13 



THE ADVANTAGE OF PURCHASING FEEDERS OVER RAISING THEM. 



Fifty-eight per cent report that their reason for buying feeders 

 is that they can be bought cheaper than they can be produced under 

 conditions which are now confronting them. Twenty-five per cent 

 report that they can get more uniformity; 12 per cent report that 

 they can obtain better selection. The other reasons for purchasing 

 are as follows : "A greater number can be handled ", " quicker 

 returns secured ", " less trouble in buying than in raising cattle"; 

 but the preponderance of evidence is that two-year-old steers can 

 be purchased cheaper than they can be raised. This does not hold 

 true of the calf which will, on the average, bring 5 cents per 

 pound in the fall of the year after running with his dam through- 

 out the summer and will weigh at that time between 450 and 600 

 pounds. This is only possible however, where.bulls of the best beef 

 blood are used on cows possessing at least a fair degree of beef 

 type. Fifty-one per cent of the feeder buyers buy cattle in the fall 

 of the year; 16 per cent in the spring, and the remainder during 

 the summer and winter. This would seem to indicate that the 

 practice of winter feeding is more extensive than summer feeding, 

 as cattle are, in a great majority of cases, put on full feed immedi- 

 ately after being purchased. 



FEEDERS PREFER TWO-YEAR-OLD STEERS. 



In regard to the age at which steers are purchased, 76 per cent 

 of those reporting, prefer to buy two-year-old steers; 16 per cent 

 yearlings, and only 7 per cent prefer calves. The average weight 

 of the most desirable two-year-old steer is in the neighborhood of 

 1000 pounds. He should also be what is termed a " fleshy feeder ", 

 if to be placed on grain feed immediately. Another question which 

 bears directly on the age of cattle used in the feed lot was asked, 

 " Do you feed steers three-years-old or over ? If so, why? " It was 

 found that 18 per cent express a preference for them. The main 

 reasons given were, they usually carry more flesh, make more rapid 

 gains, fatten quicker, thus shortening the feeding period, require 

 less grain to finish them, utilize rougher and coarser feeds, feed 

 out more unif ormily, withstand severe weather better, and at certain 

 seasons of the year sell better. Another reasongiven by two men, 

 and probably of as great importance as the preceding, was that a 

 coarser and plainer class of cattle could be used than where younger 

 steers were fed. It would seem that just so long as steers weighing 

 from 1000 pounds to 1250 pounds can be bought low enough to in- 

 sure a profit in feeding them out with a short, quick heavy grain 

 feed, they will be preferred by extensive cattle feeders. Fleshy 



