PURDUE UNIVERSITY 



Agricultural Experiment Station 



CIRCULAR NO. 14. 



LAFAYETTE, IND., JULY, 1908. 

 BEEF PRODUCTION. 



Ill, 



FACTORS INFLUENCING THE VALUE AND COST OF FEEDERS. 



J. H. SKINNER AND W. A. COCHEL. 



The production of cattle which will return a profit both to the 

 producer and the feeder, is a problem which deserves careful atten- 

 tion. It is easily possible to buy cattle which have been produced 

 at a loss and fatten them at a profit, but the aim of the most 

 thoughtful- and intelligent men engaged in the beef cattle business 

 is to encourage the production of a grade of cattle which will re- 

 turn a profit when sold as feeders without diminishing the profits in 

 finishing them. In producing such cattle the particular system to 

 be followed should be determined by the size, location and adaptabil- 

 ity of the farm. One farm may be especially adapted for the pro- 

 duction of feeders, another for the production of yearling beef and 

 still another, only for finishing cattle. 



In many sections of Indiana there is an abundance of rough 

 land suitable only for grazing. Under such conditions the produc- 

 tion of feeders should prove profitable by grazing them in summer 

 and carrying them through the winter on cheap roughage such as 

 clover hay, silage and straw, thus producing 1,000 to 1,200 pound 

 feeders at a minimum cost and a reasonable profit. In other sec- 

 tions where the proportion of grazing to farming land is about 

 equal, it is possible to both grow and fatten steers at the same time, 

 marketing them as 1,000 to 1,200 pound prime yearlings. In still 

 other sections where all of the land is suitable for growing corn 

 and much of it is too valuable for permanent pasture, a different 

 system may be followed by purchasing feeders and finishing them 

 for market. 



