FEEDS FOR BEEF CATTLE 493 



over the cost of feed, while the net return for those fed stover was only 

 81 cents. 



However, bright, well-cured fodder or stover is satisfactory as part 

 of the roughage, when fed either with silage or with legume hay. Stover 

 can not form a large part of the ration for fattening cattle, as it is low in 

 digestible nutrients. For carrying stocker cattle or breeding cows thru 

 the winter, it may be fed in larger amounts. As is pointed out later, 

 corn stover silage is more valuable than dry corn stover. (781) 



Corn fodder of good quality, fed with legume hay, may make practi- 

 cally as large gains on fattening cattle as tho they were fed silage. It 

 is shown elsewhere that the chief advantage of silage over dry corn 

 fodder lies in the smaller amount of feed required for 100 Ibs. gain by 

 silage-fed cattle. (298, 780) 



The value of corn stover is well shown in trials by Smith at the 

 Nebraska Station 96 in which steers were fed corn with alfalfa hay as the 

 only roughage, while in other lots half the alfalfa hay was replaced by 

 corn stover. The steers fed the corn stover made as large gains as those 

 fed only alfalfa hay as roughage, and the gains were materially cheaper. 



Sorghum fodder and stover, both from the grain sorghums and also 

 from the sorgos, are useful feeds in beef production when fed with leg- 

 ume hay or with sufficient amounts of protein-rich supplement to bal- 

 ance the ration. Just as with corn forage, sorghum silage is more efficient 

 and more economical than dry sorghum fodder, and sorghum stover silage 

 is preferable to dry sorghum stover. For example, in a trial at the 

 Fort Hays, Kansas, Branch Station 97 McCampbell found that for beef 

 breeding cows one acre of kafir stover silage (made into silage after the 

 heads had been removed) had a feeding value equal to 2.2 acres of dry 

 kafir stover. Similarly, an acre of kafir silage (with the heads on) 

 equalled 2.58 acres of dry kafir fodder with heads on. 



772. Hay from the grasses ; straw It has been previously pointed out 

 that when cattle are fed as the only roughage hay from the grasses, such 

 as timothy or prairie hay, smaller and less economical gains will be 

 produced than if they are fed legume hay. This is true, tho to a less 

 extent, even when a protein-rich supplement is added to balance the 

 ration. (761, 764) On the other hand, when cattle are full fed on all 

 the silage they want, hay from the grasses can well be used to satisfy 

 their desire for dry roughage, provided sufficient supplement is fed to 

 balance the ration. Also, even when silage is not available, such hay 

 gives fairly good results when fed as only half the roughage, along with 

 good legume hay. (766) 



Timothy hay was worth much less per ton than clover or alfalfa hay 

 in a trial by Eward, Culbertson, and colleagues at the Iowa Station 98 

 when fed as the only roughage, with shelled corn and cottonseed meal 



""Nebr. Buls. 90, 93, 100. 



"Kans. (Hays) Branch Sta., Rpt. of Progress of Beef Cattle Expts., 1919-20. 



""Information to the authors. 



