Beef Producers of the West 51 



the profits are apparently large, since the cattle utilize 

 the stubble fields, straw stacks, and other material which 

 would otherwise be wasted, but the number which can 

 be kept on any farm is limited, usually from twenty-five 

 to one hundred. These farmers raise cattle rather than 

 sheep mainly because of the less care and work required. 

 Since cattle are handled almost entirely as a side issue, 

 the owners do not care to devote much labor or expense 

 to the industry. If sheep were raised, it would be 

 necessary to have a herder throughout the year, and 

 this in turn would necessitate a flock of perhaps 2000, a 

 larger number than most of the small farmers could ac- 

 commodate. Another factor is that the cattle seem to 

 make better use of the straw than do sheep. 



FEEDERS 



When we speak of "fattening steers," we refer to 

 finishing steers on heavy feed after they have grown to a 

 fair degree of maturity on range or pasture. When a 

 steer weighs about 1000 or 1100 pounds, he is sufficiently 

 developed that there will be little profit in attempting to 

 grow him to a much greater size. The older a steer be- 

 comes, the slower the growth, and the larger the amount of 

 feed consumed. Consequently the cost of each pound of 

 growth increases very rapidly, and at about the weights 

 given (1000 or 1100 pounds) it ceases to be profitable to 

 proceed any further. A large number of cattle coming 

 in from the range at 1000 or 1100 pounds, however, are 

 not sufficiently fat to sell for beef at satisfactory prices 

 and so require to be put on full feed and fattened as 

 rapidly as possible. 



When steers become fat on the range and are sold di- 



