42 BEEF PRODUCTION 



meet above disbursements, would have to sell for 

 about $5.34, or 84 cents per hundredweight above cost. 

 Putting it in another way, it might be said that other 

 things being equal a 1000-lb. feeding steer can be finished 

 on a 15-cent smaller margin than a steer weighing but 

 800 pounds at the start. The reader should bear in 

 mind that in making these financial statements the 

 writer has adopted for demonstrating this and other 

 phases of the cattle-finishing business one of the simplest 

 methods of feeding calculated to produce cheap gains, 

 and where cheap gains prevail as has been shown, the 

 necessary margin between buying and selling price is 

 reduced to the minimum. The labor involved and 

 interest on investment is not charged, nor is any credit 

 given for fertilizer produced. 



Perhaps the importance of this factor would be more 

 quickly seen if the first^named example were taken, viz., 

 a comparison of the 800 and 1000-lb. feeding steers. 

 Suppose when the cattle are marketed a $1.50 per hun- 

 dredweight margin over cost price is secured in each 

 instance, then the total value of the (800 plus 405 equals 

 1205-lb.) steer would be $72.30. The net cost of 

 this steer, including feed, less value of pork product, was 

 $66.15. >This would leave a profit per steer of $6.15. 

 In case of the 1000 plus 405 equals 1405-lb. steer, 

 the value at marketing time would be $84.30. The net 

 cost was $75.15, leaving a profit per steer of $9.15; this 

 item alone then showing a difference in profit of $3 per 

 steer. 



The following table shows the effect of differ- 

 ences in initial weight of feeding cattle from 700 to 1200 

 pounds : 



