Gunnison news-champion., 1922-06-16
IRRIG ATED GRASS BIG
ECONOMY OVER SOlLING
CROPS FOR COW :
Montana Experiment Reveals that
Watered Pasture Makes Great
showing for Milk-HandIing Green
Crops Makes too Much Work In
Busy SEASON.

q.
Under ordinary circumstance the
rtIru from sOilIng crops will show
a very much greater return than from
pasture. But a Montana experiment
shows TIA, this Is not true with i'm
gated pasture even tho IN this par
tIruiar case there was . shortage Of
"aler toward the end Of the season.
!. .. Tretsven's report says: The
-Y4ang rryps Ised a. they became
.4l.aDle consisted Of alfalfa, clover,
u4l- and -4uilowyrs. These crops
were cut and weighed every day eN-
ccPf on Sundays, hen . supply Was
pru.d-i the day before. The sun
H1wrgz we're run thru q feed cutter
before beng fed. Eight COWS were
elected for making the test They
we're d.Eld.d a. equally as possible IN
20 Two .ut- b. taking typ, stage OF
lactauUu. and CESSATION, size, prOduc-
tion and breeding into consideration.
/ record was kept Of the weights OF
the animals ~ the beginning and the
close Of the experiment, the prDduc-
tIgl % u.ig and Butterfat and amount
Of feed consumed. lot No. ! was fed
grain and soli.ug crops. while No. =
a4. fed grain and was on pasture.
Both lost were FED a grain ration con
astlug of two part barley, three
par ua'- ard tWD VaT,s wheat bran,
ana IN -urn amounts a. 10 keep the
cove from either gaming or losing IN
live weight.
Experiment lasted 10 Days
"Th" experiment continued for rs
days and there Was practically no
change In live weight uf the animals.
Both lor- w"ry fed grain ration CON
the sam. amu4ut of gram. In add
tluu to the gram lot No. ! con
su"nr AL aycf4ge of l3i pounds Of
rups daily per COW, while the
-u. Oh Lot 40 2 had access TO pas
ture. I hr cows on pasture produced
more bu,,sTfat daily per cow than
the cows fcd solliug crops.
The most marked difference in the
results , that il required .4S2 acres in
soIliug crops to feed one COW for the
70 days rs compared to .7075 acres
for the pasture. However, these fig
Ircs DO not tell the whole story in
nat the pasture was used for a month
before soiling crops were available
for making the tests. After subtract
ing the cost OF the grain consumed by
the cows the soiling crops returned
$50 ~ an acre, as compared to $3S.5i
for pasture during the trial. Allow
ing at the same time of grazing be
fore the trial began, the returns per
acre of pasture would be over $4,000.
Thus the gross return per acre was
about equal.
Net Returns Favor Pasture
The net returns per acre are de-
ridedly in favor OF the pasture when
all the expenses involved in producing
sOiling crops are considered. These
expenses are incurred in the prcpara-
ton of the land, cost Of seed, sowing
the seed and the labor involved in
the crop. The last item is
the principal one, as q man and team
will be required one or two hours
day during the busy season to cut and
haul the crop for Is to 20 head of
COWS. The additional expense of
and harvesting an acre Of
soiliug crops in this manner is esti-
mated at $50. Soiling cannot, there
for. be recommended where good ir-
rigated pastures are available and
land IS relatively cheap. Soiling may
at times be practiced as n supplement
10 pastures in maintaining the milk
ilow when the pastures are short and
dry late in the season.
The experiment also indicates that
when plenty of water is available for
irrigation that an acre, well sodded,
will pasture approximately l.5 dairy
rows for the season and will give a
return of over $50 in dairy products
when grazed by good cows. After al
lowing for the expense of handling
the COWS, the net returns per acre
compare favorably with the common
farm crops.
Pasture experiments have also
been conducted by the United States
of Agriculture at Hunt
ley, Montana. Detailed information
is given in L. S. Department of Agri-
culture circular No. 204
Valuable information on farm pas
lures in Montana may also be had
by writing for Montana circular No.
So"