56 BULLETIN 648, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



COST OF FEEDING CATTLE. 



An increasing number of farmers in Brooks County are making 

 a practice of fattening cattle for the market. Many of the feeders 

 are shipped in from Florida. Others are purchased from farmers 

 within the county or raised on the farms on which they are fed. 

 Three such cattle feeders were included in the survey, and the 

 itemized costs of feding are shown in Table XXI. 



Table XXL — Cost of feeding cattle on 3 farms (Brooks County, Ga.). 

 Number of cattle fed, 378; number of pounds gained, C2.070. 



Item. 



Cost. 



Man labor (208.5 days) 



Mule labor (323 days) 



Equipment cost 



Cottonseed meal (140 tons) 



Cotton bulls (122.2 tons 



Hay (3 tons) 



Silage (corn and sorgbum) (132 tons). 



Pasture b 



Bedding c (125 loads) 



Dipping, deborning 



Interest 



Taxes 



S345. 31 



292.91 



55.46 



3, 155. 00 



625. 00 



30.00 



a 506. 47 



220.00 



30.00 



27.00 



327. 31 



27.00 



Gross cost 



Manure credit (1,120 loads) . 



5, 641. 46 

 1, 120. 00 



Net cost of gains 



Cost of cattle at beginning of feeding period. 



Cost of cattle at end of feeding period 



Price received f . o. b. Quitman 



4,524.46 

 7, 612. 00 



12, 136. 46 

 12,091.00 



Loss 



Cost per 100 pounds of gain (weight at Quitman). 



45.46 

 7.29 



a Charged at cost of production. 



b 123'head for 2 months and 200 head for 3J months. 



c Oats, rye, and pine straw. Cost of hauling included under labor charges. 



The 378 cattle fed gained 62,070 pounds, or 164 pounds per head, 

 at a gross cost of $9.09 per hundredweight. Deducting the value of 

 the manure, estimated at $1 per wagonload in the feed lot, gives a 

 net cost of $7.29 per hundredweight. On one farm the cattle 

 gained 200 pounds per head, at a cost of 6.1 cents per pound, and 

 returned a profit of $1.74 each ; on another the gains were 150 pounds 

 per head, at a cost of 8.9 cents per pound, resulting in a loss of $5.46 

 per head ; while on the third farm the cattle gained 112 pounds each, 

 at a cost per pound of 9.6 cents, and netted a loss per animal of $5.66. 

 The cattle were sold when the foot-and-mouth quarantine was in 

 effect and the market depressed; hence normally a better showing 

 in the matter of profits could be expected. 



The cost of cottonseed meal and hulls constitutes nearly 84 per 

 cent of the total feed cost. The silage fed is charged at the cost of 

 production, since it has not here a recognized definite value. But 

 all other feeds are charged at the prices on the farm or at the point 

 of purchase. The labor charge includes the labor of buying the 

 cattle, hauling feed from shipping point, feed and care of the cattle, 



