44 



BEEF PRODUCTION 



Market Grades of Feeders 



Assumed cost per cwt in 

 feed lots 



Total cost of 1000-lb. 

 feeder at above prices. . 



Net cost of feed, or cost oi 

 feeds for finishing, less 

 value of pork produced 



Total net cost of sieerat 

 marketing 



Weight of steer at time of 

 marketing, lbs 



What steer must sell for 

 per cwt. at home to 

 insure cattle feeder 

 against loss 



Necessary margin above 

 cost price to insure 

 against loss 



It is obvious that the writer could not determine a 

 set of values that would obtain in all markets and in all 

 seasons. The assumed values are sufficiently close to 

 average feed lot conditions to render them valuable for 

 illustrating an important principle. It is assumed that 

 the steers of the various grades make the same gains in 

 a given time on a given amount of feed. As a matter 

 of fact, the better grades will eat more and gain more 

 rapidly than the commoner grades. However, if there 

 was only the one varying factor and that the cost per 

 hundredweight of the feeders the principle enunciated 

 would hold. 



That there should be a difference in margin required 

 between buying and selling price to come out even of 

 50 cents per hundredweight in this instance and ap- 

 proximately 30 cents per hundredweight where all vary- 

 ing factors are taken into consideration would scarcely 

 be realized by the casual observer. 



The reader is cautioned, however, not to misinter- 

 pret the principle. It clearly shows that a greater 

 margin is necessary with the cheaper cattle. The 



