FORAGE CROPS IN NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS. 51 



POSSIBILITIES OF COMBINING LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION WITH 



GRAIN FARMING. 



From the present knowledge of the possibilities of the region, it is 

 evident that with the cultivated forage crops now available the raising 

 of cattle is the feature of livestock production that fits in best with the 

 possibilities of grain and forage growing, as well as with other agri- 

 cultural and economic conditions. The limits of the profitable 

 expansion of horse and mule raising are soon reached. Sheep 

 raising, in the very nature of things, is best suited to the large ranges; 

 and, while it is probable that this branch of animal production will be 

 taken up more generally on farms, it is thought that the cost of 

 fencing and necessary care will keep the industry for the most part 

 where it is at present. 



In dry-land farming swine can not range at large, as they do to a 

 considerable extent in certain more humid parts of the country. 

 Their feed must be grown for them. Swine must have corn or some 

 similar grain. They must likewise have suitable cultivated pasturage. 

 Barley has not done for swine raising in the drier parts of the region 

 what corn has done, for example, in Iowa. There is not enough 

 wastage of a kind suitable for swine on a dry farm to make the 

 salvaging of it profitable. To be successful as a source of income, 

 swine, except in some cases, as of breeding stock, must be fed a fatten- 

 ing ration from the time they are weaned until they are marketed. 

 Under dry-farming conditions it is not always an easy matter to 

 make provision for the necessary feed. All things considered, cattle 

 fit into a system of dry-land farming better than any other kind of 

 livestock under present economic conditions. Beef cattle are better 

 suited to this type of farming than dairy cattle. The raising of 

 beef cattle is more flexible and less exacting in its requirement 

 of harvested forage, since in time of emergency they may be kept on 

 a merely maintenance ration for short periods. In the case of dairy- 

 ing, unless the milk output is maintained, it ceases to be profitable. 

 Furthermore, when feed is short, good dairy herds can not be quickly 

 disposed of without great loss, nor can they be assembled quickly and 

 profitably when feed is abundant. There is not enough flexibility in 

 dairy 'farming to suit the needs of the drier parts of the northern 

 Great Plains. That low returns are now obtained from the dairy 

 cows of the region is evidenced by their ratio to human population. 

 According to the census of 1920, there were 387,000 cows over 2 

 years old. The population at that time was estimated at 915,605. 

 On this basis one cow supplied only 2.4 persons, or less than one-half 

 the number for the United States as a whole. Even with this exceed- 

 ingly narrow ratio between dairy cows and human population there is 

 actually a large deficiency in the quantity of dairy products produced 

 within the region. It is estimated that the total quantity of butter 

 made on farms and in factories in the region supplies less than 30 

 pounds to each individual. A striking contrast exists between the 

 returns from dairy cows in this region and in Minnesota, for example, 

 where the ratio of dairy cows to human population is 1 to 2, and the 

 total quantity of butter produced is approximately 70 pounds for 

 each individual. Dairying, it would appear, is as dependent on rain- 

 fall for high production as is grain farming. It is largely because of a 

 lack of sufficient and suitable harvested forage that dairying is such an 



