FORAGE CROPS IN NORTHEI1X GREAT PLAINS. 13 



resources properly, since forage in the main must be used where it is 

 produced and its value reckoned in terms of animals, animal products, 

 and animal labor. Animal products contribute largely to the local 

 food supply, while animal labor is largely the motive power necessary 

 to agriculture generally. Neither appears in the inventory of re- 

 sources to the extent its importance warrants. 



CEREAL CROPS. 



The Dakotas have long been noted for their wheat fields, but it is 

 not generally known that these States normally contribute upward 

 of 12 million acres, or more than half, to the total acreage devoted 

 annually to spring wheat in the United States. 



In 1919 there were in the northern Great Plains area, as here 

 denned, about 4,813,000 acres of spring wheat, 600,000 acres of 

 winter wheat, 1,218,400 acres of rye, 831,000 acres of oats, and 

 448,000 acres of barley. That the region is truly a small-grain region 

 will be appreciated when it is noted that approximately half of the 

 total acreage in crops in 1919 consisted of small grains. The region 

 contributes one-fifth of all the spring wheat and one-seventh of the 

 rye acreage of the United States. Corn is not important as a grain 

 crop. However, it is relatively of much importance throughout 

 most of the region as a crop to produce rough forage, and it is becom- 

 ing increasingly more important. 



FORAGE RESOURCES. 



The native grasses constitute the greatest forage resource of the 

 northern Great Plains. More hay is made from the wild grasses 

 than there is roughage harvested from all the cultivated forage 

 crops combined. This does not mean that native hay supplies more 

 feed for livestock than do all the cultivated crops; for the cereal crops, 

 including corn, supply feed or forage, but they are not commonly 

 referred to as forage crops. In addition to grain, they supply straw 

 and stover, bran, and other mill feeds. Native grasses, on the other 

 hand, furnish pasturage as well as hay. They are an asset to the 

 settlement of a new country, since they permit the pioneer to have 

 livestock from the outset; and they have been especially important 

 in the development of the northern Great Plains. 



In this region a little less than 5,000,000 tons of native-grass hay 

 are harvested annually. The map (fig. 3) shows that more than half 

 of this tonnage must be credited to the Dakotas, and much of it is 

 fed to livestock within the locality where it is produced. It is good 

 forage, far better, in fact, than most of the native hay produced to 

 the south. When fed in unlimited quantities it is decidedly more 

 than a maintenance feed for cattle, horses, and sheep. Although the 

 carrying capacity of the native grasses in the region is not high, the 

 native ranges if properly managed turn off each fall cattle that are 

 in excellent condition for the Corn Belt feed yard and thousands 

 that are even in condition for slaughter. Furthermore, the native 

 grasses cure on the stem and are a source of much excellent winter 

 forage. 



Two quite distinct types of grasslands — short grass and bunch 

 grass — characterize the northern Great Plains. These types are de- 

 termined very largely by the precipitation. The short-grass area 



