4 Economical Rations in Beef Production. 



a larger part of the vast quantity of roughage grown on every 

 farm as by-products to grain into some marketable commod- 

 ity. Cattle and sheep feeding not only make possible the 

 utilization of such material, but these ruminants, requiring 

 much bulk as they do, also encourage the growth of more 

 clover and alfalfa in the crop rotation, thus preserving the 

 fertility of the land. Cattle are not only able to consume 

 bulky material in quantity, but they are also able to take it 

 in its crude form, less costly, therefore, than if labor is ex- 

 pended in its preparation. 



During the years of low-priced corn, cattle feeding was 

 profitable under almost any system of feeding, but conditions 

 having changed, methods must be varied to meet the new sit- 

 uation. Beef has always been a luxury, and we can hardly 

 expect its rise in value to be commensurate with that of corn 

 and other cereals used in the human dietary. When it be- 

 comes excessively high in price the consumers use less meat 

 and more of other foods which, tho less palatable, are much 

 cheaper and can serve as substitutes. Tn beef production, as 

 in other forms of industry, competition forces us to adopt 

 more economical methods, and it is left for the farmer to 

 make beef more cheaply rather than to discontinue the feed- 

 ing of cattle because of higher priced grain. 



If cattle feeding, aside from its beneficial effect in main- 

 taining or restoring soil fertility, is still a profitable industry 

 in states farther east as it is when properly conducted the 

 farmers of Nebraska are situated to make it doubly so by 

 virtue of the natural conditions which favor the industry 

 here, viz., lower priced corn than any other state in the Union, 

 the possibilities of alfalfa and clover culture, notably the 

 former, favorable markets and shipping facilities, and a cli- 

 mate of relatively low humidity in winter which permits out- 

 door f c(Ml ing. It would be unreasonable to expect cattle to 

 return every year without fail prices for corn above what 

 might have been received at the elevator. The instability of 

 the average stock market would hardly permit it. But fol- 



