FEEDING BEEF CATTLE 



267 



steers will appear from the discussions of different systems of feed- 

 ing beef cattle given below. It will be noted that there are wide 

 variations in the amounts and kinds of different grain feeds fed 

 under different conditions. Beef cattle are finished for the market 

 on roughage alone (blue-grass pasture, alfalfa, or alfalfa and beet 

 pulp) in eastern and western States, respectively, and in the corn 

 belt as much as 24 pounds of grain is often fed per day to fatten- 

 ing steers in full feed. The concentrates fed to fattening steers 

 are, in general, similar to those fed dairy cows, but the feeding 



FIG. 62. Steer feeding barns and feeding troughs on a California cattle ranch. (See also 

 Fig. 31.) (Pacific Rural Press.) 



of Indian corn predominates, being of far greater importance for 

 this purpose than all other grain feeds combined. It is the great 

 fattening feed of America, and, on account of its high starch and 

 oil contents and high digestibility, may be considered the most 

 important factor in both beef and pork production in this country. 

 Corn is fed to fattening steers in the majority of cases as snapped 

 (unhusked) or husked ear com, or as whole shelled corn. It is 

 crushed, ground, or soaked only in exceptional cases, viz., when very 

 dry and hard on account of having been stored long in the crib. Being 

 only medium or low protein, it is supplemented to advantage in 

 feeding steers with legume hay, or some high-protein feed, like 

 linseed meal or cotton-seed meal, which is fed two to three pounds 

 a day during the last sixty days of the fattening period (Figs. 

 62 and 63). 



