Cattle Feeders and AAA 



iC(int:nued from f>-i^e ^) 



In August, Gallagher bought 10 head 

 ot "warmed up" steers weiuhing 1175 

 pounds for $11.85. When thev weighed 

 I ^00 pounds. -10 days Liter, he sold 25 

 head tor $16 The remainder, sold later, 

 brought $!,>. 



Will Stotkley. prominent LaSalle 

 lounty feeder, I-'arm Bureau director and 

 director of the Illinois I'arm Bureau 

 .Serum Association, docs not set eye to 

 eye with Gall.igher on price. 



Says Stockley, "As corn works higher, 

 (ewer cattle go on feed. I'd rather feed 

 corn at a dollar a bushel than at 50 rents 

 because Id have less competition If 

 a man can get cost of production plus 

 ,1 small profit on corn he'll .sell corn, 

 not beef and he'll stay out of competition 

 with farmers who regularly feed their 

 gram. 



Thus Stotkley .igrecs with the others 

 that stabilized corn prices will give corn 

 producers a cost-plus price and will 

 leave the lield clear for experienced 

 feeders. Stockley maintains that the crop 

 surplus control program would be worth- 

 less to him if it didn't compel producers 

 of surplus corn to keep their surplus*^ 

 under control on their farms. 



Like most cattle feeders, Stockley will 

 continue to manuf.icture beef even 

 though the stabilization of corn prices 

 may, at times, reduce his margin. The 

 reason is that feeding has increased the 

 fertility of his soil. 



In iyi4, Stockley bought 252 acres of 

 bl.uk soil that had the life farmed out of 

 It. Good yields then were 25 to 27 

 bushels of corn per acre. After 24 years 

 of feeding all the grain the farm pro- 

 duces, yields of corn range from 75 to 

 100 bushels. This year, less than 1 10 

 acres produced nearly 14.000 bushels. 



Another fertility yardstick. Will points 



WILL STOCKLEY CAME HOME LATE 

 "I'd rather feed com at a dollar." 



r 



V. 



REX PEDDICORD CHECKS UP ON THE FEEDING SITUATION 

 "If grain producers can get 60 to 80 cents for corn they will stay out of the feed- 

 ing game." 



out. IS that during the first years he 

 owned the land a carload of cattle and 

 one of hogs would consume all the grain 

 and forage he could raise. Now he 

 regiilarly feeds four carloads of cattle and 

 two of hogs on what the farm produces I 

 He has managed to increase the size of 

 liis enterprise three times through im- 

 proved soil fertility. 



This year, for the first time in 1 5 ye.irs, 

 he has corn to sell. Last fall his pigs 

 were poisoned on frosted rye pasture and 

 he was forced to sell them. He buys 

 feeder pigs because after years of heavy 

 feeding his soil is so thoroughly polluted 

 that it would be impossible to raise them. 



Rex Peddicord, vice-president of the 

 I.aSalle County I'arm Bureau, didn't have 

 .1 single animal in his feed lot on Feb- 

 ruary 10. Ordinarily he buys 100 pound 

 caKes in October or November and sells 

 them from eight to ten months later. But 

 this year feeders were too high for Rex to 

 buy. He feeds from 25 to 100 head a 

 year with an aver.ige of 40 to 50 head. 

 He likes light cattle because they provide 

 a market for oats and rough feeds. 



The soil conservation provisions of 

 the new Agricultural Adjustment Act 

 will lead breeders to breed more beef 

 i.ittle and sheep to use their extra pasture. 

 If grain producers can get 60 to 80 

 cents for corn they'll stay out of feeding 

 .ind the beef manufacturers will have 

 larger margins without wide price fluctua- 

 tions. It s the big price .swings that hurt 

 feeders," Peddicord says. 



While he usually makes some profit in 

 feeding. Rex, like Stockley, declares that 

 the real profits which have come to him 

 through feeding have been increased crop 

 vields. 



Galan Birtwell, treasurer of the LaSalle 

 County I'arm Bureau, who feeds cattle 

 on the same farm his grandfather fed 

 cattle on 50 years ago, says the AAA of 

 iy3S will help him plan his operations. 



"If we knew when we plant our corn 

 what it may bring we will know what to 

 shoot at." 



Galan suffered a heavy lo.ss in the 

 price drop. He had 62 head of 1000 

 pound steers in his feed lot that he had 

 paid $10.75 for in August when they 

 weighed 835 pounds. He sold 20 head 

 weighing 1 1 08 pounds January 1 0, for 

 $8.65 per hundred-weight. 



"When we bought these cattle, the 

 choice kinds were bringing 18 and 19 

 cents. They looked like a bargain with 

 (('.'•iilinrieJ on p.ii^e 20) 



DANA CRYDER 

 "Hog feeders face a tough situation, loo." 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



