WILL MORE FORAGE PAY 



25 



Figure 1. — This excellent bromegrass pasture and a light daily feed of corn 

 put good gains on these Corn Belt steers. 



Before attempting to establish a cropping system containing one- 

 third grasses and legumes, the fields would be limed. Although the 

 rate of application would vary by fields, depending upon the results 

 of soil tests, the average rate for the farm would be approximately 

 '2 tons of limestone an acre, representing an investment of Sl.^5<> under 

 medium prices. Supplemental applications of limestone would be 

 made at the rate of 1 ton an acre every 6 years. Superphosphate 

 would be used at the rate of 250 pounds an acre on fields when seeded 

 to oats and to the grass-legume mixture of alfalfa, red clover, and 

 timothy. 



Cattle handled on the farm to use the large quantities of forages 

 produced would be western feeder steers of Good quality. They would 

 weigh an average of about 600 pounds when bought. A total gain 

 averaging 55U pounds a steer would be put on. When marketed, the 

 steers would grade Medium. To buy the 60 head of steers handled 

 in plan 2 (59 -teers sold) in which hay was the main winter feed. 

 would take S3. 100 under medium prices. In plan 3. when corn silage 

 was used as the major winter feed, more steers could be handled on 

 the farm. The investment in 70 head of cattle (69 head sold) bought 

 for this plan would be $3,600 under medium prices. Under the high 

 level of prices the cattle under both plans would cost nearly 4<> per- 

 cent more. Such expenditures, even the lowest at $3,100, represent 

 outlays of working capital that some farmers would not be interested 

 in making. 



Analysis of the receipts and expenditures involved in the alternative 

 production plans shows that receipts, expenditures, and net cash farm 

 income are larger under the beef-cattle feeding plans than under the 

 cash-grain farming system. Xet cash farm income would be greater 

 when cattle are wintered on corn silage rather than on hay. Plans 

 2 and 3 would be more profitable under the high than under the me- 

 dium level of prices. These data reflect possible greater yields of 



