96 



TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



old steers may be bought at prices low enough to make them 

 profitable, the feeder will continue to make use of them as well 

 as of calves and yearlings. 



Profits in cattle feeding come from skill in feeding and 

 management, and also from intelligent buying and selling. There 

 is practiced what is known as "speculative cattle feeding" in 

 which feeders emphasize the buying and selling more than they 

 do the actual feeding of the animals, the object being to buy 

 on a low market and sell when the market is high. Omitting 

 this speculative feature from consideration, it may be said that 

 the sources of profit in feeding a steer are (1) the increase in 



Fig. 20. Fancy Selected Feeders. 



weight of the animal, and (2) the increase in the value of the 

 animal's initial weight. For example, if we buy a thin steer 

 at 8 cents per pound, and fatten him during four or six months 

 feeding, we increase not only his weight, but also his value per 

 pound. If the initial weight was 1000 pounds, and the final 

 weight was 1325 pounds, he should sell at 10 cents per pound 

 without any rise of the cattle market during the feeding period. 

 Then the net income to the feeder would be as follows: 



325 pounds at lOc 

 1000 pounds at 2c 



.$32.50 

 . 20.00 



Net income . . $52 . 50 



