FACTORS INFLUENCING BEEF PRODUCTION 261 



made. Prof. Mumford says, however, that "steers sub- 

 jected to a mud lot with no suitable place to lie down must 

 suffer, and when a steer is uncomfortable he is not making 

 gain economically." He also believes that cattle will not 

 drink as much water as they need, if obliged to wade through 

 mud to obtain it. 



The margin in beef -cattle selling is the difference between 

 the cost per hundred of the feeder on the market and the 

 price per hundred received for it when sold. For example, 



Figure 105. An English feed lot near Faringdon, Oxfordshire, paved with 

 macadam. Photograph by the author. 



if a steer weighing 500 pounds costs $6.00 per hundred when 

 put on feed, its total cost would be $30.00. Should it gain 

 500 pounds in live weight at a feed cost of $35.00, then each 

 100 pounds of gain would cost $7.00. Assuming the value 

 of the manure will offset the cost of labor, the 1,000-pound 

 steer has now cost the owner $65.00, the equivalent of $6.50 

 per hundred in the feed lot when ready to sell. In order to 

 break even on this feeding transaction, the owner would 

 need to obtain enough more at time of sale than the original 

 cost of the steer, to offset its total cost per hundred, which 



