COUNSEL IN THE FEED LOT 535 



that it is ordinarily more profitable to complete the fattening in the feed 

 lot, rather than turn the half -finished cattle out to grass in the spring, 

 for larger and cheaper gains are thus made. (711-2) 



821. Fattening cattle 2 years old or older. Where pasturage is cheap, 

 cattle are usually not marketed until 2 years old or older. They may 

 be carried thru the first winter chiefly on roughage, or even entirely, 

 if fed legume hay and other roughage of good quality. (797) On good 

 pasture they will make good growth the following summer. If they are 

 to be finished on grass early the third summer they will need a moder- 

 ate allowance of concentrates the second winter. If to be sold in the 

 fall or after finishing in the feed lot, little or no grain will be required 

 provided good quality roughage is fed. 



According to Cochel 21 the system of beef production usually most 

 profitable in western Kansas is to raise the calves on pasture the first 

 summer, winter them on kafir, milo, or sorghum silage, alfalfa hay and 

 straw or stover from the sorghums, with perhaps some cottonseed meal 

 in addition, pasture the yearlings the second summer without feeding 

 grain, carry them thru the second winter as before, and market the third 

 summer from grass. With good pasture such cattle should reach a 

 weight of about 1,050 Ibs. and be fat enough to sell as fleshy feeders or 

 fair killers. In other sections of the western grazing district a still 

 more extensive system is yet followed, the steers not being sold until 

 3 years of age. However, the tendency is ever toward hurrying the steer 

 to the block, and while 4- and 5-year-old steers were once common on the 

 range, but few now reach these ages. 



822. Cost of fattening cattle. The cost of fattening cattle will vary 

 widely in different sections of the country and at various times. The 

 chief items of cost are, of course, the initial cost of the feeder cattle and 

 the cost of the feed. Other operating expenses which must be charged 

 against the feeding operations are man and horse labor, building and 

 equipment charges, interest, mortality risk, any veterinary services, 

 insurance, taxes, marketing costs, and incidental expenses. 



It is commonly assumed that when cattle are full-fed on corn, the 

 by-products of the fattening operations the manure secured and the 

 pork produced by the pigs following the steers will usually pay for all 

 costs other than the initial costs of the cattle and the cost of the feed. In- 

 vestigations by the United States Department of Agriculture show this 

 to be true unless the cattle are grazed on pasture without grain in ad- 

 dition for a considerable part of the fattening period. 22 In studies at the 

 Illinois Station 23 it was found that 2-year-old steers excreted in feces 

 and urine on the average 87.4 per ct. of the nitrogen and 86.5 per ct. of 

 the phosphorus in their feed. It may be assumed that over 90 per ct. of 

 the potassium is excreted, as well. Thus nearly all the fertilizing con- 



^Information to the authors. 



^Wilcox, Jour. Farm. Economics, 3, 1921, pp. 62-72. 



^Grindley, Mumford, Emmett, and Bull, 111. Bui. 209. 



