STEER FEEDING 



SMALL GRAINS AND CLOVER HAY FOR 

 TWO YEAR OLD STEERS 



INTRODUCTION 



With the gradual increase in the price of grain, the feeder is 

 becoming confronted with a new problem. He is in the business 

 for profit and unless the price of animal products increases pro- 

 portionately with the price of grain, he must decrease expenses or 

 quit the business. The latter is serious for no country can be kept 

 in a prosperous condition without a large number of farm animals, 

 and any condition that tends to hinder the raising of farm animals 

 should be discouraged. 



The amount of grain fed to dairy and beef cattle is changing. 

 Experiments with dairy cows are beginning to show that less 

 grain can be fed, for heavy maximum production than has 

 been the practice to feed. Enormous quantities of grain have 

 been fed, but on account of the increase of its price, farmers of the 

 United States are probably not feeding grain as heavily as in 

 former years. Reports from various parts of the country show that 

 less grain is being fed. A large amount of grain for a short period 

 with fleshy steers or a small amount of grain with considerable 

 roughage for a long period with thin steers, seems to be giving 

 good results and is apparently finding favor. Reports from the 

 middle and eastern states, are that farmers are looking more to sil- 

 age, roughing their cattle through the winter and finishing on grass 

 in the Spring with less grain than in former years. This may not 

 be very general yet, but it shows that there is a tendency to feed 

 less grain. The farmer who has been feeding large quantities of 

 grain for long periods is beginning to find that often there is little 

 or no profit derived from the operation, but sometimes a loss. To 



