Morris tribune., 1915-02-05
GRAIN AND HAY
give CHEAP BEEF
Fattening Steers as Year|ings
or Two Year. OIdS Reduced
to Science.
BY HOWARD R. SMITH,

On farms where there is plenty OF
pasture and roughage for winter feed
ing, such as clover, alfalfa, cornstalks
or oat straw, it is desirable to feed a
growing ration for the first twelve or
eighteen months, fattening steers as
yearlings or two-yearolds. This
makes it possible to convert into beef
q large quantity of inexpensive feeds,
some of which might otherwise go to
waste.
Calves or yearlings make better
gains on grass alone if they receive
during the winter preceding a light
grain ration with all the good rough
age they want and their growth on
such a ration is much less costly. In
three different experiments with
calves at the Nebraska station, the
writer found the light grain ration
three to four pounds per day to each
calf-with a liberal quantity of good
hay gave cheaper gains than no grain
calves which received the light grain
ration in winter and grass alone the
following summer made the most
economical growth for the year.
Roughage alone does not seem to sup
ply sufficient nourishment for best re-
suits during the winter. On the other
hnf COL oiu h
grain they go on pasture carrying a
little too much flesh to make the best
use of grass alone.
Grain in SiIage Counts.
In a fourth experiment, where silage
from welleared corn was fed, there
seemed to be enough grain in the
silage to answer the purpose. A
group of eight which had been reared
on skim milk weighed at the begin
ming of the experiment in January, at
the age of seven months, $50 pounds
each. The average daily ration per
calf for a period of four months was:
Corn silage, II pounds; alfalfa hay, &
pounds. The silage was made from
well-matured corn and there was ap-
proximately three pounds of corn in
the seventeen pounds of silage. The
average daily gain per calf on this
ration was 1876 pounds. A second
group of the same class of calves re-.
ceived three pounds of corn meal,
six pounds Of alfalfa and twelve
pounds Of silage per day. The aver
age daily gain on this ration was III
pounds. The average daily ration
consumed by a third group of the
same class of calves was:
Corn meal. pounds.
Alfalfa ............6 pounds.
Corn silage. ........9 pounds.
The average daily gain per calf in
this group was 1.91 pounds.
siIage and Alfalfa Ration.
With corn worth at that time 66
cents per bushel, alfalfa $40 per ton
and with corn silage valued at SO per
ton, the cost Of 100 pounds of gain
in the first group fed silage and al
falfa was $4.10; in the second group
with three pounds of corn meal and
correspondingly less silage $5.44; in
the third group with six pounds of
corn meal $50. It seems, therefore,
that with plenty Of good silage and
some alfalfa hay. calves can be car
ried through the winter in good grow
ing condition without additional grain.
Such a growth can be secured at
very low cost and the calves will be
in excellent condition to make large
gains on grass alone the following
summer.
Glover could be used successfully
as q substitute for alfalfa, but il
would be advisable to feed with clo-
YER two pounds Of bran or three-uuar-
-Ssers of pound Of oil meal per day
owing to- the lower protein content of
: the clover A small quantity of wild
hay or oat straw could be used to ad.
vantage, in which case somewhat less
!: silage would be consumed Well
W cured corn stalks could. be substitute
ed for silsge, but would not give as
good results.
In another experiment in which the
raticns fed to groups of calves were
exactly alike except that silage was
used in one group and corn slower in
the other, the silage fed calves made
gains 18 per cent greater than those
fed corn slower, and the cost of
gains was correspondence less.
Roushage When Grain Is High.
With grain high in price during re-
cent years, the use of good roughage
in correct proportions Is an important
factor during both the growing period
and the fattening period. 1t would
seem, too, that more of our land
should be in grass. Grazing portion
Of land lowers the cost of operating
the farm and it is good for the SOIL
A good blue grass sod on hill sides
prevents washing and if the pasture
10 we'll cared for 1t can be made to
Yield as large a revenue as the ordi-
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