30 CIRCULAR 905, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
TapsLte 14.—Percentage of initial investment in livestock, buildings, 
and equipment recovered in specified time periods at 1944-48 prices, 
by kind of livestock and by feeding system 
Percentag investment r = : 
ercentage of me ent ecovered by ‘Years required 
| to recover 100 
Livestock and feeding system ! = 
percent of 
| 2Months | 6months | 9months; 1 year investment 
Dairy cows: | Percent | Percent | Percent | Percent | Number 
Bighsonain je 4 be eo eee. [eee ey al Tit A OAT ere 2b 9. 88 | 11 
Medium high grain. - = -_-% ey le 8.01 | 10. 69 10 
Medium high forage_________ 2. OS al: -4. 15 6. 23 8. 31 12 
Hishforages 6 > ht 1463) 352 | oC eeur 7105 15 
Feeder cattle: 
Calves tbigh oraine) 204% Pukey 2 poh ae ts [cles Sy ape 25. 22 4 
Yearlings: | 
ish args Ti oe Lie ae ae [aioe ae ren nie 25. 21 4 
Medium serait = =o. | ee ee [leet ae a 31. 56 4 
High POFACe set BEER etsy Oe | EA A Sete fe 2 A as bo fe 35. 12 3 
2-year-old steers, high grain__|_______ tee ey & 7. 72 i t2 13 
Beef herd: | 
400-pound ealf, high forage___|_______ aR let] ns, 20 a a hy —5. 32 (7) 
Calf fed out, high forage______ ei hes Fook net ee ee (3) 13 
Hogs: 
Dry lot: | 
Behygorain = 5 eco ae peeeeincr eas eee ede hive 3e 64. 07 2 
Medium forage_________- a cored ane | (ne ~ dae 66. 42 2 
Phigh"toraces 2 ps eo es ‘Spiele F [aioe Gea. eee 63. 53 2 
Pasture: 
EL] thy Serna ine =. os Sates... ed ee Des Sn tee oe ae 43. 52 3 
Medium forages. cit, | ime | Tee (Pee ee | wie eee? 83. 01 2 
65. 75 2 
Pieh forge. ee ee | 
1 See pages 16 to 18 for description of each system. 
2 On the basis of 1944-48 cost and price relationships, the beef-herd system 
failed to cover costs each year. 
3 Returns would not be realized from this system until the third year. 
Data in table 14, which show the time required to replace the total 
investment from returns above costs of production, are of interest 
in such situations. 
The timing of returns from various feeding systems has two as- 
pects: (1) The length of time required to replace the original invest- 
ments for establishing the various feed-utilization systems, and (2) 
the nature of the flow of returns during the production period for 
each feeding system. On the basis of assumed 1944-48 price rela- 
tionships, it would take 5 to 6 years to replace the investment in dairy 
cattle from net returns, and from 10 to 15 years to replace the invest- 
ment in dairy cows and the buildings and equipment necessary for 
handling them. It would take 67 years to replace the original invest- 
ment in beef cows for the feeding system that involves production 
of 400-pound feeder calves. When investments in and costs of build- 
ings and equipment are included, net returns from this system are 
negative. But on the basis of 194448 prices the hog- feeding systems 
would provide net returns over costs sufficient to replace the invest- 
ment in brood sows and buildings and equipment within 2 years. 
Farmers who need not invest in buildings and equipment in order 
to establish a hog system could replace their initial outlay of capital 
