MAINTENANCE RATIONS FOR BEEF BREEDING COWS 

 BY HERBERT W. MUMFORD, CHIEF IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



INTRODUCTION 



The question of the economical maintenance of beef breeding 

 cows has received but little attention by live stock investigators. 

 The exact place of the corn belt cattleman as a factor in producing 

 the world's future supply of beef is a matter of conjecture only. 



Formerly Illinois farms were well stocked with high grade beef 

 cows from which were produced the feeding cattle that were subse- 

 quently fattened to furnish a profitable outlet for the large acreages 

 of corn grown. This was when land and corn were cheap. As land 

 became more valuable and corn was used for other purposes than 

 making meat it was found that there was but small profit, if any, in 

 keeping a cow a year for the beef calf she would produce. During 

 this transition period extensive breeding herds were formed on the 

 western ranges. The breeding of feeding cattle as a common prac- 

 tice on high priced lands has passed at least temporarily. The supply 

 of feeding cattle has come more and more largely from localities 

 where land is cheaper. Range-bred feeding cattle are becoming 

 yearly a large factor in corn belt feed lots. 



The passing of the range and its extensive herds of cattle has 

 been freely predicted and no doubt will eventually take place ; that 

 vast acreages of range country are being transformed into farms is 

 a matter of common knowledge. That the southwestern cattleman 

 is becoming more familiar with the value of his available feeds for 

 fattening cattle is evident, which no doubt will result in more feed- 

 ing or finishing of cattle in that section of the country. Notwith- 

 standing these facts, there is more or less uncertainty surrounding 

 the extent and the nature of the future cattle business on the num- 

 erous farms resulting from the subdivision of the extensive ranges. 



The question of where the future supply of feeding cattle will 

 be bred and reared is a pertinent one. Many predict that ultimately 

 a much larger proportion of cattle fattened in the corn belt will be 

 bred there. It is not our present purpose to discuss this question, 

 but enough has been said to suggest to the reader the reasons for in- 

 vestigating the subject in hand, namely, that this has been a neg- 

 lected question among investigators, and some conditions point to 



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