The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-02-07
Beef Steer to be
King of Snake
the River Valley

Last week an excursion was COLI
Quoted under direction of the Bon
neville County Farm Bureau, the
purpose of which was to investigate
the food value for cattle of sliced
beet tops. Quite number of farm
ers of Bonneville county and few
from Bingham including our county
agent, Mr.. Monroe, visited number
of farms where beet top ensilage is
being used.
The Idaho Falls Times, in its issue
of January 30, gives detailed
writeup of the trip and the findings,
and as the same question is of great
importance to the farmers of Bing-
ham county, we reproduce the Times
writeup in full:
A new industry is being born in
Bonneville county, right under our
very noses as it were, and very few
of us know but little about it.
This new infant is coming into
existence with no more noise than a
scarce peep; without even protect
i've tariff or subsidy to nurture it
along till it can hold its head above
water; but, nevertheless, it is taking
care of itself handsomely and leisure
ly chewing its qiud when it feels so
disposed and at the same time it is
waxing exceedingly fat and laying
up valuable storage for future events.
What is it? Oh yes; nothing more
than the simple process of making
fat cattle and fat sheep out of the
by-products of sugar beets added to
a little alfalfa hay, in which the
country so plentifully revels. Think
of it. The latest of beef and the fat
est of mutton without a mouthful of
grain, and the most expensive part
of the feed to produce this money
making product is hay. Just plain
old alfalfa which sells in the stack
from $500 to $1,000 a ton, depending
upon the scarcity elsewhere. We
are never scarce of hay here.
OF course, since the discovery of
sage brush and bunch grass we have
heard of cattle and sheep. In those
days we hoped they would consume
enough in the summer to carry them
over the winter. A little later we
took out irrigating bitches and COM
menced to raise alfalfa and fed them
little during the winter and natur-
ally kept more of them from starv-
ing to death during the deep long
SHOWS. Later the sugar factory
came and we learned that the beet
pulp fed with alfalfa would put on
fat at an alarming rate and instead
of shipping out great many Of our
animals as feeders we did the feeding
ourselves and kept the difference be-
tween lean cattle and fat cattle at
home which meant a considerable
addition to the pocket-book of the
farmer.
And now comes another great dis
covery. It has been discovered that
the beet tops when properly, Staged
are most valuable article in the
manufacture of beef and mutton fat.
A crop of beet tops are now consid-
cred as valuable as crop of hay.
Heretofore the tops have been left
lying in the fields either to 60 to
waste or for the stock to come along
and trample under what they didn t
eat at their own pleasure.
Who made the discovery? Well it
is said Mormon farmer of Utah
made the discovery and we suspect
it is the truth. Idaho has gotten a
great many things from Utah the
pioneer state in the mountain
agriculture. 1t was the Mormon
farmers of Utah who came into Ida
no and dug the first irrigation. ditch
es and taught us how to grow grain
and hay from surroundings which at
that time were considered absolute
ly barren. It was the Mormons who
brought the sugar factories to our