344 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Sale of finished steer, original cost 40.00 



Gain on six months feed, GO pounds per month, at 5^ cents 18.90 



Gain, $1.25 per cwt, on original weight 12.50 



$71.40 

 Net balance on finished steer 3.20 



In the above computation I do not consider anything for roughness 

 or expenses in feeding, approximating that the profit in the hogs that fol- 

 low cattle will about pay expenses in feeding and for the roughness fed. 



I am of the opinion that the best results come from balancing the 

 ration in the commencement, then not make any change during your feed- 

 ing period. Cattle learn to relish the kind of feed they are fed on, and 

 whenever you make a change they go off their feed until hunger drives 

 them to eat again. According to my judgment, a feeder should have a 

 margin of $1.25 between the price of the feeder and the finished product. 

 My computation is made on winter feeding. Summer feeding on good 

 grass can be done on a less margin. In my computation I have $3.20 net 

 profit on steer, or $57.60 on carload of steers, this profit includes risks 

 of loss, risks of some steer failing to feed. At any less margin I would 

 rather someone else would do the feeding. 



I think the estimate on corn a little low. perhaps thirty-three cents 

 per bushel would come nearer the mark. Many feeders claim that if they 

 came out even on the sale of cattle that are dry fed, the hogs that follow 

 still leave them a nice profit. I certainly think a farmer is entitled to 

 fair compensation for his time, labor and roughness fed to cattle in the 

 feed lot. True, the farmer must have a lot of valuable manure left in the 

 feed lot to be returned to the soil. This belongs to the soil, and if not 

 returned to the soil is robbery, and will cause those that follow us to 

 suffer. Manure made on the land should not be counted as profit, but 

 should be returned to the soil, whose fertility we have no right to exhaust 

 and destroy. 



Feeders, let us feed fewer and better cattle. Let us buy only well 

 I red cattle for the feed lot, then c:ir chances will be many times greater 

 in securing a profit from the feed lot. 



W. H. Freeman. Oakland, Iowa. 



The margin one should expect will depend considerably on his prac- 

 tical knowledge of stock feeding, good judgment in selecting cattle, 

 thorough equipment for the business and skill in selecting a ration which 

 will give the best results in net gain in the shortest time. To convert 

 the raw material into the finished product with the least waste possible, 

 will diminish the expense and widen the margin of the profit, and the 

 practical stockman will see to it that all waste and refuse is saved for its 

 value as a fertilizer. 



The margin necessary will also depend to some extent on the class 

 of cattle fed. Most of the cattle fed in western Iowa are raised, on the 

 ranches of the West and consequently have to be shipped a considerable 



