Gunnison news-champion., 1923-03-30

~. 'HA 2 aaa -. ta.t"A AAAnaf TIC
.uI.reH prcr-Jand should brin
uor,'J / as'l read sou a paragraph
.moa explain the operation Of OF
UGH deal.
A Montana cattlcman, who runs
between 500 and 900 cows, told
me Of his first experience in feed
ing: I've been running cattle on
range Tor nearly thirty years and
never before shipped any finished
s;uf. except when the summer
range had been good and | had
some ETass-fat steers.
In the summer Of 1921, had
300 feeder twOs TO get rid Of. The
Corn Belt markets had gone To
smash, and a. | didn't have 10 sell.
! figured that I'd buy some hay
and hold those steers for thneeS
although ! hated TO do that. 1t
lightweight stuff the markets have
been hollerin' for for two year
past
Then ! heard Of the new
feeding operations in Idaho.
went down there and looked into
in, and Il sure looked good. ]
made a dickcr with FIVE or sis
farmers outside Of Idaho Falls ana
drove my steers down there, 200
miles, did II half as cheap as the
railroad would have charged. and
got 'em thru in fully as good
shape a. when we started. They
weighed into the feedlots 81 80
pounds average, and weighed out
four months afteTward at 900
pounds. II I'd sold them as feed
ers, they'd have brought me. at
best, S5.25 hundred, but in the
spring the market was rising and
got $3.50. Ny gain on that was
over $50 a head, and that gain cost
me nothing!"
"How's that ?" | exclaimed.
What kind OF an arrangement
did you make with the farmers ?"
Gave them all the weight in
creased" he grinned. Figure it
out. A steer sold as a feeder in
the fall would have given me
S4l.25. Sold as finished beef in
the spring at eight and a half
costs, that $50 pounds gave me
S63.T5, an increase of $3.50 above
the feeder value. The farmer
took the $50 pounds increase in
weight, which gave them So cents
pound-S2l .25-and that paid
'em well for the feed and work.
Anyway, the works all in winter,
when they've nothing else to do,
and the manure ought>tO pay for
that"
When the bankers and other
men started the feeding campaign
they were fully armed with on
vincing arguments for both the
stockmen and the farmers. Every
extension station in the region had
issued bulletins on the results of
growing feed grains and feeding
them in various rations. Alfalfa
both in long hay and ground as
meal, was the great standby.
Com. corn silage, barley. and
wheat were the grain rations, and
the available quantities of each
in the various districts were very
accurately determined and dis
played to the stockmen.
The specifications varied to
meet the needs of the stockrnen
and the available feed supplies,
but the plan which met with the
greatest favor was the same as
has been described by that Mon.
tana cattleman: The farmer fed
for 100 TO $50 days and took the
value of the increase in weight as
his pay"
Ii you do not want TO raise feed YOU
'elf for your cattle, how about il
the farmers down in Il
over valleys, where corn and alfalt
grow, and getting an estimate of Il
amount of feed that would be val,
,ble the coming fall and winter?
Whom will you send on such a mi
ion? Your county agent. That
lust what you have him for, and
5 a man Trained for the work.
He knows cattle; he knows the .rigl
leeds for cattle. And, don't you thir
his system in working order wou
,e great help to our neighbors dow
he valley, who have also had vel
.rying experiences the last few years
This is chance to "help your neig
,or Gas welD as yourself"
Capfar with che .a,,,t,, o-.-xz