GENERAL PROBLEMS IN BEEF PRODUCTION 447 



sell for $117.00, or $9.75 per cwt. at the feed lot, to break even on the 

 transaction. The necessary margin would then be $9.75 minus $9.00, or 

 only $0.75 per cwt. On the other hand, if the steer had cost $5.00 per 

 cwt., the necessary margin would be $1.75 per cwt. 



The heavier the animal when placed on feed the narrower will be 

 the necessary margin, for the increased selling price is secured for a 

 greater number of pounds of initial weight. This factor may be offset, 

 as is shown later, if the heavier cattle are older and hence make more 

 expensive gains. 



It is evident that any factor which increases the feed cost of the gains 

 makes necessary a wider margin. The necessary margin is thus greater 

 when feeds are high in price, and is wider with mature animals than with 

 younger ones, which make more economical gains. (712) Since gains 

 on grass are usually cheaper than in the dry lot, a wider margin is 

 required for winter feeding than in fattening animals on pasture. (813) 

 The higher the degree of finish, or fatness, to which the animals are fed, 

 the more expensive the gains become and the wider the necessary 

 margin. (713) 



Under conditions from 1900 to 1910 an average margin of about $1.00 

 per cwt. was needed in fattening 2-year-old steers in summer on pasture, 

 and of about $1.50 per cwt. when they were fattened in winter in the dry 

 lot. 1 Conditions have changed materially since these dates and will 

 vary widely in different sections of the country, depending on the cost 

 of feeds and the distance from the market. Anyone can readily compute 

 the approximate margin which will be required under his local conditions 

 by taking the actual cost of feeders at any given time, the price of the 

 available feeds, and the amounts of feed required for 100 Ibs. gain, as 

 shown in this and the following chapter. To the necessary margin thus 

 computed must be added the cost per cwt. of getting the feeder cattle to 

 the feed lot and the cost per cwt. of marketing the fat cattle, including 

 the loss due to the shrinkage in shipment. 



710. Feed requirements for fattening cattle. In Chapter V we have 

 already seen that with mature animals there is comparatively little stor- 

 age of protein or mineral matter during fattening, and that the ration 

 may have a relatively wide nutritive ratio. (129) However, most of the 

 beef cattle in this country are now fattened while they are yet growing. 

 For the fattening of such animals sufficient protein must be provided 

 for the growth in muscle and other protein tissues which takes place as 

 the animals fatten. An extensive survey of feeding trials at the experi- 

 ment stations shows that for the most rapid gains in fattening 2-year-old 

 steers the nutritive ratio should not be wider than 1:7 to 1:8. Accor- 

 dingly, in the Morrison feeding standards nutritive ratios no wider than 

 this are advised. Younger steers should receive a slightly larger pro- 

 portion of protein, as is shown in Appendix Table V. When protein- 



1 Waters, Mo. Bui. 76; Skinner and Cochel, Ind. Cir. 12. 



