4 BULLETIN 548, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



COST OF FEED. 



As previously suggested, the adaptation of soil to bluegrass graz- 

 ing is a distinct advantage for the dairy business in this section. 

 During the grazing period, from May to November, most of these 

 dairymen have not fed concentrates, except when the season hap- 

 pened to be drier than usual and the pasture short. Milk usually is 

 reduced in price during the summer because of the plentifulness of 

 grazing, which increases the general supply of milk. Cows graze to a 

 considerable extent on bluegrass during the winter months, and 

 occasionally on rye or wheat fields. Thus the quantity of feed that 

 needs to be bought is small, compared with that bought on the 

 Northern dairy farm. On account of recent advance in price of con- 

 centrated feeds, one of the ten dairymen has filled his old silo with 

 clover and has built a new one for corn and cane silage. Clover is 

 thus used as a substitute for the more expensive concentrated feeds, 

 such as cottonseed meal, bran, and shorts. In 1914, the year the 

 business records of these farms were taken, the average cost of 

 concentrated feeds bought was about $14 per cow, which in terms 

 of concentrated feed at $35 per ton (about the average price in 1914) 

 would mean that the average cow got about 4.4 pounds of this feed 

 daily for 180 days. Other purchased feeds, mostly hay and corn 

 fodder, amounted on the average to about $4.50 per cow. 



The bluegrass dairyman pastures more intensively than the aver- 

 age live-stock farmer. The latter allows about 4 acres for each 

 animal unit, 1 while the average for the ten dairy farms was found to 

 be about 1.6 acres for each animal unit on the farm. Dairy farms 

 are relatively small, the manure is exceptionally rich in plant food, 

 and a large part of it is scattered on the pastures. According to 

 figures obtained, $40 to $50 would be a liberal estimate for the 

 average cost of feed for each dairy cow kept on the farms studied. 



TO WHAT EXTENT DAIRYING MAY BE DEVELOPED IN THE BLUEGRASS 



REGION. 



While a study of these ten dairy farms would indicate that market 

 milk production was profitable where markets have developed, dairy 

 farming is not the type that can be as generally recommended as 

 some other types until it has been demonstrated that butter and 

 cheese, the least perishable of dairy products, and those which have 

 a wide demand in the general market, can be profitably produced 

 here. The production of milk and butter in the three counties 

 (Madison, Scott, and Mason) in which these ten dairy farms are 

 located remained practically stationary between 1890 and 1910. On 



1 Animal unit — the equivalent of 1 cow, horse, or beef animal. Two heifers, 4 calves, 7 sheep, 5 hogs, 

 14 pigs, or 100 chickens are counted as equivalent to an animal unit. 



