200 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



COST OF PRODUCING A POUND OF BEEF. 



One who has followed carefully the feeding- experiments cannot but 

 be impressed with the great variation in the amount of feed required 

 to produce a pound of beef. I have made this somewhat careful study 

 and I have found that the number of pounds of grain required to pro- 

 duce a pound of gain at the different stations has varied from 2 pounds 

 to 15 pounds. Even when the same ration is used, the variations re- 

 quired to produce a pound of gain are very great. In one experiment 

 at the INIissouri Station where corn was the principal ration, three pounds 

 of com were sufficient to produce one pound of gain, while at the Kan- 

 sas Station where corn was the principal grain ration it required 14 

 pounds of corn to produce one pound of gain. Now if the profit is 

 largely dependent upon the amount of grain required to produce a pound 

 of beef, then a knowledge of the conditions which make it possible to 

 produce a pound of beef with one-half the quantity of grain, will be of 

 the greatest possible assistance in determining upon the methods em- 

 ployed in profitable cattle feeding. 



Table one illustrates this great variation in the amount of grain re- 

 quired to produce one hundred pounds of gain. 



