ECONOMIC USE OF FORAGES IN LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION 17 
3874 pounds of butterfat. Cows in the next combination were given 
a medium-high forage ration. They received only about 15 percent of 
their feed as grain. "Their annual aver age production of butterfat was 
323 pounds. Dairy cows handled according to the fourth system 
received only forage. Their annual average production of butterfat 
was 258 pounds. 
Freeper Carrie.—Five feeder-cattle systems are analyzed. One 
involved the purchase of good-choice calves weighing about 440 
pounds in October, wintering them, then feeding them out in dry lot. 
They were sold as choice cattle in Aug ust at a weight of about 1,000 
pounds. Feed requirements and production for this system were 
based on results reported by the Iowa Agricultural Experiment 
Station (7). 
Another feeder-cattle system involved the purchase of choice 2-year- 
old steers weighing about 800 pounds in August. They were pastured 
for a month in the fall and then put in dry lot and finished. They 
were sold in January as choice cattle weighing 1,150 pounds. Feed 
requirements and production under this feeding system are also 
adapted from the Iowa report (7). 
Three systems of feeding yearling steers are compared. Feed re- 
quirements in each case were based on experiments conducted in Page 
County, Lowa, from 1946 to 1950 (7). In these experiments, yearling 
steers were bought in November and wintered to gain about a pound 
a day. In May one lot was placed in dry lot. These cattle were sold 
in October as choice cattle weighing 1,060 pounds. A second lot re- 
ceived somewhat more forage. They were pastured for 60 days, full- 
fed corn while on pasture for an additional 90 days, then finished in 
dry lot for sale in October as choice cattle weighing 1,120 pounds. 
A third group received a high proportion of forage in its ration. 
Feeders in this lot were placed on alfalfa-brome pasture and grazed 
continuously for 130 days. They were then placed in dry lot, brought 
to a full feed of corn, and finished to sell in December as choice cattle 
ata weight of 1,135 pounds. 
Brrr Herp.—Two systems of handling beef-breeding herds are ex- 
amined. The first involves production of a 400-pound calf for sale 
in October. In the second system, the cows are handled as under the 
first, but the calves are fed out instead of sold as feeders. Calves are 
wintered through two winters and grazed one season and part of the 
second. ‘They are then full fed in dry lot from July to September 
of the third year and sold as good-grade cattle weighing about 1,200 
pounds (6, 9). 
Hoes.—Six systems of handling hogs are considered. Feed require- 
ments for three are based on results of experiments with chopped hay 
by the United States Department of Agriculture at Beltsville, Md. (3). 
All the hogs in this experiment were “fed in dry lot. One group re- 
ceived no hay. Those in the second lot received 10 percent of their 
feed in the form of chopped hay. Of the feed fed the pigs in the 
third lot 20 percent was chopped hay. 
The three remaining hog-feeding systems are based on pasture ex- 
periments conducted by the Lowa Agricultural Experiment Station.® 
>From unpublished data from Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station project 
No. 101. 
