CHAPTER 5 



LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION 



ON January 1, 1942 the nation had $7 billion invested in 

 livestock, about fifty dollars for every man, woman, and child 

 in the United States. There were about 145 million animal 

 units, or about one per capita. More simply, there was one 

 cow, or its equivalent in the form of hogs, sheep, and chick- 

 ens, for each person. Cattle were the most valuable (table 1). 

 These animals consumed about 130 million tons of grain 

 and ate, slept on, or tramped over 200 million tons of rough- 

 ages. There were, in addition, about 160 to 180 days of pas- 



TABLB 1. NUMBERS AND VALUE OF LIVESTOCK 

 IN THE UNITED STATES 



January 1, 1942 



* One sheep equals 0.04 of one feed-grain consuming animal unit; chicken, 0.045; turkey, 

 0.18; other cattle, 0.51; hog, 0.87; dairy cow, 1.0; horse or mule, 1.14. 



