171 Eleventh Annual Report. 



DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY. 



FEEDING STEERS. 



It is a generally accepted fact that while cattle fatten readily 

 on alfalfa they do not, upon that feed alone, assume that degree 

 of finish which commands the best market prices in competition 

 with grain fed animals. Under present conditions in Salt River 

 valley the feeding of grain to fattening cattle is considered out 

 of the question, barley, practically the only grain feed raised, com- 

 manding a price putting it out of reach of cattle feeders. The 

 theory has been advanced that the feeding of sorghum in connec- 

 tion with alfalfa will, in a measure, have the desired effect of 

 hardening or finishing the cattle. This method of feeding has 

 been tried here and there by feeders who report good results but 

 who are unable to offer any definite figures in comparison with 

 those for feeding alfalfa only. 



A comparison of the chemical composition of alfalfa with the 

 rations recommended by scientists, and fed by the intelligent 

 feeders of the grain producing and cattle feeding states shows that 

 this forage crop supplies what would be called a narrow ration, 

 one in which there is a higher per cent of nitrogenous material 

 than is called for in what is accepted as a standard ration for fat- 

 tening cattle. In this standard ration the proportion of the pro- 

 tein, or nitrogenous material, to the carbonaceous material is about 

 as one is to six, while in alfalfa this relation is approximately as 

 one is to three and a half. In the districts where cattle are most 

 fed the portein is the expensive part of the ration; here where al- 

 falfa grows so luxuriantly the reverse is the case. In supplying 

 an excess of portein the cattleman of Salt River valley is not using 

 an expensive element where a cheaper one would give as good or 

 better results, as would be the case with a corn-belt feeder using 

 the same feed. The fact remains, however, that alfalfa alone does 

 not produce a finished beef. The questions remain, can better 



