CHAPTER IV 
THE BREEDING HERD 
SincE beef cattle are usually run on pasture or range 
until ready to go into the feed lot, with only a little hay 
for winter and no grain, the problems of beef raising re- 
solve themselves very largely into problems of care and 
management. It is commonly said that beef cattle are 
“fed” but very little, meaning of course that little hay or 
grain is given, and the animals instead are allowed to de- 
pend largely on pasture or range for their living. The 
popular press criticizes the cattle-men for these practices, 
and is fond of telling how much better cattle could be 
produced by the proper use of more hay and grain. This 
is all true, but the problem of producing better cattle is 
secondary to the problem of producing them cheaper so 
as to leave a greater profit for the man who raises them. 
With dairy cattle and hogs, the best feeding is nearly 
always the cheapest. The feeder who obtains the best 
gains with these animals finds that economy largely takes 
care of itself. With beef cattle, however, the case is en- 
tirely different. They consume more feed for what they 
produce than any other kind of live-stock. The only 
reason that beef is not very much more expensive than 
other kinds of meat is the fact that cattle can and do 
consume feeds which have little or no value for other kinds 
of stock and that they require the minimum amount of 
labor and attention. A beef steer requires as much food 
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