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- 
