40 MISC. PUBLICATION 7 2, U. S. DEPT. .OF AGRICULTURE 



but the amounts are small — too small for a satisfactory income to the 

 farm operator. 



Whether the profit would be more or less if concentrates were not fed 

 is a question for further study. Purchased feed was the greatest sin- 

 gle cash expense, and purchased feeds run up the cost of producing 

 milk rapidly. The experiment station officials believe that fewer con- 

 centrates will be needed in the future, because more protein will be 

 supplied by increased yields of legumes in the cropping system. There 

 may be more profitable alternatives and other possibilities need study, 

 but the point to be emphasized here is that a roughage system can be 

 made to work satisfactorily in the Black Belt. Although the farm was 

 operated under the direct supervision of the superintendent of the 

 branch experiment station the practices are not complex and it is be- 

 lieved that the average farmer could carry them out with financial re- 

 turns about as good as those shown here. 



An experiment at Auburn, Ala.. (12) to determine the best system 

 for year-round feed and forage production and utilization in the Pied- 

 mont and upper Coastal Plain areas was conducted successfully in 1945 

 and 1946 with 3% acres per cow, as follows : 



% acre sericea lespedeza 



1 acre kudzu 



1 acre oats 



V-2 acre manganese bur-clover followed by grain sorghum. 



No feed was bought, and the home-grown feed was utilized as 

 follows : 



Nov. 15-Feb. 15 Grazed oats and fed kudzu hay and grain-sorghum stover 



when needed. 

 Feb. 15-Apr. 15 Grazed manganese bur-clover and fed grain-sorghum stover 



and kudzu hay. 



Apr. 15-June 7 Grazed sericea lespedeza. 



June 8-June 18 Grazed kudzu, except in 1946 cows remained on sericea. 



June 18-Oct. 2 Grazed sericea lespedeza. 



Oct. 2-Nov. 15 Grazed sericea lespedeza and kudzu. 



Four dairy cows received all their feed for a 2-year period from 

 crops grown on 13 acres of land. Surplus feed, amounting to 4 tons of 

 oat hay, 3 tons of kudzu hay, and more than 2 tons of grain-sorghum 

 stover, was produced. Three acres of sericea lespedeza furnished all 

 the feed eaten by four cows for approximately 6 months each year. 

 The four cows averaged 5,242 pounds of milk per cow per year for the 

 2-year period. 



Among the important advantages of the system are: (1) Cows do 

 much of the harvesting, thus saving labor; (2) pasture or hay is avail- 

 able 12 months of the year; (3) land is protected by crops much of the 

 year; (4) soil fertility is improved. 



In the Tennessee Valley area of Alabama an 87-acre farm dairy ex- 

 periment (31) indicates that (1) good grade cows on pasture and hay 

 alone will produce an average of 214 gallons of milk per day for more 

 than 300 milking days, and (2) concentrates fed to such cows did not 

 increase production of milk enough to pay for the concentrates. 



The herd was divided into two groups of nine cows each. One group 

 had pasture and hay, the other had concentrates in addition to the pas- 

 ture and hay. For 2 years concentrates were fed at the rate of 1 pound 

 for each 3 pounds of milk produced; during the next 2 years it was 

 reduced to 1 pound for each 4 pounds of milk. 



