these men. Can they afford to burn
the-eo stalks? How can they best
harvest these stalk fields? How can
they cut down the hay bill for the
breeding herd and the corn and hay
bill for the fattening steers? How
can they feed their pure-bred cows
during the winter months to insure "a
better flow of milk, thus getting larger
and more growthy calves? How can
they carry the breeding herd through a
period of drought, in July and August,
when there is shortage OF grass
These and many other questions must
be answered., The silo Is today, and
will be more so in the future, the
mainstay Of the Iowa farmer. 1t will
enable him to carry more cattle on a
given area of land. 1t will cheaper
the cost of maintaining the breeding
herd of beef COWS. 1t will cause his
young stock to grow IL months in the
year. 1t will materially lessen the cost
of producing gains in the feed lot. The
higher the price of corn and the short
er the feeding periods the more help
full will the silo be.
Corn silage alone is not well bal
anced ration for any kind of stock 1t
is lacking in protein. Some form OF
supplemental feed rich in protein, such
as Oil meal, cottonseed meal, gluten
feed, alfalfa or clover hay should be
fed in conjunction with corn silage
For the breeding herd of beef COWS q
ration composed of 35 or 40 pounds
corn silage, 6 pounds clover or alfalfa
| hay, pounds corn and l pound OF
meal will give excellent results. Tx
above ration is sufficient for COWS suck
ling their calves. Dry cows will dc
very we'll on the corn silage and ha,
without any form Of concentrates.
For fattening steers silage has Civ
en- excellent results. Feeding test!
made during the past winter at the
Iowa experiment station, Indiana, hi
nois and Missouri experiment stations
have all shown corn slage to give
good results both from the standpoin
of economy and rapidity of gains.
In the Iowa test one lot of steer
were on clover hay, ear corn and co
tonseed meal; second lot were fe
clover hay, corn silage, ear corn an
ccttonseed meal and third lot wa
fed just corn silage, shelled corn an
ccttonseed meal. The test lasted Is
days. The steers were weighed at tn
end Of each 80 days and the dali
gains and cost per 100 pounds gal
have been computed at the end {
each 80 days, 100 days and $50 days.
Daily Gains and Cost Per 100 Lib.
Gain by Periods.