Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-05-10
CHEAPER BEEF PRODUCTION.

~ oOON hS-Ay yAS We u~'N
,een intimating to our readers that
ne time Is coming when we shall
have to adopt methods that will pro
dUce beef cheaper than we ane doing
It now. We have pointed to the eG-
ample Of the English farmers, Ger
man and French farmers, and even
Canadian farmers, who manage in
some way to finish cattle without
feeding them the enormous amount
Of corn which we lave in times past
considered necessary.
Thirty years ago we could produce
beef very cheaply in this country.
We found it profitable at one time
TO allow calves to run with the cows
and could produce good calf at a
cost of about ten dollars at weaving
time. The calf could be carried thru
the winter on clover hay and a ra-
ton Of corn and oats very cheaply,
when clover hay at the outside was
worth four dollars a ton and oats not
over twenty-five cents a bushel The
next year these calves could be herd
ed ON the prairie at a cost OF dol
lar a head and kept from November
to March ON corn fields at a cost of
about two dollars and a half from
the time the corn stalks were worth
less until the grass grew ON the prai-
ries. A thpee-year old steer could be
produced at a profit when sold at
three cents a pound live weight 1t
could then be finished ON corn, corn
fodder and clover hay, and sent to
the market at a profit even at the
low prices then prevailing.
There is no longer any range on
the prairies except in the west half
Of Kansas and Nebraska. There are
no longer conn stalks to he had at
ten cents an acre, with twenty cents
worth of corn in them. Those days
are past. Following the disappear
ance of the prairie grass cattle feed
ers depended ON the range for feed
ing steers. The feed then cost moth
ing, and in the early days the attenr
dance nothing except the rounding up
or branding or marketing.
Then came in the fenced range on
government land; and so long as corn
was cheap in the corn states, it was
possible to produce beef in cOmpeti-
ton with any other part of the civil
lied world. But a great change has
come over the range. Close paStur-
ing has decreased its productive pow
or. In many sections sheep have come
In to drive out cattle The homestead
er has put down his stakes, and usu-
ally he is there to stay, or at least
long enough to seriously interfere
with the operations and profits of the
ranchman.
This will continue, and it is time
now for farmers and feeders to con-
slider seriously how they are to grow
cattle at the maximum of profit. Corn
has gone up by leaps and bounds.
Normally it should be about half the
price of wheat; now it is about four
fifthS. The last two or three years
have interfered seriously with the hay
crop, and hay in the country is now
about the same price as corn per ton.
This leads to a greater consumption
OF corn, tanners feeding it in prefer
ence 10 hay at the price. The high
price of corn leads to an increased
acreage rs per cent between 1900 and
1910. This increased acreage is taker
largely from grass hand.
Population, however, is still increas
Ing. The people will eat beef as long
as they can buy it, but they now pre-
Ter the smaller and cheaper cattle.
The problem for the farmer is how
to grow cattle at a price that the
consumer can afford to pay. We can
no longer depend on prairie grass.
We must depend less and less ON the
range. Evidently We shall have to
depend more than ever before ON the
progeny of the dual purpose COW. The
great demand of the cities for milk
has limited the range of the dual pur
pose cow The special purpose cow
and her progeny will always furnish
some beef, though comparatively lit
tie, as her calf is not a profitable cor
sumner of roughage at present prices,
The calves are mostly used : veal.
The problem then arises: How can
We produce beef from the dual pur-
pose COW at profit, Evidently not
at ali, unless we have something else
besides the chance of a cali as COM
pensatiOn. 1t is evident, therefore,
that this calf must be raised by hand
on skim milk properly balanced. 1t
Is evident also, that We must grow
more grass ner acre grass that will