306 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



baby beef production the calves must be fattening all the time; 

 this can only be accomplished by the most liberal and judicious feed- 

 ing, since it is extremely difficult to get calves and yearlings suffi- 

 ciently fat for the market requirements. Heifer calves mature more 

 quickly and may be marketed earlier than steers. It is seldom pos- 

 sible or profitable to get spring calves ready for the baby beef market 

 before July, of the following year and more frequently they are not 

 marketed until October, November, or December, when approximately 

 18 months old. This system of beef production is best suited to corn- 

 belt farms where pasture is relatively expensive and corn is cheaper 

 than in other sections of the country. 



Fattening yearlings. — Less extreme than the feeding of calves for 

 baby beef is finishing steers as yearlings ; i.e., before they are 2 years 

 old. Spring calves may be carried thru the first winter on roughage 

 with a small allowance of concentrates, the ration being such as to 

 keep them growing steadily. The second summer good pasture alone 

 will suffice to put them in condition for the feed lot in the fall. 



Calves to be fattened as yearlings should be taught to eat grain 

 before being weaned, so that there may be no loss of condition at this 

 time. To fatten yearlings properly requires 8 to 10 months, even 

 if they are of good beef type. Trials at the Indiana Station 2d show 

 that it is ordinarily more profitable to complete the fattening of year- 

 lings in the feed lot, than to turn them out to grass in the spring, 

 when half finished. 



Fattening cattle 2 years old or older. — Where pasturage is cheap, 

 cattle are usually not marketed until 2 years old or older, in which 

 case they may be carried thru the first winter chiefly on roughage 

 with 1 to 3 lbs. of grain per head daily. The following summer 

 they will grow well on good pasture without grain. The second 

 winter no grain need be fed, if the cattle are not to be sold until fall 

 or until after finishing in the winter feed lot. If they are to be fin- 

 ished on grass early in the summer, a moderate allowance of concen- 

 trates will be needed during the preceding winter to start fattening. 



According to Cochel of the Kansas Station, 21 the system of beef 

 production usually most profitable in western Kansas is to raise the 

 calves on pasture the first summer; winter them on kafir, milo, or 

 sorghum silage, alfalfa hay and straw or stover from the sorghums, 

 with perhaps some cottonseed meal in addition ; pasture the yearlings 

 the second summer without feeding grain; carry them thru the sec- 

 ond winter as before ; and market the third summer from grass. With 

 good pasture such cattle should reach a weight of about 1,050 lbs. and 

 be fat enough to sell as fleshy feeders or fair killers. In other sec- 



20 Skinner and Cochel, Ind. Bui. 142. 21 Information to the authors. 



