38 CIRCULAR 905, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
cattle failed even to cover costs of feed in 6 to 10 of the 82 years. 
Many farmers might well consider the uncertainty associated with 
alternative livestock enterprises in these terms. When family laber 
is plentiful and has little other opportunity for profitable employment, 
a low return to labor may be a small risk compared to the possibility 
of not being able to meet feed costs. 
ADJUSTMENTS TO CHANGING PricE RELATIONSHIPS 
Comparison of the degrees of variability (risk) associated with 
alternative feeding systems has been made on the assumption that a 
particular feeding system is followed consistently through time. 
Actually, farmers need not follow the same system year after year. 
They may alter the proportion of forage in the ration from time to 
time. Also, there is often an opportunity to shift from one kind of 
livestock to another. However, once investments have been made in 
specialized buildings, equipment, or fences, it may be difficult or 
expensive to adapt these facilities to other kinds of livestock. Spe- 
cialized knowledge and skills may be required for handling a partic- 
ular kind of livestock and this may deter farmers from changing 
from one class of livestock to another. But changing from one ration 
to another is usually easy. Changes can be made quickly and usually 
with little alteration in facilities. 
ADJUSTMENTS BETWEEN ENTERPRISES 
The uncertainty involved in making investments for buildings, 
equipment, and other facilities is important. Many of these invest- 
ments extend for years into the future. Facilities for handling dif- 
ferent classes of livestock are more or less specialized and are often 
difficult to adapt to other uses. It follows that not only are price and 
cost anticipation for several years ahead subject to a great deal of 
error, but also it is often difficult to reverse decisions based on these 
expectations. For example, a farmer may believe that dairy prod- 
ucts will bear cost and price relationships such that in the next 
10 or 20 years it will be profitable to build a dairy barn, buy the 
necessary equipment, and stock his farm with a herd of good-quality 
dairy cows. He may find a few years hence that his anticipations 
were wrong and that feeder cattle, hogs, or beef cows show much 
better prospects for profit. But at this point it is not easy to turn 
back. The facilities and equipment used in dairy production are not 
well adapted to other kinds of livestock. Considerable investment 
may have gone into building up a herd. It may not be possible to 
recoup all of the investment in the dairy herd and to expand the hog 
or feeder cattle enterprises instead." 
ADJUSTMENTS BETWEEN RATIONS 
Although it may not be feasible to change from one kind of livestock 
to another from year to year, adjustments are possible within a par- 
“Tt is possible to plan facilities to permit greater flexibility between enter- 
prises. Ordinarily, the better suited facilities are for a particular livestock, 
the less flexible is their use. Flexibility is often achieved at the expense of 
somewhat less efficient production for any one enterprise. 
