As can be seen in Table 16, both groups of farms had some barn fa- 

 cilities designed for use only by young stock. The farmers who raised all 

 their replacements had more space and larger investments in barn facilities 

 for young stock than did the farmers who bought some replacements. This 

 latter group had specialized housing facilities for only 14 head of young 

 stock. The farmers who raised all their replacements had specialized facili- 

 ties for housing 19 head of young stock of various ages. 



Table 16. Average Utilization of Barn Space, 34 Farms With 

 Some Purchased Cows and 24 Farms with No Purchased Cows 



Utilization of Space Total Space 



Type of Stanchion Available 



Cows Young Stock Idle for Use 



Farms with some purchased cows 



Either cows or young stock 25 5 5 35 



Young stock onlyi — 12 2 14 



Farms with no purchased cows 



Either cows or young stock 25 6 4 35 



Young stock onlyi — 18 1 19 



^ Space used as loose housing for calves or young stock converted to equivalent stanchion space. 



Flexibility and Limitations in Use of Resources 

 for Either Cows or Young Stock 



The adjustments in cow numbers and numbers of replacements raised 

 or purchased depends largely on the flexibility of the resources. That is, can 

 all the forage be used to carry cows or raise young stock? Can the labor 

 be used equally well to keep cows or young stock? Are the barn facilities 

 such that either cows or young stock can be carried when all the space 

 is used? 



Most cured forages whether hay or silage can be used by either cows 

 or young stock. Generally, dairy farmers try to feed what they consider 

 their superior hay or silage to their milking cows. With the possible ex- 

 ception of the very young animals young stock usually get what is, in the 

 farmer's opinion, the poorer forages. These would include hay cut from 

 fields that had predominantly grass stands and hay that had been rained on. 

 Although this type of feed may be inferior relative to other portions of the 

 annual harvested crop, it can be fed to cows as well as to young stock. 

 In fact, based on the proportion of grasses to legumes, many stands of 

 hay fed to cows are relatively inferior. Moreover, much hay consumed by 

 cows has been damaged by rain. Estimates for Connecticut, a rainfall area 

 similar to New Hampshire, indicate that on the average only 34 percent 

 of the field-cured hay is harvested without some damage from rain.^^ 



Although in general, cured forage can be used to carry either cows 

 or young stock, pasture is not so flexible. About 70 percent of the New 

 Hampshire dairymen surveyed in connection with this study indicated 

 that they had some pastures they could use only for grazing young stock 

 and in some instances for dry cows. In most instances, the use stipulation 



31 V. E. Ross and I. F. Fellows, An Economic Evaluation of the Barn-Finishing 

 Method of Harvesting Hay, Storrs Agr. Expt. Sta. Bui. 277, 1951. 



33 



