The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1918-08-21
.TECUMSEH FARM
ERS PREPARE OWN
STOCK FEEDS
TOGETHER WITH MICHIGAN AG-
RICULTURAL COLLEGE WORK
OUT CHEAP, HIGHLY NU-
TRITIOUS FEED.

East Lansing, Aug. 12.-Dairymen
living in the vicinity of Tecumseh. in
Lenawee county, have found a par
tial remedy for the climbing habits to
which dairy feed prices seem to have
become addicted within the last two
years. The Tecumseh farmers, who
are members of cne of the most active
farmers cooperative associations in
the state, have perfected plan
whereby they have secured for them
selves the mixing of standard feed
from pure grains. This feed is now
being distributed to da'symen in
southern Michigan at practical cost,
and is saving members Of the associa-
ton an amount varying from 10 to
20 per cent Of what their mixed feeds
formerly cost them.
The cooperative organization
through which the work in Tecumseh
Is being done is the Tecumseh Coop
erative association. The feed-mixing
project was worked up by it cooper
ativeiy with the M. A. C.
Lets make up our own feed" sug-
rgested Manager Beebe, or maybe it
was the president or some mere
member Of the association, but the
essential fact is that the suggestion
was made and acted upon.
As its name discloses, the Tecum-
sch association is cooperative body
with which about 400 Lenawee county
farmers are affiliated and from which
they derive such manifold benefits as
accrue to those who have discovered
the value Of cooperative buying and
selling.
Of course when such an organiza-
tion says "we will make our own feed"
feed is usually made forthwith. But
let Manager Beebe tell about it.
"Our dairyman," said the manager,
have of late months been confronted
by two serious problems. In the
| first place, the prices of dairy feeds
have risen to point where they must
be looked upon with the awe due those
who perch in high places. Secondly,
our dairymen have never been abso-
lutely sure that even after they have
paid the luxurious prices beiHgA asked
they will secure standard feed free
from chaf and filters
1T was only natural that we should
decide to try our hand at mixing and
marketing feed of cur own and that
is what we are doing. In order to
make sure that we weren't going
wrong, we sent a committee to M. A.
/ G. and this committee, working with
the dairy department of the college,
worked out standard feed mixture
averaging from 21 to % per cent pro-
tein--including such ingredients as
bran ,middlings, ground cats, gluten,
cottonseed meal, oil meal, hominy and
one per cent salt.
"We are having these mixed for us
lin Chicago from the pure grain, and
upon being received by us here the
mixed feed is being distributed at
cost to our members and to other CO.
! operative associations in southern
Michigan. In place of high priced
product of uncertain quality our dairy
men are now being provided with a
standard product at moderate
pr'ce."
This price, according to quotations
I from Tecumseh, is $3.50 a ton in
bulk, with charge of $5 more if sack
ed. Commercial feeds Of the same
quality are selling from $65 to $40
ton, which means that the Tecumseh
farmers stand well in the way of
saving from 10 to 20 per cent of their
feed costs through their new venture.
This feed is intended to be used with
such roughages as corn stover and
mixed hay and silage: or if the dairy
man has clover hay, alfalfa and silage,
ground corn and oats could be mixed
with the dairy feed at the rate of
two-thirds dairy feed to one-third
ground oats and corn. Without sill
4 age, little additional meal can be
used. The feed itself, of course. is
intended by the association to be fed
in the same proportions as such dairy
feeds are always fed.
Meanwhile, while feed prices are
still clining to the high spots. with
the tenacity of mountain goat, the
dairvmen Of Tecumseh are not wor-'
rying half soimuch as many Of their
neighbcrs.