FATTENIiSTG STEERS ON PASTUEE IN THE SOUTH. 23 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The methods of handling and feeding cattle are greatly affected by 

 the constant variations in the prices of different feeds, by seasonal 

 conditions, and by the changes in the live-stock markets. The fol- 

 lowing conclusions may be drawn from the experimental work re- 

 ported in this bulletin : 



1. Feeding cottonseed cake to steers as a supplement to summer 

 pasture in the South increases materially the rate of gains made by 

 steers, causes them to finish more quickly, and to take on a higher 

 degree of finish. 



2. Because of their better finished condition cake-fed steers bring 

 higher prices on the markets than grass cattle. The margin or 

 " spread " between buying and selling jDrices of steers fattened on 

 j^asture is nearly always increased by supplementing the pasture 

 with cottonseed cake, or cake and corn. 



3. Steers of inferior quality may return more profit by grazing 

 alone than by grazing with the addition of supplementary feeds, 

 especially when they are on good pastures that are cheap. 



4. The cost of gains of steers on pasture is greatly increased by 

 feeding cottonseed cake, but the better market price received for 

 cake- fed cattle usually pays for the added cost of feeding the cake 

 and returns a greater average profit than is realized on grass-fed 

 cattle. ^ 



6. The substitution of corn chop for one-half the quantity of cot- 

 tonseed cake for steers on pasture produces gains and finish com- 

 parable to those made by cake alone, but unless corn is available at 

 a lower cost than the cake its use for this purpose is not recom- 

 mended. 



6. A half-and-half mixture of cottonseed cake and corn-and-cob 

 meal for steers on grass is less efficient for producing gains than 

 cottonseed cake alone or corn and cake. When corn is cheap its use 

 shelled or as corn chop with cottonseed cake is preferable to corn- 

 and-cob meal. 



7. Pasture lands grazed by steers that are fed cottonseed meal or 

 cake receive the benefit of large quantities of fertilizing elements 

 through the manure of the cattle. The landowner should consider 

 this feature when fattening cattle on pasture. 



8. One of the distinct advantages in supplementing pastures with 

 concentrg,tes is the fact that steers so handled are finished more 

 quickly and can be marketed earlier than steers getting grass alone. 

 Thus the cattle can be sold before the rush of grass-fed cattle gluts 

 the market and depresses prices. Moreover, when cattle are mar- 

 keted earl}^ the pastures have time to recuperate and furnish good 

 grazing for other stock during the fall. 



