The Monmouth inquirer., 1924-01-17
THE SLAUGHTER oFEcALvEs
Owing to the Increased Demand For
Veal It is Rapidly increasing

Veal 1t Is Rapidly increasing
The slaughter of young calves is one
Of the serious phases OF the problem
of the maintenance Of our country's
beef supply. Statistics indicate that
the slaughter OF such animals is in
creasing rapidly, due primarily to an
increase In the demand for veal, In
spite of the fact that veal is ordinarily
sold at an extremely high price per
pound.
These veal calves are largely drawn
from the dairy districts, but, with the
growth in the demand for veal, other
sections are marketing as veal In con.
siderable numbers calves that, If kept
and fattened, would have made good
beef steers. The market for stockers
and feeders is therefore affected.
Various suggestions have been made
to prevent this, even suah radical ones
as legislation to prohibit entirely tt .
slaughter of calves. The tacS is ~
always recognized, however, +hsAs this
practice IS purely economic, IN dairy
districts, milk production is TIE chief
business and calves are an incident,
valuable only to TepIenish the milking
stock or for such revenue as may be
obtained from their sale as veal. AS
the average dairyman must keep The
number Of his mixers at a maximum,
economy demands that he relieve him
self of his surplus calves as soon as
possible There is not ordinarily
any market FOR such calves except for
veal. they become. The slaughter Of
calves in districts which are not ex-
clusively devoted to dairying probably
has as It's governing factor a market
near by which pays more for calves as
veal than as stockers.
A comparison of English and Amer.
fcan methods in this respect sheds
some light on this problem. In Eng.
young calves throughout the dairy dis.
tricts to be raised on milk substitutes
and subsequently fattened for beef. In
England the dairy cows are largely
Shorthorns whose calves are valuable
for beef production. In the United
OLcttCos OA Lie OkilGi nd0Qs Tic W VI
the dairy districts are principally Of
the strictly dairy breeds (pure breds or
gra6es) or natives with no breed lg,
and the calves from sach cows have.
have, as rule, little value as feeders
for beef, but make good real.
AS the calves In a dairy herd are
not paramount importance, system
of breeding which would increase their
value for beef production would net
necessarily decrease the dairy value
of the herd when grade or native cows
are useA IL such cows were bred to
beef or dual-pur2ose a''lls, the calves
would Lave considerable value as
stockers. This practice would not be
warranted, however, Unless there was
a nearby market for such stockers. 1t
must also be observed that this prac.
tice necessitates raising calves by
hand, largely on milk substitutes,
which add to the expense, and calves
so fed are not so easily raised as where
they follow the COW until weaned nat.
urally. The labor item is likewise i'm
portant, as this system demands not
only considerable amount Of labor
but of skill also. In England skilled
farm labor is cheaper than In the
United States.
Another possible solution of the
problem would be an increase in nut
ton consumption in the United States.
We consume annually per capita tx
d. - 4aIa &c nov NJ
our total meat consumption; the
people of Great Britain eat pounds OF
veal per capita annually, which is
per cent Of their annual per capita
meat consumption We consume 61s
pounds of mutton and lamb per capita,
which Is ab,.nt per cent of our total,
whereas the British people consume 20
pounds Of mutton and lamb per capita,
which is 81 per cent of their annual
meat consumption.
An increase In our mutton consump'
ton at the expense of the consumption
of veal would, Of course, tend 20 make
calves less valuable as veal an dwould
encourage, a system Of breeding which
would bring them into demand as
stockeAs. An increase in mutton con.
sumption would also encourage the
farm Rising OF sheep, and this could
be brought about on dairy farms with.
out affecting the economy Of manage
ment from the dairy standpoint. a
small flock Of sheep on q farm will
increase the productiveness Of the
farm, keep the farm clean of weeds,
and add to the family meat supply
without entailing serious additional ex'
pense for feed, labor or shelter.