TACKLING the problem of saving 

 grain to feed hungry Europe, 

 feedlot and college experts re- 

 cently came up with ways to make 

 a profitable gain on cattle and 

 hogs, and still go easy on the feed bin. 



Their ideas, suggestions, and experi- 

 ences were related before more than 

 1000 seasoned cattlemen during ses- 

 sions of the 19th cattle feeders meeting 

 held last month at the College of Ag- 

 riculture in Urbana. 



A good over-all program that would 

 fit any livestock farm was offered by 

 Dr. L. E. Card, new head of the de- 

 partment of animal science. 



Card urged that hogs be marketed 

 at lighter weights. He indicated that 

 this would probably save more grain 

 than any other measure farmers can 

 now effect. 



Us9 Grain Sparingly 



"If all hogs were marketed at the 

 1937-41 pre-war average weight of 

 237 pounds, or 20 pounds under the 

 1946-47 average," Card said, "the sav- 

 ing in grain would amount to about 

 140,000,000 bushels. 



"And we would like to see all the 

 grain now going into hogs, chickens 

 and turkeys properly supplemented 

 with the right amounts of protein, 

 vitamins and minerals." 



He asked that ail cattlemen make the 

 maximum use of hay and other rough- 

 ages where there is a plentiful supply, 

 and to make maximum use of late fall 

 and early spring pastures without over- 

 grazing. 



For the cattlemen Card urged feed- 

 ing fewer" beef cattle to "choice," a 

 grade for highly finished cattle. The 

 three common grades are commercial, 

 good, and choice. 



"It has been estimated," Card said, 

 "that 60 million bushels of corn and 

 85,000 tons of by-product feeds are 

 used to fatten cattle beyood^M "| 

 slaughter grade." 



And aayyirii% tt WM^^Hphjiie*^^^ 

 westermen-wko. I 

 most ot ks cl 

 like tl 



childre!B|^»k: 



over IllM|£|ay|^s to Igadpif^ho 

 produce ^^^/^^^ Iuxar^,*tem that 

 moves E^^^^f ,^sale to hotels and 

 cafes. ^^^ 



A tim^^Hnerknent recently con- 

 cluded byHH College of Agriculture 

 and relat^Hto feeding out steers 

 through the three .coipmon market 

 grades, was made public during the 

 meeting. - * 



It involved three lots of 15 steers. 

 The results backed Dr. Card's plea to 



?3«e: 



Orin Hertz, Vttrmlllon county farm adviser. Earl Bass, cattle feeder, and John Evans, 

 feeder and lAA board director, ponder uncertainties of cattle feeder's lot in life as they 

 look over new shipment of 4S0 pound calves bought by college and shown on Cattle 



Feeders Day. 



HAY and SiUCE 

 MAKE BEEF TOO! 



save grain by marketing steers as com- 

 mercials or goods and without a high 

 degree of finish. 



The steers, fed on dry lot, were 

 finished to commercial, good, and 

 choice slaughter grades. The commer- 

 cial lot with the smallest degree of 

 finish took very little grain, were ready 

 for market after a short feed, gained 

 rapidly, and dressed out plenty of top 

 quality meat, as the following results 

 of the feedlot tests would indicate. 



Amount of .^ corn needed per steer 

 were: commercial lot, 15.6 bu. ; good 

 "li choice lot, 45.7. Days to 

 ' >mmercial, 95; good, 147; 



ro8. 



ftuners wXo normally rely 



sngKage and less on grain 



Tttle program, addressed the 



;rs ^ring the afternoon session. 



jed "Meers, who farms west of 



ler in Champaign county, in a short 



1 before the cattlemen said that on 



I own farm he relies heavily on 



r(BK|hages in his cattle feeding pro- 



"Aj^hough it takes me longer to get 

 a steer ready for market on pasture," 



Illustration shows calf bought by Illinois 



College of Agriculture at Kansas City for 



feed tests. Calves like this also are in 



demand for 4-H work. 



Meers related, "It makes me the most 

 money. It takes less corn, bedding, and 

 labor, and it puts the manure right on 

 the field." 



Lorin Clark, another Champaign 

 county cattleman from Homer, is also 

 a believer in roughages. He depends 

 more on hay and pasture for his cattle 

 program than he does on grain. 



"If you've got a good pasture pro- 

 gram, you'll be safe over the long pull 

 even though the market on cattle does 

 go up Or down severely." 



Cattle Feeding Popular' 



"We use legumes to build our land 

 and steers to harvest the legumes," 

 Clark said. Grain is used these days 

 of high prices only to put on a short 

 finish. 



"This winter we'll probably feed 16 

 bushels of corn, all in the silage, before 

 we turn out about May 10." He was- 

 gratified to learn, he said, that the yel- 

 low fat of grass fed cattle, often dis- 

 criminated against in butcher shops, 

 was actually highly nutritious and was 

 colored by carotin, a carrier of Vitamin 

 D. This would convince more house- 

 wives, he indicated, of the value of 

 grain fed cattle if it were brought to 

 their attention. 



( ConlinKed on page 26 ) •...'..■-. 



> 





L A. A. RECORD 



