456 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Considering cattle by themselves, we find very considerable differ- 

 ences in the method of production and in the conditions that determine 

 their market movement. In Iowa at least, three kinds of market cattle can 

 be distinguished, (1) by-products of the dairy industry, such as veal calves, 

 discarded cows and bulls, and some heifers of a fair kind; (2) by-products 

 of general farming, such as the general run of butcher stuff, cows, heifers, 

 bulls and unfinished steers, which are produced partly on a dual-purpose 

 basis — milk and beef — and partly to utilize pasture land and rough foods 

 of various kinds; (3) fed-cattle, which are largely bought for this special 

 purpose, fed and shipped in carload quantities, the whole operation being 

 a separate activity whose chief purpose is the production of a better 

 grade of beef. 



The number of the first kind to go to market is largely determined by 

 conditions within the dairy industry and very little by conditions 

 prevailing in the meat industry. They are strictly by-products 

 of dairying, and prices realized from them have very little to do with 

 determining their production. Whatever they realize can be considered 

 as a contribution to increasing the profits or reducing the losses of the 

 dairy business. 



The number of the second class is determined largely by conditions 

 prevailing in the general or mixed farming business. They are produced 

 under a system of joint costs with the other products of this activity. 

 Conditions influencing their production are those that determine the 

 profitableness, or the opposite, of cattle-raising in general, and such spe- 

 cial conditions as the prevalence of tenancy, seasonable conditions of good 

 or poor pasture, of good or poor grass stands or failures, comparative re- 

 turns from grain and grass lands. They are mostly of a beef type, but 

 of quite varying qualities; the increase or decrease in their numbers is 

 generally gradual over considerable periods of time. 



The numbers of the third class can be arbitrarily increased or de- 

 creased over short periods of time by the volition of the comparatively 

 small number of feeders who produce the great bulk of them. The total 

 production is influenced by a variety of causes, such as the prices of 

 feeds and feeding cattle, financial conditions, results of recent feeding 

 operations, custom, habit, general attitude toward agriculture, existence 

 of equipment and supplies of feed, etc. It is a separate activity and in 

 accounting practice should be so considered rather than as a joint activity 

 with the rest of the farm business. 



There is one other class of cattle produced in the state which cannot 

 be included with any of the above three. These are grass-raised cattle, 

 that are fed very little if any grain, a considerable part of which are sold 

 locally, but a good many of which go to market in carlots, some being fit 

 for a cheap grade of beef, but most going for reshipment as stocker- 

 and-feeder cattle. These cattle are largely produced in certain sections 

 where the land is better suited for pasture purposes than for grain pro- 

 duction, and on the rougher lands in all sections of the state. Some- 

 times it is a breeding-cattle proposition, but more largely it is a growing 

 one, the raw material being light stocker-cattle, mostly steers. The 

 production of this class tends to be fairly continuous and is influenced 



