is in corn and grass, leaving the other 25 per cent to buildings, lots, 

 orchards, gardens, woodland and the growing of small grains which 

 would indicate that the extensive corn grower has found it impos- 

 sible to keep up soil fertility without the use of livestock. The labor 

 problem precludes the possibility of marketing so great a quantity 

 of corn through dairy cattle, and as hogs are not adapted to utilize 

 the roughage in a satisfactory way, the producer must either feed 

 beef cattle (or other meat-making animals) or market his grain at 

 the elevator. The cost of feeding corn to cattle is no greater than 

 the cost of hauling it to market while the amount of time actually 

 consumed is not materially greater. In other words, the labor in- 

 volved in feeding beef cattle may be fairly charged against the cost 

 .of marketing farm crops rather than against the profit in feeding 

 cattle. A further feature in regard to the labor in feeding beef 

 cattle is that it gives employment throughout the entire year. 



BEEF FARMS ARE LARGELY DEVOTED TO CORN AND GRASS. 



Under average conditions in the state, the farms devoted to the 

 production of beef contain 1.76 acres of corn and 2.42 acres of grass 

 for every steer marketed during the year. This does not mean that 

 this amount of land is devoted exclusively to steer feeding. A 

 part of the corn would necessarily be fed to hogs, to teams on the 

 farm, to breeding cows, young cattle and stockers that are being 

 carried over the winter; and doubtless a limited amount would be 

 sold on the market. The amount of grass, as will be seen on page 

 20 of this report, in reply to question 41, is more than is necessary 

 for full feeding cattle- on grass. For this reason it is supposed that 

 a large number of cattle feeders carry upon their farms a bunch of 

 steers, as stockers, without giving them any great amount of grain; 

 thus having on hand in reality two distinct classes of cattle; one in 

 the feed lot, being finished for market; the other in stocker or feeder 

 condition, being prepared for the feed lot at a later date. 



Assuming that corn would yield 50 bushels per acre, which is 

 ten bushels more than the average for the state, the average cattle 

 feeder would produce 4400 bushels of corn annually. It is estimated 

 that 50 bushels of corn is sufficient to fatten a steer; this will leave 

 1650 bushels of corn over and above what is necessary to finish 55 

 cattle, which may be used for other purposes. 



LEGUMES APPRECIATED BY CATTLE FEEDERS. 



Practically every cattle feeder in the state reported that he 

 was growing clover. Alfalfa is being grown by 22 per cent; cow 

 peas by 8 per cent and sorghum by 15 per cent of those reporting. 



