350 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



average milking period as tabulated on the reports, is eight and 

 one-half months, which makes an average of 4,258 pounds of milk 

 and 174.2 pounds of butterfat per year. The average cost of feed 

 per month was $4.92 per cow. This included dry feed two months 

 and pasture one month. The cost of producing 100 pounds of milk 

 averaged 98 cents and of producing one pound of butterfat 24 cents. 



The average price received for butterfat which was sold for the 

 manufacture of butter was 27 cents per pound. This shows a profit 

 of only 3 cents per pound for the butterfat if the skim-milk and 

 manure are allowed to balance the cost of labor, interest and de- 

 preciation. The average price received for butterfat used in ice 

 cream making, was thirty-eight cents which shows the advantage 

 in selling sweet cream for this purpose. 



Of the 172 herds in the contest, 41 were receiving silage, 36 alfalfa 

 hay, and only 21 a combination of these two feeds. The amount of 

 cottonseed meal, oil meal and bran fed was small and limited to only 

 a few herds. The principal ration used consisted of corn and oats, 

 mixed hay and corn fodder. 



The result of the milk record contest show the conditions as 

 found in the average small herd of milk cows in Iowa. They em- 

 phasize the importance of getting the farmer, who milks a few 

 cows, interested in his herd. They also indicate the part these herds 

 play in lowering the production of the Iowa cow. 



OTHER WORK. 



A service department to assist the man just entering the dairy 

 business to locate and purchase foundation animals for his herd was 

 established January 1, 1916. The object of this department is to 

 bring the man who has dairy cattle for sale in contact with the man 

 who wishes to buy. A large number of farmers have taken ad- 

 vantage of this service and many of them have been enabled to pur- 

 chase the animals they desired at a much smaller expense than if 

 they had attempted to locate the stock themselves. It has been a 

 means of encouraging the purchase of pure bred dairy sires to head 

 lierds of the ordinary type in many sections of the state. 



During the spring and fall months when the work is urgent on 

 the farm and it is therefore difficult to hold meetings, bulletins are 

 sent to the local newspapers. These contain timely suggestions 

 which assist the farmer in solving the problems which confront him 

 with reference to his dairy herd. They are written with the idea 



