Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-12-18
'PR0F. PEW Of IOWA COLLEGE SPEAKS
To THE CORNBE[T MEAT PRODUCERS
AGRICULTURE EXPERT TELLS OF MODERN
METHODS OF CATTLE RAISING AT
DIES MONIES MEETING

2,224,O0O and the beef cattle 2,773,000,
showing decrease of population OF !
per cent with a decrease In the number
of beef cattle Of some 80 per cent.
Beef Cattle Conditions in lows.
While the above statistics deal only
slightly with the existing conditions in
our own state as well as in our western
states and also southern, 1t Is strong
enough indication as to what must be
done in order to remedy the shortage.
We have seen during the past few
weeks slight decline in the market
price Of cattle. This, under existing
conditions, might have been expected.
However, we cannot but expect good
prices to be maintained. Probably some
weeks may find the market somewhat
unsteady. but it Is the firm belief Of all
men who study the market that the
days Of cheap beef are past. With the
division Of the range into smaller
farms, the growing of larger acreage of
grains in the west and south. small
err supply Of beef cattle from the form
err range states must be expected. If
Iowa and other corn belt states are to
remain beef producing states, the cat
tie most certainly must be grown with
in their borders. While no doubt some
feeder cattle will be purchased from
adjoining southern and western states,
this supply will be more or less limit
ed. We will take for granted then that
cattle must be grown on our farms.
Such being the case we must proceed
to find the class OF cattle which are
most profitable and also, the age at
which they must be sold. Land valua-
tons have increased very rapidly and
indications are that they will increase
for some time to come. The cost Of
labor Is also increasing. Concentrated
feed prices, as rule, are also increas-
ing.
"Baby Beef" Production.
We have all heard and learned some
thing concerning baby beef produc-
ton. Our agricultural colleges and our
agricultural papers in the central west
have been giving expla nation of the
methods involved and we are now
more sure that they were correct.
At the recent International the SUI
premacy Of baby beeves" was demon
strated for the second time by the load
of sweepstakes cattle produced on the
farms Of Messrs. fischer & Ryan. This
supremacy was duplicated by every
load of yearling cattle that had been
we'll cared for. 1t was interesting to see
the sale price of the various loads Of
cattle as compared with their weights.
We have always known that younger
cattle make more economical gains
sometimes supposed that they did not
gain quite so rapidly. This last suppo-
sition was disproved in a feeding oper
alton carried on at the Walnut Ridge
Farm at Whiting, Ia, in 1912, where
calves weighing 475 lbs made an aver
age daily gain for 1886 days of 1.97 lbs
as compared with gain of AZ lbs for
259 days on two old cattle weigh
ing at the start 775 lbs. The gains in
On ~ n
expected made on considerably less
feed, which means that they were more
economical. Cattle that can be market
ed before they are eighteen months Of
aga have therefore made the most econ
omical gains and with the proper care
and feed have made the most money
70" their grower and feeder
The International Live Stock EXPOSE
ton has always stood as an educator
for the beef cattlcmen. Some of the
lessons they should have learned from
the performance of the baby beeves"
might he summed up as follows: The
finished yearling steer is. as mentioned
above, the most profitable for the
grower and feeder; second, that good
blood is necessary for the greatest
profit. A good steer can seldom be
der to be profitable calf must 'be
properly handled from birth; fourth,
early maturing qualities are absolute
ly necessary for the best results.
For one to stand on the block and
watch the yearling cattle SELL either
prize winners or not, for prices from
2m3c per pound in advance of those
brought by the heavier two and three
year-old cattle. was sufficient proof
that some of the older cattle might be
well left out of the exposition list.
believe 1t has been proposed that the
class for three year-old cattle be drop
ped There seems to be a very good
reason for this. l dare say that every
pound of gain put on these heavier cat
tie were done at considerable loss, while
on the other hand the gains made by
the younger cattle were no doubt prof
table / know of some loads Of yearling
cattle that did not pass the inspection
of the Sitting committee which made
gains for period Of nearly one year
at cost Of IVA Sc per pound. Fairly
accurate figures have been kept on
their cost Of gains.
If our expositions are to remain as
educational as they have in the past,
| am convinced of the fact that two
yearold cattle might well be left from
the single steer prize list. No doubt
some may argue that the steer herd
would not look just right without the
two yearOld, but ] am looking at 1T
strictly from the standpoint of an edu-
cati6nal feature to the farmer and the
breeder from the standpoint of profit.
As perhaps most Of you know. two
year-old steers may be at least thirty
five months Of age at the time Of the
International and at no time during the
state fair season could he be more than
four months younger. This means then
that the two-year- old steer has been
carried from the are Of a Junior year.
ling to a junior two-year- old. His
most economical period Of growth and
gain was made up to the time he was
a junior yearling. During the growth
and gain of his two-year- form he,
in most cases, made his gains at loss.
A year ago | kept some figures on
the two-year- old steer. John Bell, who
was bred and raised on the college
farm. This steer as a Junior yearling
was champion steer OF the Shorthorn
breed at the 1911 International. He
was as rapid gaining steer from a
junior yearling to a two-year old as
has ever been fed on the college farm,
but even though he was. his gains
were very expensive and hence I'M
profitable.
7 am quite convinced from the data
that we have at hand that no steer
should be exhibited in the single