HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



steer Feeding Studied \ 



Continued from page 1, coluinn 1 

 labor. The bulk of the manure is used 

 on the tobacco. Only four or five hun- 

 dred pounds of fertilizer per acre are 

 used with the manure. The tobacco 

 stalks and a light coat of manure are 

 used to fertilize the corn crop. In other 

 words, manure is used to reduce the 

 fertilizer bill on the tobacco crop instead 

 of being used to grow more feed for more 

 cattle. The farms show that this prac- 

 tice ha.s been found to be profitable. In- 

 cidentally Lancaster County leads the 

 whole United States in the acre value of 

 its crops. 



Lancaster County is blessed with a 

 naturally fertile, limestone soil. It is also 

 blessed with Dutch farmers who for 

 generations have maintained or in- 

 creased the fertility of the farms. One 

 reason that steers are fed seems to be 

 that these farmers do not care to milk 

 large numbers of cows. Steers are kept 

 to market surplus corn, hay and straw 

 not needed Dy other kinds of livestock. 

 The minimum number of steers capable ' 

 of consuming this surplus of home-grown 

 feeds is the number of steers kept on 

 each farm. .5,.500 of the 11,370 farms in 

 the county feed steers. The average num- 

 ber of steers fed per farm varies from 6 

 to 8 although some of the larger farms 

 feed from 30 to 40 steers per season. On 

 many farms, cotton-seed meal is the only 

 feed purchased. 



In Lancaster, the County Seat, is the 

 largest stock yard east of Chicago. It 

 handles about 200,000 steers yearly. 

 Most of the steers to be fed come from 

 St. Paul, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City 

 and Canada. It is said that steers have > 

 reached "home" when they get to Lancas- 

 ter. In the western stock yards, the corn 

 belt farmers, who produce the best quality 

 beef, pick out the best of the feeder steers 

 shipped in from the far western ranges. 

 The corn belt farmers must have the best 

 quality feeders if they are to market their 

 corn at good prices. The steers that are 

 left come to Lancaster. When they ar- 

 rive they must be sold as there is no other 

 place to ship them. If cattle dealers ask 

 too much farmers do not buy, so the price 

 is soon adjusted, as it costs money to keep 

 the steers in the yard. The Lancaster 

 stock yard supplies steers for what is 

 called the Eastern Feeding District. This , 

 is made up of 16 counties in Pennsyl- 

 vania and 2 in Maryland. Between 100 

 and 130 thousand steers are fed each 

 year in this district. Of these, Lancaster 

 County feeds between 35 and 45 thou- 

 sand. After the steers are "finished" they 

 are brought back to the stock yard and 

 reshipped to .Jersey City. Here they are 

 butchered for the Kosher (.Jewish) trade 

 around New York City. 450,000 cattle 

 are needed annually for this trade. 



Lancaster County farmers grow wheat 

 and feed steers, not because of the proft 



to be derived from either one, but be- 

 cause wheat fits into the rotation better 

 than any other crop and because steer 

 feeding fits well with the other farm op- 

 erations. The steers are expected to pay 

 farm value for the crops they eat. Farm 

 value.-^ are about as follows : Hay .$18, 

 Silage $6, Straw $8, Corn $1 per bushel. 

 Cotton-seed meal varies with the market 

 and cost $50 per ton when we visited the 

 county. In figuring profit per steer, farm 

 crops are charged at farm values. One 

 fifth of the cost of the cotton-seed meal 

 is charged to the steer as four fifths of 

 its value is recovered in the manure. 

 These facts should be understood in con- 

 sidering the following information. 



A summary of cost accounts shows 

 that to make profit, steers have to be 

 bought so that the finished steer will 

 bring at least .$2.50 per cwt. above the 

 purchase price. Last year on a high 

 corn and a low beef market, feeder steers 

 costing over $6.50 per cwt. failed to pay 

 farm value for the feeds they ate while 

 those costing less than 6.50 per cwt. paid 

 farm prices for feeds and showed a pro- 

 fit of $1.65 per head. It was also shown 

 that steers must gain over 2 pounds per 

 day to show a profit. Steers weighing 

 from 8 to 11 cwt. are preferred to lighter 

 cattle. More money was made on feed- 

 ing periods from 90 to 150 days than 

 for longer periods. 



There are two systems of feeding used : 

 (1) Dry Feeding; (2) Silage. By dry 

 feeding is meant the feeding of hay, corn 

 stover and grain. Dry fed steers failed 

 to pay faim price for feeds by $5.36 per 

 head, while those fed over 30 pounds of 

 silage per day paid for their feed and 

 made a profit of $9.62 per head. The 

 feeding of bran and oats is not profitable. 

 Steers eating over 2 pounds of cotton- 

 seed meal per day made a profit. After 

 the hay and corn stover are eaten up, 

 steers are fed from 45 to 50 pounds of 

 silage per day, supplemented with from 2 

 to 5 pounds of cotton-seed meal. It is 

 figTjred that a silo is worth $15 per steer 

 a year. Experience has proven that it 

 is more profitable to produce a steer that 

 will grade "Fair to good" than it is to 

 try to produce a higher quality animal. 



To have steers pay farm values for 

 home-grown feeds, four things are neces- 

 sary: (1) A liberal supply of home 

 grown feeds so that cotton-seed meal will 

 be the only feed expense; (2) Steers 

 must be bought at a price so that they 

 have a chance to increase at least $2.50 

 per cwt. in value during the feeding 

 period; (3) Liberal feeding to asswe a 

 gain of at least 2 pounds per steer daily; 

 (4) Steers should not be fed over 150 

 days. 



In this county many tobacco growers 

 have expressed the opinion that while 

 steers might not pay farm value for 

 feeds, the difference could be charged to 

 the manure. It is figured that a .steei- 



Very Fine 



Spring Hats 



.Just about this time of the year you 

 begin to want a new hat. 



Perhaps seeing the ladies with 



theirs is the reason. 



Our new hats for Spring are ready 



any time you are. 



The very latest ideas, fine values. 



^5 to ^7.50 



MERRITT CLARK & CO. 



iXORTHAMPTOSr, MASS. 





^ Corona is the standard Portable 

 Typewriter. 



Take it with you. Set it anywhere. 

 Will do anything a big machine can 

 do. 



$50.00 cash or small monthly pay- 

 ments. 



NORTHAMPTON 



COMMERCIAL COLLEGE. Inc. 



7G Pleasant Street 

 Northamijton, Mass, 



£xi6e 



BATTERIES 



FORD 



SO Amp. Hrs. 



^17.00 



DODGE 



9 Plate, 65 Amp. Hrs. 



^29.50 



G. P. TROWBRIDGE CO. 



129 King St., Northampton 



Phone 480 



