CHAPTER V. 



SOME BUSINESS PHASES OF CATTLE FEEDING 



•RELATION OF COST OF FEEDS TO PROFITS IN 

 CATTLE FEEDING 



In attempting to estimate the probable number of 

 cattle that will be fed during any given season and the 

 probable profit or loss to the cattle feeder, there is no 

 factor that is more frequently mentioned than that of 

 the cost of feeds. From this we may assume that this 

 factor, if not the most important one affecting profits 

 in cattle feeding, is certainly one of great importance 

 and one that should be thoroughly understood by every 

 man engaged in the business of finishing cattle for the 

 market. Live stock journals begin as early as July 

 and August to anticipate the probable size of the corn 

 crop, the probable demand for the same, and the bear- 

 ing of these factors on the cost of corn to the cattle 

 feeders of the country. 



The cattle feeder is inclined to wait until he can form 

 some intelligent opinion as to what the market value 

 of corn will be before he decides to what extent he will 

 engage in the cattle feeding enterprise. This is well, 

 for, other things being equal, the cost of feeds deter- 

 mines the cost of gains and the cost of making gains has 

 a very direct bearing upon profits and losses in cattle 

 feeding. 



A discussion of this subject upon the basis of feeding 

 the steers a simple ration like broken ear corn and clover 

 hay will be most helpful. At the Illinois Experiment 

 Station the writer fed a carload of choice well-bred 

 two-year-old Shorthorn feeding cattle from November to 

 June, or in other words, during a six-months' winter 

 feeding period on broken ear corn and clover hay. 



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