The Clio messenger., 1917-10-05
Analyses Show High-Priced
Feeds Are Frequently Most
Economical.
RATI0NS ARE SUGGESTED
College Makes Out List Of What
Dairymen Have Found to ee
Practical Under Present
Conditions.
BY ]. A. WALDRON,
Extension Agents In DairyinQ, Mich
loan Agriculture COLLEGE.

s0aU A0TtCuituTo Soue00.
East Lansing. Mich.-Recent devel-
opments In the dairy industry OF the
state have given dairymen reason to
hope that better times are In store
for them during the coming year.
Something approaching more equit-
able prices for milk and butterfat
seem to be on the way and unless the
signs fail 1t should pay dairymen to
stay In business.
II will be practicable to feed grain
or concentrates, though perhaps the
supply Of these won't be so literally
dealt out to the dairy herd as in times
past. But in purchasing grain and
concentrates 1t has too often been the
practice among dairymen to judge
feed not by its food value or nutrient
content but by the price asked for II.
Many n man won't pay $40 ton for
high-claSs concentrates when he can
purchase another sort for $40, though
many tests have amply proved that
not infrequently the $40 feed may be
really more economical than the $40
kind. In making purchases this fall.
the dairyman therefore should buy
not alone on the basis OF price, hut
on the basis Of nutrient content as
WELL
An illustration in point may make
this little clearer. Ii n dairyman
has supply of sllace and Other
roughage on hand. and it is question
Of laying in some protein feed to bal
ance the ration, would ii be wiser TO
purchase wheat bran at $40 a ton, or
say. cOttonseed meal (chOice) at Sj1 a
ton? The answer is simple, Buy cot
tonseed," for mt these prices Il pound
Of digestible crude protein costs 16
cents in the bran and only 60 cents
in the cOttonseed. The cost OF protein
In the cottOnSeed. 1t Will be seen, is
only about one-half as much per pound
rs that in the bran, despite the fact
that cottonseed costs $11 more n ton.
In other words. the dairyman who
may be seeking protein supplement
for his ration should inquire how much
protein he Is getting for his money
and not merely how much feed"
Where the margin of profit in the
dairy business is so slight at times
as to be almost invisible to the naked
eye. this item Is an important one.
With feeds as whole, recent in
restigation has proved that protein,
the milk-fOrming nutrient, is cheapest
at present time October, 1919 in cot
toncaad ynaoI alfalfa how oil rnaal opd
clover hay, and in the case of the
ieady-mixed feeds 1t has been noted
that protein and the total nutrients
are without exception cheaper In the
feeds containing a higher amount of
protein and total nutrients, even
though these feeds cost more per ton.
Grain, further, should not be
thrown away, but this cannot be avoid
ed unless cows are fed individually,
that is according to their milk produc-
ton. Men who have made a go Of
the dairy business and who have made
money despite recent adversities, have
found that as rule one pound Of
grain per day should be fed to a COW
for each two and One-half to four
pounds Of milk produced per day de-
pending upon quality Of milk, or one
pound of grain per day for each pound
of butterfat produced per week.
Knowing how much to feed. the next
pressing question Is, "What should we
feedY To meet this inquiry list of
rations which many Of Mlchigan's
best dairymen have found will secure
results, has been complied. They
we're planned for 10O0-pound cow.
producing about 30 pounds Of 3.5 to
per cent milk, or IS pounds of As
or per cent milk.
First, in the case of the dairyman
who has alfalfa and corn silage on
hand for roughage, any OF the follow
ing may be used to balance the ra-
ton: