76 Western Live-stock Management 



Of course a poorer steer will turn a profit if bought cheaply 

 enough, but in the West where the cattle are bought from 

 the producers, it is difficult to buy the poor cattle at their 

 real value. A few years ago everything sold for so much 

 a head regardless of weight or quality. Now selling is 

 mostly by weight, but there is still a strong tendency for 

 everyone to want the same price a pound and the man' 

 with poor cattle is usually hard to deal with. 



The class of cattle fed in the West is much more uni- 

 form than in the East. Western feeders handle practi- 

 cally no calves or yearlings nor do they produce the 

 extremely fat heavy cattle sometime^ found in the cen- 

 tral states. These fancy cattle require long feeding on 

 heavy grain rations and cannot be produced on alfalfa 

 alone. Furthermore the western markets do not demand 

 this class of cattle and cannot pay a price that will justify 

 their production, while the distance to the eastern markets 

 is so great that it is hard to get fancy cattle there in good 

 condition. 



Alfalfa fed to the proper kind of cattle will produce a 

 steer weighing about 1100 to 1300 pounds and dressing 

 57 to 59 per cent, which, fortunately, is a very practical 

 steer for both producer and consumer. 



Steers fat enough to dress out 60 to 65 per cent are very 

 expensive to produce and their carcasses contain a great 

 amount of waste tallow, all of which makes the cost of the 

 beef to the consumer so high that only the ultrawealthy 

 can possibly afford it. On the other hand, the thin steers 

 dressing 48 to 55 per cent make tough watery beef and 

 the average consumer is willing to pay enough more for a 

 better steer to justify their production. Of course there 

 is some demand for all grades of beef but by far the great- 

 est demand, cost considered, is for the steer free from any 



