1 



McLean county cattle on feed 



Low-cost feeding with sorgo silage and a short feed of grain is one method some 

 UTOStock men are following to meet narrow spreads. 



Feeding Cattle For Profit 



McLean County Fcpder 

 to Beat Present 



^^V^HE present narrow spread be- 

 ^*~Y^ tween stocker and fat cattle 



^,_y is causing no end of figuring 

 and refiguring among experienced Il- 

 linois cattle feeders trying to make a 

 profit. 



A prominent McLean county feeder 

 was in Chicago recently with a load of 

 40 white faced steers which paid 80 

 cents a bushel for the corn they ate 

 despite a margin of only a $1.00 a 

 hundred in sale price over delivered 

 cost price. His method of low cost 

 feeding is interesting. 



These were Texas white-face year- 

 lings bought through the Chicago Pro- 

 ducers and shipf>ed to Illinois last Dec. 

 20. They weighed 623 pounds aver- 

 age in Texas — cost $8.75 delivered. 

 They were handled cooperatively all 

 the way through. 



The cattle were put on a ration of 

 Atlas sorgo silage (all they could eat) 

 shortly after their arrival together with 

 three to four pounds of grain a day, 

 and a pound of soybean oil meal. 



The sorgo silage made about 18 tons 

 to the acre. Sorghum doesn't count 

 against the farm corn . allotment al- 

 though it's a depleting crop. Kansas 

 Agricultural College experiments indi- 

 cate that sorgo silage is as efficient as 

 corn silage. University of Illinois ex- 

 periments show it to be about 80 per 

 cent as efficient as corn silage. "The 

 cattle ate 50 pounds of silage and three 

 pounds of alfalfa hay per head daily. 



The latter part of April the cattle 

 were put on a mixed rotation pasture 



Has Low Cost System 

 Narrow Spread 



of clover, alsike, lespedeza, timothy, 

 and sweet clover. By August 1 they 

 averaged 960 pounds when they went 

 on a full feed of shelled corn, two 

 pounds of soybean oil per head daily, 

 and three pounds of alfalfa hay in 

 dry lot. In Chicago, Nov. 13, they 

 averaged 1170 pounds each after the 

 shrink (about 1225 pounds at home) 

 and brought $9. 75 per cwt. 



The cost of the cattle, plus interest, 

 figured $2,200. They brought a net 

 sum of $4,360 or $2,l60 for the 

 feed. The cattle consumed six acres 

 of silage, eight acres of alfalfa, 10 

 acres of soybean oil meal (beans were 

 exchanged pound for jjound for oil 

 meal), 10 acres of oats, 25 acres of 

 corn. They also had the run of 40 

 acres of rotation pasture, all of which 

 was not consumed. This the gross in- 

 come on approximately 100 acres of 

 feed fed to cattle averaged $21.60 per 

 acre. Figuring in another way the 

 1,500 bu. of corn fed brought 80 cents 

 a bu. 



The Kansas Agricultural College has 

 been emphasizing feeding with low 

 cost feeds for greater profits. Experi- 

 ments of this kind have been carried 

 on since 1922. These cattle were fed 

 according to the Kansas system. 



"This plan will not produce prime 

 beef but it will produce cattle that 

 are good enough for almost any trade," 

 said this McLean county cattle feeder. 

 "We have a couple o^ carloads of 

 medium to good two-ydar old steers 



with good middles that are now in the 

 corn stalks. Later they will get about 

 60 days of sorgo silage, then a full 

 feed for 60 days of corn with two 

 p>ounds of soybean oil meal. These 

 cattle we plan to market in March or 

 early April when the market usually 

 favors this kind." 



According to H. M. Conway, mar- 

 ket analyst of the National Livestock 

 Marketing Association, sorgo silage is 

 coming into wider use in the corn 

 belt. Henry H. Parke of DeKalb 

 county, a pioneer in many things agri- 

 cultural, has been feeding sorgo silage 

 for several years with good results. 

 Conway is advising feeders for the 

 spring market to head their cattle to 

 the terminals in March rather than 

 later. 



NOTICE 

 ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL 



ASSOCIATION 

 ELECTION OF DELEGATES 



Notice is hereby given that in con- 

 nection with the annual meetings of 

 all County Farm Bureaus to be held 

 during the months of December, 1939 

 and January. 1940, at the hour and 

 place to be determined by the Board 

 of Directors of each respective Coun- 

 ty Farm Bureau, the members in 

 good standing of such County Form 

 Bureau, and who are also qualified 

 voting members of Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association, shall elect a dele- 

 gate or delegates to represent such 

 members of Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation and vote on all matters 

 before the next annual meeting or 

 any special meeting of the Associa- 

 tion, including the election of officers 

 and directors, as provided for in the 

 By-Laws of the Association. 



During December, annual meet- 

 ings will be held in Bureau, Clark, 

 Coles. Cook, Crawford, DuPage. Ed- 

 wards. Effingham, Franklin-Hamilton. 

 Iroquois, lackson-Perry. lasper, lef- 

 ferson, lersey, lohnson, Kane, Kan- 

 kakee, La Salle, Lee, Livingston, Mc- 

 Lean, Massac. Morgan, Moultrie, 

 Piatt, Pope-Hardin, Randolph, Rich- 

 land, Saline, Stephenson, Tazewell, 

 Union, Vermilion and Wabash Coun- 

 ties. 



During January, annual meetings 

 will be held in Calhoun. Carroll, 

 Champaign, Cumberland, DeWitt. 

 Edgar, Fulton, Greene. Grundy, 

 Kendall, Knox, McDonough, Mc- 

 Henry, Mason, Mercer, Peoria, Rock 

 Island, Sangamon, Winnebago and 

 Woodford Counties. 



(Signed) Paul E. Mathias, 



Corporate Secretary 

 November 18, 1939 



Larry Potter has a wonderfully fine story 

 of the turkey raising project on the Duck Is- 

 land farm in the November RECORD. This 

 is one of the large farms of Fulton coanty. 

 The farm was illustrated in fine fashion. 



John E. Watt, Farm Adviser 

 Fulton county 



DECEMBER, 1939 



