ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



R. H. Williams 



The work in the Department of Animal Husbandry deals with 

 a study of economical methods of producing beef, pork, and mutton. 

 The investigations of the department cover a wide field of search 

 into the factors which have a direct bearing on the industry. 



RANGE CONDITIONS THE PAST YEAR 



The past fiscal year continued dry throughout the Southwest, 

 and in the southern and eastern parts of the State forage was very 

 inferior. In the northern part of the State the winter was un- 

 usually cold and many animals perished. It is doubtful if as many 

 animals died in a single year since the great drouth in 1892-93. A 

 combination of lack of feed, thin animals, deep snow, and extremely 

 cold weather in the northern part of the State, made the winter 

 one of the most trying in the history of the business. The market 

 for animals was inferior and cattlemen have had a setback. Many 

 stockmen situated in the southern part of the State leased fenced 

 pastures in Mexico and thousands of cattle were moved across the 

 line where feed was abundant. 



The winter range on the desert was late in coming, but was 

 good after the middle of February. The lamb crop was about nor- 

 mal, losses being light and the price of wool and lambs high, so 

 that the sheepmen have had a prosperous year. The sheep and 

 goat industries in Arizona are on a sound, economic basis. 



Commencing the last day of June, 1919, the three years' drouth 

 in southern Arizona was broken. Feed began to grow everywhere ; 

 in places where old-timers believed there never would be any re- 

 vegetation the old palatable species sprang up and showed the un- 

 usual revegetative qualities of these grasses. 



At the close of 1919 there were undoubtedly fewer cattle in 

 Arizona than at any time since 1890. During the drouth the ranges 

 were overstocked, but with abundant rainfall and the small number 

 of animals to be maintained the carrying capacity should increase. 

 The number of sheep on Arizona ranges is about an average of 

 that of the past five years. 



Farmers in irrigated districts have plowed up many acres of 

 alfalfa to plant cotton. The supply of alfalfa is being reduced very 

 materially. Farmers have reduced the number of all kinds of live- 

 stock maintained, but there is a tendency for them to increase the 



