The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1915-01-27
Raising of Beeves Supplements
Profitable Dairying on Farms
Throughout State.
(By Howard R. Smith.)

much more corn and with it more
clover and alfalfa, there is sure to
be, on every we'll organized farm of
average size, surplus of feed, all of
which cannot be utilized for dairy
cows owing to labor limitations. The
state has an average of one man for
hundred acres. AS the firms aver
age LIT acres in size there are less
than two men for each farm.
Dairy operations, profitable as they
are when good cows are kept, must
necessarily be limited on the average
farm to the few cows that two men
can milk when putting in full time
planting and harvesting their crops.
On such farm the surplus grain and
roughage not needed for the cows,
horses, swine and perhaps sheep,
should be converted into beef because
when properly fed in will bring more
than if sold for cash and there will
be more manure to make still larger
crops in succeeding years.
Little Labor Required
Very little labor is required in feed
ing cattle for beef. The animals are
allowed to run together in yard and
shed open to the south, which may
be very inexpensive--perhaps of straw
and the only labor necessary is that
of filling the troughs and racks with
grain and hay once or twice a day.
One man can care for a carload of
twenty head in one hours time each
day if the racks are arranged con-
veniently.
A majority of farmers in Minneso-
ia keep grade cows CT good size and
even though many of these cows in
cline to the dairy form, they produce
class of calves that will prove very
profitable to feed if a good pure bred
beef sire is used. In fact, on high
priced farm land, it is usually better
to sacrifice Is or even so cents per
hundredweight on the selling price OF
such calves finished for beef than to
sacrifice too much on the milk pro-
ducing qualities of the cows. In the
range country Or other districts where
grazing is cheap, one can well afford
to keep a cow the entire year for the
one calf she is able to raise, and un-
der such conditions it should be a
cow of special purpose beef type.
Both Milk and Beef
Minnesota could have all the heifey
calves needed for it's future milk sup
ply and all that the state has labor tc
milk if these were the progeny OF
only half the cows of the state, pro
viding the best milking cows were
chosen for this purpose and their
calves were to be sired by bulls
having a good, dairy parentaga
preferably those of good size. If al
other cattle were to be sired by COOS
pure bred bulls of the beef type, we
would have much better calves fol-
fattening purposes, and would not
need to depend on the range for gooG
feeding cattle. Such a system would
be made possible through the organi.
cation of Farmers Cooperative Breed
ing association, each association own
ing one Or more sires of each type.
Range Can't Meet Demand
The very fact that we have beer
compelled to pay cents per pouns
| for Western cattle to GO into our feee
lots is evidence that the range cannot
supply the demand. Such cattle ca.
be bred on Minnesota farms at {
much lower cost, and the farmers are
not taking full advantage of presen
opportunities unless they breed mora
of them for their own feed lots.