BRIGHT OUTLOOK 



Optimistic Prediction Presented At 20th Cattle 

 Feeders Roundup At Urbana. Demand For Beef 

 To Continue Strong For Next Twelve Months 



By LEW REISNER 



Field Editor, lAA Record 



CATTLE feeders are in a better 

 position to make money during 

 the next 12 months than any 

 other group of hvestock farmers 

 in Illinois. 



This was the optimistic outlook pre- 

 sented during the 20th cattle feeder's 

 round-up held recently at the University 

 of Illinois in Urbana. 



The cattle business looks good. The 

 demand for beef continues strong be- 

 cause of beef shortages, shortages that 

 will not be relieved by the bumper har- 

 vests this fall. 



There is no prospect for an increase 

 in beef for a year. About the same num- 

 ber of feeders moved into the feedlots 

 of the eight cornbelt states during July, 

 August, and September of this year as 

 moved last year: 749,300 for 1948 and 

 748,700 for 1947. 



"The big corn crop hasn't affected 

 the cornbelt farmer's plans. They're 

 playing their cards very carefully," R. 

 W. Grierer, of the Chicago Producers 

 Commission Association, said during 

 the meeting. 



He pointed out that even though it 

 costs more to buy feeders this year, 

 gains will cost but one-half of last 

 year's because of cheaper feeds. He be- 

 lieves that feeders can take a 20-25 per 

 cent break in price and still get along. 



If farmers can make money feeding 

 cheap corn to cattle, why aren't there 

 more cattle in the feedlots.' 



The answer, Grierer believes, can be 

 found in the cautious attitude of cattle- 

 men. Feeder stock is high, and farmers 

 remember the big break after the last 

 war. They just don't want to get caught 

 again. 



So most of them are giving their 

 feeder cattle a quick feed of up to 120 

 days, and then shipping. "There's just 

 no cattle on long feeding any more," 

 he said. 



Texas ranchers do not see the cattle 

 future with so little optimism, Jim 

 Mitchell, secretary-manager of the 

 Texas Livestock Marketing Association, 

 said at the cattle feeders' meeting. 



"Down in Texas we don't see why 

 you Illinois farmers aren't taking our 

 calves — even if fat cattle should drop 

 $10 a hundred," Mitchell said. He re- 

 ported that Texas ranchers have fewer 

 calves for export than any time in re- 



cent history. This is due to a severe 

 drouth in the ealf-exporting area of the 

 state. 



One of the College of Agriculture 

 cattle feeding experiments discussed 

 during the meeting was the results ob- 

 tained by grazing feeders on strip mine 

 pasture. 



The spoils pasture in Fulton county, 

 where one test was made, was mined 

 about 11 years ago. The pasture seed- 

 ings were started in 1938 when legumes 

 and grasses were broadcast over the 

 area by plane. 



The animals did well enough, gain- 

 ing 1.19 pounds daily on the spoils pas- 

 ture while the control steers, pastured 

 on a near-by bluegrass pasture, gained 

 1.29 pounds. 



Sweet clover, redtop, orchard grass, 

 lespedeza, and alta fescue are the species 

 found to do best so far on this strip- 

 mined land, and furnished most of the 

 forage consumed by steers on test. 



During the day-long meeting, the 

 latest data was released on a continuing 

 experiment where steers are fed to a 

 given market grade on a limited amount 

 of grain. 



The experiment was started in Au- 

 gust of 1947. Complete results may be 

 obtained by writing the College of Ag- 

 riculture. 



{Continued on page }4) 



