The Dickinson press., 1915-11-20
FINISHING LIVE STOCK WITHIN THE STATE
NORTH DAKOTA RAISES CORN AND FEED TO FATTEN CATTLE.
SHEEP AND HOGS FOR MARKET. CLIMATE BEST IN
WORLD FOR WINTER FEEDING.

At no distant day North Dakota
will become noted for the production
of meat as well as for the pvoduc-
ton of wheat.
The live stock industry in the state
is leaping forward each year at a
rate that will oon put it on an equal
footing with the greatest stock rails
Ing communities of the country.
In 1914 the number of cattle fed in
North Dakota for slaughtering pur-
poses was 589,668. In 1915 the NUM-
Der is 762,167. The increase for n
year is 172,499.
In 1914 the number of hogs fed in
North Dakota was s 1882. In 1915
the number is 717,914, an increase in
m year of 257,932.
The number of sheep fed in North
Dakota in 1914 was 8a,O89. In 1915
it was los, 856, an increase of 25,767
in one year..
And North Dakota live stock
shipped to the slaughtering centers
bring the highest market prices in all
cases. No better meat can be pro-
duced anywhere in the world.
But comparatively little feeding Of
live stock has been done in North
Dakota in the past but that is owing
to the undivided attention that has
been given to the growing of wheat
to the exclusion of almost everything
else. However the farmers are now
awake to the possibilities in this line,
and the opportunity is being grasped
with a thoroughness that can have but
n outcome, success.
The fact that the farmers of North
Dakota can make more money than
those Of the corr belt states in grow
ing live stock and live stock products
is easy of demonstration. The corn
belt has three advantages over North
Dakota in such production. 1t can
grow more corr per acre. It has bet
ter and more prolonged pasturing in
the autumn season, and 1t is nearer
to the markets that consume the fin
ished product.
While the corn belt has the advan-
tage in growing ear corn it has no
advantage on fodder corn, the ad-
vantage in this product lying with
North Dakota. The fodder corn grown
here is finer and more leafy in its
growth and so will be more COM
| pletely consumed by the stock. There
is no part Of North Dakota in which
this fodder corn cannot be grown.
The advantage that the corn belt
has in it's autumn pastures of it's moist
seasons tends to shorten the period of
feeding in the stall or feed lot. In
North Dakota the feeding period sets
in earlier on account Of the usually
dry weather after harvest which does
not ted to produce abundant pastur-
age. But to Offset this more land fs
called for to produce a given increase
when the land is grazed than when
food Is grown on it and carried to
the stock. The comparative cheap
ness of these two methods depends
largely on the cost Of conveying the
food to the stock when It is not fed
off the land.
The advantage which the farmers
of the corn belt have in their prox-
Unity to the markets is in a large
measure Offset by the greater prox-
unity Of the farmers Of North Dakota
to the original supply Of feeders, that
is, to the stock grown on the western
ranges. t$
North Dakota's advantages over the
farmers Of the corn belt may be enum-
Grated as follows: First, in the lower
prices Of their lands; second, In the
better crops of coarse grains which
they may grow; third, in the produc-
ton Of fax; fourth, in the production
Of field peas; fifth, in the production
! Of field roots.