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 



CAT'ILE Iccdcr^ arc in a iicttcr 

 position to make money during 

 the next 12 months than an) 

 other ^roup ot hxcNtock tarmcr> 

 in Illinois. 

 1 his was the optimistic outlook pre 

 senled during the JOtii cattle feeder > 

 round-up held rctently at the Uni\ersit\ 

 ot Illinois in Urbana. 



The cattle business looks ^ood. The 

 demand lor beel continues strong be- 

 cause of beef shortages, shor(at;es that 

 will not be relieved by the i^imiper har- 

 vest-, this tall. 



There is no prospect lor an increase 

 in beef for a year. About the same num 

 ber ot feeders moved into the feed lots 

 of the eight cornbelt states during July. 

 August, and September of this year as 

 moved last year: '^ t9, 300 for 19 i8 and 

 748,700 for 19 t~. 



"The big corn crop hasii t affected 

 the cornbelt farmer's plans. They're 

 playing their cards very carefully," R 

 W. Grierer, of the Chicago Hroducers 

 Commission Association, said during 

 the meeting. 



He pointed out that even though it 

 costs more to buy feeders this year, 

 gains will tost but one-half of last 

 year's because of cheaper feeiis. He be- 

 lieves that feeders can take a -'0-2^ 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 teedlots' 



The answer. Grierer believes, can be 

 lound in the cautious attitude of cattle- 

 men. I'eeder 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 cjuick iced of up to 120 

 days, and then shipping. "There's just 

 no cattle on long feeding anv more,' 

 he said. 



Texas ranchers do not see the cattle 

 future with so little optimism, Jim 

 Mitchell, secretary-manager of the 

 Texas Li\estock 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 

 SIO a hundred," Mitchell said. He re- 

 ported that Texas ranchers have fewer 

 calves tor export than any time in re- 



cent history. lliis is clue to a severe 

 drouth in the talf-exporting area of the 

 state. 



One of the (ollege of Agriculture 

 cattle feeding experiments discusseil 

 during the meeting was the results ob 

 tained by grazing feeders on strip mine 

 pasture. 



The spoils pasture in I'ulton county, 

 where one test was made, was mined 

 about 1 1 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 blucgrass pasture, gained 

 1 .29 pounds. 



Sweet clover, redtop, orchard grass, 

 lespcdeza, 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 1917. Complete results may be 

 obtained by writing the College of Ag- 

 riculture. 



(Cniuinuij ■III !>.l>i€ si) 



These well-fed cattle have just been taken off strip-mine pasture in Fulton county. 



large crowd gathers near University beef barns during Cattle Feeders Day. 



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