Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1913-12-29
THE ALFALFA FINISHED
STEER AND THE WHY


on alfalfa ranches is such radical
change from the old methods Of beef
practices on cheap range land that
cattle men and alfalfa growers alike
have been a little slow in making the
change, but it is evident that the time
is not far distant when this phase Of
farming will command a great deal Of
attention, in all irrigated sections at
least.
At one time such plan would have
been strongly ridiculed, for with a
state second only to one in this coun-
try in the amount of open range land
and with the acreage of alfalfa insult
ficient to supply the demands af the
dairy cow and hog markets, it was
considered an economic impossibility
to handle beef cattle proftably as long
as conditions did not change.
Gradually a change has been tax
ing place in the old conditions, the
ranges having deteriorated in quality
in many sections, also the increasing
rural population has made yearly in
roads on the amount Of better range
land and lastly through irrigation pro-
jects and Independent pumping plants
the acreage of alfalfa has increased
to such proportions that it now seems
very probable some new market must
be developed, and the range raised
beef steers appears to be that market
1t will be noticed that the words
Grange raised" are used, as there is a
great deal of difference in the profits
Of range raised and alfalfa finished
product than there is in alfalfa raised
stuff, and it is on this point that so
many of our alfalfa growers disre-
gard beef production, thinking quite
correctly that to raise a steer from
calfhood to the finished steer of 1000
or 100 pounds would require larger
tonnage Of hay than the animal would
be worth when sold to the butcher
From the range growers standpoint it
is not hard to see where the benefits
from a rational alfalfa finishing sys-
tenn would come from, for it is in
the finishing of stock that the biggest
losses are felt
In reality our present range prac
tees do not allow Of any finishing, or
at any rate any proper fitting, for
while wild feeds will always be su-
preme in economical beef growing,
they do not harden an animal as the
butcher trade prefers. This creates a
big waste in the producing powers of
the ranges, as in the endeavor to add
weight to the older stock a large
amount of feed is consumed which
should be used in raising younger
stuff, and the resultant fault is that
our ranges are not growing the larg-
est number of cattle that would under
another system be possible.
From the standpoint of the alfalfa
grower cattle finishing system is es-
sential, not only to provide a larger
market for the increased planting, but
also to act as builder Of the soil,
for from the past history of this as
well as all other states it is found
that where stock raising has been
neglected there also you will find the
crop yield decreasing. AS class the
alfalfa farmer is today about the most
optimistic man in the country, for
during the past two years, when the
prices paid for butter fat and pork
have been high and the lack of winter
rains have caused almost complete
failures among grain hay growers, the
man with stack Of alfalfa was as
evident as the proverbial "hog on ice"
but if we look back upon years of nor
NAL rainfall it will be remembered
that SO recently as 1911 the price of
alfalfa hay was in some localities so
low that the grower was forced to sell
at prices that would hardly warrant
the investment necessary for its pro-
duction.
The writer remembers having visit
ed a ranch in the Sacramento valley
that year where more than 200 tons
of hay was stacked, for which the
highest offer made by the buyers was.
S. ton, and the owner was holding
for better price, which he did not
get until the following year, which
fortunately for him proved poor one
for grain hay farmers.
In many ways the dairy cow has
SO far been the greatest aid to the in
creased alfalfa production and will al
ways continue to be a large factor,
which is a good thing, as it increases
the fertility of the soil and provides
q lucrative market for large amount
of hay, but it is a fact not worth
disputing that many alfalfa growers
do not like to be tied down to the
COIIIlIIlleil WOIh VI d udII
This has long been recognized as an
objection which many had to the dairy
cow, but it is more forcibly shown at
the present time than ever before in
the number of dairy COWS that have
been sold to outside states this year
in order that the alfalfa man could
take advantage of the high hay prices,
for as many have remarked, with hay
at so ton / can make as much
money selling it direct as l can in
feeding it to the cows"
There is little question but that this
is the wrong way of looking at the
subject, as with good cows the argu-
ment does not hold good, but it is
used here to emphasize the point that
a great many only consider the dairy
cow as a temporary relief from the
cheap hay markets and are not men
who will ever make any permanent
business of dairying.
If it were necessary for these farm
ers to grow and finish the beef COW,
thereby necessitating continual care
/ he wear thTouph If is dOubtfuI Ubatb