324 Annual Report Agricultural Experiment Station 



FEEDING YUCCA TO STARVING RANGE COWS 



During the past year thousands of cattle were kept from starva- 

 tion by feeding them chopped yucca. Where this plant grows 

 abundantly it makes a good emergency feed for starving cattle and 

 sheep. The plant is found over most of Arizona at altitudes of 

 3,000 to 5,000 feet. It is prepared for stock by chopping with a 

 special machine which was placed on the market early in the year. 

 The machine works on the same principle as a root chopper and is 

 driven by a 6 to 10-horsepower gasoline engine. One of these small 

 machines will chop one to two tons of yucca per hour, or sufficient 

 to keep 500 cattle alive. Only the thinnest and weakest stock are 

 fed, but calves can be satisfactorily weaned on 10 to 20 pounds of 

 soapweed and one pound of cottonseed cake a day. Cows are given 

 twice as much of the pulp and will gain in strength on it, but the 

 addition of one-half to one pound of cake daily will give better re- 

 sults. Cows can be fed on the pulped stems and leaves at $1.00 to 

 $1.50 per month where it is not necessary to haul the yucca over 

 four miles. Animals that have become so weak that they cannot 

 get up alone will gain strength and do well on this feed, but it is 

 best to begin feeding before they become so weak. The animals 

 should be placed in separate lots so they can be classified according 

 to strength and food requirements. They soon learn to eat the 

 yucca and grow fond of it. Feeding is done by scattering the pulp 

 on the ground or placing it in feed bunks. It is best to allow the 

 stronger animals the freedom of a large pasture where they can 

 gather dry grass and browse. 



Pulped yucca has been demonstrated to have sufficient food 

 quality to keep both cows and sheep alive. Undoubtedly 75 percent 

 or more of the cows that have been fed on yucca would have died if 

 some kind of feed had not been supplied them. While yucca will 

 certainly keep starving cows alive, it is considered best to supple- 

 ment the range by growing crops wherever possible by dry-farming, 

 floodwater, or irrigation methods. The labor of preparing the yucca 

 is considerable and the work is not pleasant. As this plant grows 

 slowly, the supply will become exhausted so that yucca does not 

 offer a permanent means of relief during dry periods which retard 

 the growth of range forage. 



Early in the spring of 1918 the problem of using yucca for tiding 

 cattle over short range was studied. The results of these observa- 

 tions are given in Extension Circular No. 21. 



