512 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Costs of maintaining beef breeding cows 



Shorthorns Aberdeen-Angus 



Av. initial wt., Ibs 1,207 1,169 



Av. gain in wt., Ibs 29 . 1 23 . 6 



Av. ration 



Corn silage, Ibs 61.4 61.6 



Supplement, Ibs 1.0 1.0 



Bedding per cow for winter, Ibs 1,089 1,089 



Manure produced per cow, Ibs 9,750 9,750 



Cost of feed and bedding per cow 1 $25. 19 $25. 26 



Cost of labor, per cow 2 2. 42 2. 42 



Credit for manure, per cow 3 7 . 32 7 . 32 



Net cost of wintering, per cow 20. 29 20. 36 



JCorn silage, $3.50 to $5.00 per ton; supplement, $30 to $44 per ton; bedding $8 per ton. 

 2 Manure valued at $1.50 per ton. 

 'Labor charged at $0.15 per hour. 



In summer the cows with their calves were kept on blue-grass pastures 

 where the land was too rough for tillage. The cows were allowed 2 acres 

 of pasture each, with 1 acre in addition for each calf over 4 months of 

 age. When grazed at this rate the pastures were not cropped closely 

 in spring, but a surplus of grass was saved for midsummer drought. The 

 cattle were also alternated on the pastures at 2-week intervals to improve 

 the grazing. Valuing the land at $56 an acre, the low price being due 

 to the untillable nature, the pasture charge, including labor, per cow and 

 calf was $7.04. 



Other costs of maintaining the cows were: (1) mortality risk on the 

 cows at 1.3 per ct. a year, $1.33; (2) mortality risk on calves, 5 per ct. 

 a year, $2.02; (3) interest on value of cow, $6.00; (4) service of sire, 

 $2.00; and (5) interest and depreciation on equipment, $1.50. This 

 made a total annual cost of maintenance per cow of $40.21, including the 

 costs for the calves up to weaning time, which was at about 9 months of 

 age. With an 80 per ct. calf crop each year, this made the cost of a calf 

 at weaning $50.26. 



Tho the costs will vary quite widely in different years and in various 

 sections of the country, depending chiefly on prices of feed and labor, 

 these data will be helpful in estimating the cost under one's own con- 

 ditions. The cost can generally be reduced somewhat if a large part of 

 the roughage is some cheap material like corn stover, straw, or corn 

 stover silage, instead of corn silage containing the ear corn. (789) Also, 

 it aids greatly in cutting down the annual charge for keeping beef 

 breeding cows if the summer feed can be secured from cheap pasture 

 land, unsuited for tillage, as was done in these trials. 



In a study of methods of wintering beef cows on 478 corn-belt farms, 

 Cotton 12 found that the average cost of a calf at weaning time under pre- 

 war conditions was $37. On some farms the cost was as low at $25 a calf, 

 while on others it exceeded $50, depending quite largely on the extent 

 to which cheap roughages were used to maintain the cows in winter, in 



"U. S. D. A. Bui. 615. 



