Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-02-10
Farming in the N orthwest
For More and Better Livestock
HANDLING CATIIE-FIFTHA ARTICLE.
BY }. G. Haney, Agri. Euen. Dept, Inhana.sonsl Harvester %.

weight all through, the winter, 50 that
when spring comes they are in very
poor condition. This is not q profit
able practice, and Is being abandoned
Ito a great extent. That is, the cattle
raisers are comlng to realize that
they cannot afford to depend Of the
cattle rustling their. OWE living. There
has PERHAPS been no winter in re-
|cent years that more forcefully en-
|phasized this fact than the past two
winters. especially in the western sec-
Itioh. Y
At the beginning Of winter a care
full inventory should be made of the
feed available. and If it Is found that
there is liable not to be sufficient for
the number of stock on hand. 1t
would be advisa BILE to dispose of
enough to bring the number down so
that the feed available will be suffi-
cient.
While cattle may rustic a good por-
ton of their feed from fields during
a good many winters. it is not adj
visable tt depend on this. for when a
winter comes. such as 1s19-1szU. It
is possible to lose more than the pro-
FITS have been for e number of years.
Cattle demand more %succulent feed
than other classes of stock. M there
is no feed that will take the place OF
silage in this regard. 1t also might
be. said that there is no place where
this region. and there is a large vari-
ETY. Of crops that might be utilized for
silage. 1t has been determined by
carefully conducted tests that grown
cattle can be wintered and not only
made to maintain their weight, but
make SOME gains, on a small amount
Of silaEe and such roughage as good
straw or corn fodder. Twenty pounds
Of silage and what wheat or !oats
maintained the weight of breeding
cows. OF curse if alfalfa hay Is
available they will do SO much bet
ter.
Utilizing Feeds Available.
It Ia advisable in every case to plan
on utilizing such feeds as are avail
able. In this small grain region,
straw is perhaps more abundant than
any other surplus feeds. and this to a
large extent is not utilized at all.
Good oats straw, especially. has a
feeds. such as silage or small amounts
of alfalfa hay. are available to go
with this. excellent results may be OBJ
tanned. This is especially true if the
precautton is taken to cut the oats a
little on the green side, and then at
.threshing tine to d a bushel or so
of salt to each straw stack. Many
farmers are making this a practice.
That Is. in threshing the straw which
they expect to use for feed, they
have q boy stationed at the blower, or
have some one else to see to this, and1
throw in occasional handfuls Of salt.
In this way 1t Is evenly distributed
through the stack. and the straw is
made much more palatable.
With a little silage and good oats
straw there would be no difficulty in
wintering good cattle. And if it is
realized tha< a great deal of the farm
and Of the Northwest must be treat
ed occasionally with a cultivated
rass Or alfalfa, there should be plen-
ty Of good feed available on every
farm for a nice bunch Of cattle.
Feed According to Requirements.
Dairy cattle must necessarily be fed
differently from breeding stock,
and 1t is also advisable to feed young
from the breeding stock. That is,
Young stock should I've a ration
which contains enough of the diges-
tible protein. spoken of in a previous
article, to make growth possible.
There is perhaps nc feed that will
take the place of silage and alfalfa
for young calves and if they have
feed they will grow every day
during the winter.
Keep Calves and Grown Stock
Separate.
A great deal Of loss is sustained on
many farms because Of III fact that
cattle and calves are handled
together. This means that the calves
generally take what is left after the
larger stock have had all they want,
with the results that very little If any
growth is made 'during the winter.
As a consequence the calves are
and will never reach the size
that they should. While it is a little
trouble to divide the yards and
and handle in separate bunch
es. there certainly is a great advan-
tage in doing so.