CROPPING AND FEEDING SYSTEMS 177 



market. The cheap feeds should be utilized to the fullest possible extent. 

 Waste should be avoided. 



Economy in feeding often calls for two or more classes of stock. Swine 

 will follow steers and secure much feed from the droppings that otherwise 

 would be wasted. They will also utilize the skim milk and buttermilk on 

 farms that make butter. Under these conditions one may be justified in 

 feeding steers whole grain in greater abundance than he would in the 

 absence of swine. 



The rearing of young stock generally necessitates depending chiefly 

 on roughage and cheap feed. The roughage develops bone, and so long 

 as the animal is kept thrifty and develops a good frame, the fat required 

 for marketing can be secured by the use of concentrates during the feeding 

 period. In this connection stockmen are cautioned to avoid the stunting 

 of young stock by insufficient feed. The higher the grade and value of 

 stock, the greater the necessity for quality in the feed consumed. 



Feeding System Depends on Type of Farming. Types of farming 

 differ greatly in different sections of the country, depending on many 

 factors previously mentioned in the chapter on this subject. Consequently, 

 the feeding systems will vary greatly, depending on crops available. A 

 type of farming that includes intensive crops, like tobacco, that respond 

 abundantly to animal manures, may be justified in adopting a feeding 

 system in which concentrates predominate. This results in more valuable 

 manure which may increase the value of the cash crop to such an extent 

 that stock can be fed on such a basis, even though there is no direct profit 

 in the feeding enterprise. 



The type of farming, however, will regulate the feeding system more 

 largely from the standpoint of the products that are available for feed. 

 On the grain farms in the corn belt, roughage in the form of stover and 

 straw, supplemented with corn and oats, together with small amounts of 

 hay, should constitute the chief products in the feeding system. In the 

 cotton belt, corn and annual legumes which can be grown advantageously 

 with cotton, should constitute the major portion of the livestock ration. 

 This may be supplemented with cottonseed meal. 



In the semi-arid belt, grazing combined with alfalfa and Kaffir corn 

 would doubtless dominate the feeding system. 



Feeding System Related to Cost of Production. Agricultural surveys 

 show that crops generally pay better than livestock for the time put upon 

 them, but a combination of crops and livestock is generally more profitable 

 than either alone. The feeding system for livestock produced in combina- 

 tion with cash crops will generally be more economical than that used when 

 livestock alone is sold. When full time is spent upon crops, the waste 

 products are not utilized and there is absence of manure to maintain yield; 

 and when one devotes full time to livestock, time is spent in a line of produc- 

 tion that is carried on at a very low margin of profit. It is a mistake either 

 to overstock or understock on general farms. It is a good policy to keep 



