446 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



roughage, and in this manner to conserve soil fertility. (436) Cattle 

 feeding conducted on this basis, where full value can be secured from the 

 manure produced and where most of the feed is grown on the farm, is 

 far less speculative than when carried on by the large-scale operators. 



I. GENERAL FACTORS INFLUENCING BEEP PRODUCTION 



709. Margin. Under usual conditions, the feed consumed by fattening 

 cattle or sheep per 100 Ibs. of gain costs more than the selling price per 

 cwt. of the finished animal. "With normal market conditions, this differ- 

 ence is offset by the fattened animals selling for a higher price per 100 

 Ibs. than was paid for the same animals as feeders. The difference 

 between the cost per cwt. of the feeder and the selling price per cwt. of 

 the same animal when fattened is called the margin. The principle of 

 the margin may be illustrated thus: If a 900-lb. steer costs $7.00 per 

 cwt. when placed in the feed lot, its total cost is $63.00. If during 

 fattening it gains 300 Ibs. at a feed cost of $36.00, each cwt. of gain has 

 cost $12.00. Assuming that the manure produced by the steers and the 

 pork made by the pigs following the steers will pay for the labor and the 

 miscellaneous expenses, the steer, now weighing 1,200 Ibs., has cost 

 $99.00, and accordingly must bring $8.25 per cwt. at the feed lot to even 

 the transaction. The margin will be $1.25, the difference between $8.25 

 and $7.00. 



On account of the high cost of the gains, under all usual conditions 

 a margin must be secured in fattening cattle or sheep to make a profit 

 or " break even" on the transaction. The term necessary margin is used 

 to denote the margin needed to prevent loss. In this case it will be $1.25, 

 the difference between $8.25 and $7.00. The actual margin is the differ- 

 ence between the actual selling price and the purchase price. 



In figuring out the probable financial outcome in fattening a lot of 

 steers, one must always take into consideration the costs incident to the 

 purchase of the feeder steers and bringing them to the feed lot and also 

 the expense of marketing them after they are fattened, including the 

 cost of shipping, the loss thru the shrinkage in live weight on shipment, 

 and the expenses at the central stock yards, such as yardage fees, cost of 

 feed fed at the stock yards, and commission. 



The factors which influence the necessary margin in fattening are: 

 (1) The initial cost of the cattle; (2) their initial weight; (3) the cost 

 of the gains; and (4) the expenses in getting the steers to the feed lot 

 and then to the market, when finished. 



Other conditions remaining the same, the higher the initial cost, or 

 purchase price, of the feeder the narrower, or smaller, is the necessary 

 margin. For example, let us assume that this same steer had cost $9.00 

 per cwt. when placed in the feed lot, in place of $7.00 per cwt. Making 

 the same gain as before and at the same cost for feed, it would have to 



