CHAPTER VIII 



ECONOMY IN FEEDING LIVE STOCK 



I. SELECTING ECONOMICAL RATIONS 



To secure the largest returns from his farm animals the stockman 

 must, first of all, thoroly understand the fundamental nutrient require- 

 ments of the various classes of live stock, which have been discussed in 

 the preceding chapters. He must next study the possibilities of his farm 

 for the production of crops, paying attention to both the probable yields 

 and the value of the various crops for feeding to stock or for selling on 

 the market. It is also necessary to consider the feeding value of the 

 many feeds on the market and compare the. prices at which they can be 

 secured. With this knowledge he is in a position to plan his rotations 

 so that from the crops raised, supplemented when it is economical by 

 purchased feeds, well-balanced rations for his stock may be provided at 

 minimum expense. As a rule it will be found wise to raise all needed 

 roughage on the farm. Owing to the increasing demand for the cereal 

 grains for human consumption, it is often economical to sell more or less 

 of the farm-grown grains and replace them with purchased concentrates 

 which economically supplement the feeds raised on the farm. 



191. Market prices not guides to value. On studying the market prices 

 of different feeds it will be evident that the market price is often no 

 index to the value of a feed to the individual stockman. A few examples 

 will illustrate this fact. In the northeastern states timothy hay is gen- 

 erally higher in price than clover hay, tho it is much inferior to clover 

 for all animals except the horse. In the South cottonseed hulls usually 

 cost more than the sum for which an equivalent amount of corn silage, a 

 much more palatable feed, can be produced on the farm. Owing to their 

 popularity, some feeds, such as linseed meal and wheat bran, are often 

 high in price compared with other concentrates which are entirely satis- 

 factory substitutes. At the other extreme, low grade concentrates, such 

 as trashy corn and oat feed, cottonseed feed, and inferior mixed feeds 

 often sell for as much or but slightly less than high grade concentrates 

 of far greater feeding value. 



192. How to select feeds for economical rations. Many attempts have 

 been made to assign a definite money value to 1 Ib. of digestible crude 

 protein, digestible carbohydrates, and digestible fat, and then compute 

 the value of different feeds on the basis of the amount of these nutrients 

 they contain, the same as is commonly done in arriving at the money 

 value of fertilizers. (432) While such a system of valuation may be of 

 some limited value for a short period of time and when applied to a 



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