Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-08-13
COUNT COST OF
FEEDING CATTLE
Government Report of Exrec
ments Made on Iowa Farms
Shows Value of Records.

| washington, u -, aug. lo--1He
! Importance OF keeping accurate farm
records of the cost of feeding animals
is shown ia reports giving tho profits
r,on feeding on % Iowa farms.
These records. which were made on
the corn belt farms of men known to
| be careful and experienced feeders,
| were kept carefully for two years.
! The results as reported in Farmers
| Bulletin No. SIS. of the L. S. depart
ment of agriculture, are as follows:
To determine as accurately as pos
I sible the cost of feeding farm animals
cost-accounting records were kept for
two years on "a Iowa farms. The men
selected were leading farmers in
/ their communities, known to be care
| full and experienced feeders. During
| the feeding year beginning with the
| fall of 1909 the average profit on 961
| cattle fed in % punches was S2.05 per
head, in addition to the profits on the
hogs following them. The prices re-
ceived were very satisfactory. The
1904 hogs following these steers were
given extra grain. Market prices in
the spring of 1910 were such that
profit of S667 per hog was secured,
. LiluS XIV ms a piOIe VI 2l--fO pei obtCl
when the pork was credited to the
steers.
The following feeding year, 1901.
proved unsatisfactory, due to prices
which caused loss of rs cents per
head on LBS cattle that were fed on
| % farms The 1876 hogs following
these steers returned an average pro-
[ fit of 1888, or. when the profit on the
I = A. IL.
net profit was s4.04 per steer.
Until systems of cost accounting
which took into account all the over
( head charges as well as the main cost
were used. the expense of feeding was
underestimate The following table
| shows the proportionate cost of diff
ferent items, based on the cost-ac
counting records kept on the "a Iowa
farms. These figures will vary some
what from year to year as the rela-
| tive prices of cattle and feeds change.
/ The greatest variation will occur in
the original cost of the cattle and in
the cost of the feeds.
! Percentage of the various expenses
| incurred in cattle feeding on "a
! Iowa farms:
19O9-1O-Purchase price a. 55.S;
/ feed, 369; interest at per cent, 1.3;
| labor. 16; shipping and selling CD,
"A: total, 100.
191O-11-Purchase price ~. 500;
feed, Bis; interest at 6 per celt, Is:
labor. Is; shipping and selling CD.
AZ; total. 100.
l. Delivered at farm Gncluding
freight and incidental charges).
=. Exclusive of shrinkage.
In this table no account was taken
of the occasional loss of a steer, which
ordinarily averages one-half of one
per cent of the total number; nor
were interest, taxes and depreciation
charges on the feeding plant consid-
cred. Careful study indicates that
these and other incidental charges
would about Offset the value of the
manure. which is also difficult to esti-
mate. In the table interest has been
charged at 6 per cent on the cost of the
cattle laid down at the farm.
The labor percentage was figured on
the basis of man labor at 81 cents an
hour. and horses labor at cents an
hour The labor cost on 40 punches OF
cattle. totaling POO head. for an aver
age feeding period of 146 days, was a
little over 912 mills per head. The
cost varied from 4 mills to as high as
. or 3 ceuts dependent on the man
ner IN which the cattle were fed. \
larger feeder figured on one cent per
day per steer for labor. On 500 head
this gave him a small profit, which
increased with the number fed. A
large feeding plant which was operat-
ed for II years in Nebraska and dur
ing that time fed about $4,000 steers.
figured its cost at IL cents per head
per day. While this firm had expen'
sive labor and equipment, it neverthe-
less had every convenience for the
economical handling of the feeds.
The selling cost. including freight,
yardage. commission, and other Incl
dentals. will vary with the distance
shipped. The total cost on 676 cattle
shipped from central Iowa to Chicago
amounted to s3.9S per head. or 81
cents per hundredweight. This does
not include shrinkage in transit,