184 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



breeders of either beef or dairy cattle. This is true because 

 beef and dairy types represent extremes, while the dual-purpose 

 type is an average of these two, or represents the middle ground. 



Profits from dual-purpose cattle. In an investigation into 

 the methods and cost of growing beef cattle in the cornbelt 

 states in 1914 and 1915, the U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 obtained 596 records from farms in Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, 

 Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.* Farms 

 where cows were kept for distinctly dairy purposes or where the 

 herds were maintained only for the production and sale of pure- 

 bred animals for breeding purposes were omitted. Records 

 were procured on 14,634 cows and 621 bulls, and on 12,591 

 calves produced from them, of which 2,023 were fattened for 

 baby beef. Six distinct practices in beef production were noted, 

 as follows: 



Beef. Farms where all the cows are kept strictly for beef 

 (not including farms producing baby beef). 



Baby beef. Farms maintaining breeding herds for the 

 production of high-grade calves which are fattened on the same 

 farm and sold at from 12 to 18 months of age as baby beef. 



Dual-purpose. Farms on which all of the cows are milked, 

 and either cream or butter-fat sold, the calves being weaned 

 at birth and raised on skim milk. 



Mixed. Farms on which the best cows are milked, their 

 calves being weaned at birth and fed skim milk. Calves from 

 the other cows are allowed to run with their dams as in the 

 beef group. 



Partially milked. Farms on which the calves are not 

 weaned, but on which a part of the milk is drawn from the cow, 

 the calf taking the remainder. 



'' ' Dbuble nursing. Farms where some of the cows are milked 

 and their calves given to other cows, the latter raising two calves 

 each. 



The cost of calves at weaning time, the cost of raising 

 yearlings, and the profit or loss on the yearlings was determined 

 for each of the six groups. The accompanying table, showing the 

 various factors that make up the cost of producing a yearling 

 and summarizing the results of the investigation, indicates the 

 economy of dual-purpose herds as beef producers. However, 

 as this table is studied, it is well for the reader to keep in mind 



*U. S. Dept. Agr. Report 111, by Cotton, Cooper, Ward, and Ray. 



