A PASTURE HANDBOOK 45 



annual sustenance for the cows. On these same farms the pasture 

 cost was only one-seventh of the total feed cost. 



Records obtained on 478 Corn Belt farms which produced beef 

 calves showed that the breeding cows obtamed practically their entire 

 living from pasture for 200 days and from roughage and concentrates 

 for 165 days. The pastures furnishing more than half of the total 

 sustenance were credited with one-thii'd of the feed bill. 



A survey on typical farms in southern Indiana shows that those 

 with half of their farmed area in pasture and half in crops made more 

 profit than those which devoted one fourth to pasture and three 

 fourths to crops. Thirty-sLx percent of the total feed for dairy herds 

 on those farms was obtained from pasture, and such feed furnished 

 nutrients at one fourth the cost of nutrients in harvested feeds. 



PASTURES COMPARED WITH HARVESTED CROPS IN YIELD 

 OF NUTRIENTS 



In general, fair comparisons of the quantities of feed produced 

 by pastures and b}^ harvested crops are difficult to obtain on farms, 

 because the poorer lands are used for pastures and because there is no 

 practicable means of determining the quantity or composition of the 

 pasturage consumed. 



According to calculations based on census data (table 6), lands in 

 harvested grain crops, as they are produced generally on farms of the 

 United States, supply fully 50 percent more nutrients for livestock 

 than similar land in pasture. A comparison of yields of harvested 

 crops with calculated yields of pasturage on good Corn Belt land, 

 where grain yields are usually higher than elsewhere, shows that a 

 5-year rotation of corn, corn, oats, wheat, and red clover produces 

 practically twice as much nutrients as pasturage on the same land. 

 As previously shown, however, pasturage is commonly produced and 

 utilized at a much lower cost, particularly of labor, (fig. 11). 



In general, closely grazed pasture produces about two thirds as 

 much dry matter as the same plants would produce if they were 

 allowed to grow nearly to maturity and then cut for hay. However, 

 since grass is eaten directly, animals obtain all the nutrients it contains 

 particularly vitamins and minerals, that may be lost in part in the 

 process of drying. Furthermore, immature grasses contain a high 

 proportion of leaf, less fiber and more protein and are more digestible 

 than hays made from mature grass. Pasturage produces about 

 three-fourths as much digestible nutrients as the hay. 



Table 6 shows a comparison of the quantities of digestible nutrient 

 produced from various harvested crops and pasturage. 



