WILL MORE FORAGE PAY? 13 



(b) Milk production that may be expected from individual cows 

 when they are fed different proportions of roughages and concentrates. 



(c) Effect on death loss, calf crop, etc., of feeding more good-quality 

 forage and less concentrates. 



(d) Amounts of concentrates and roughages required to carry dif- 

 ferent grades of feeder cattle to different well-defined slaughter grades 

 when the proportion of concentrates and roughages is varied. 



(e) Feed required and rate of gain when growing and fattening 

 pigs are fed rations that contain varying proportions of concentrates 

 and forages. 



(/) Effect of stage of maturity of hay at time of harvest upon the 

 quantity and quality of the resulting forage. 



(g) Loss of feed nutrients from field-cured hay compared with 

 barn-dried or ensiled hay in different farming areas. 



(h ) Relative soil losses, both in quantity of total soil and in mineral 

 elements, that result from different cropping plans. 



(*) Effects on crop and pasture yields and on the level of soil fer- 

 tility of various cropping systems and combinations of cropping 

 practices, including both the current systems and practices and those 

 that give greater emphasis to forage production. 



8. During the reconnaissance phase of this study it has not been 

 possible to consider certain aspects that will need attention in more 

 intensive phases of the work. Some of these may be mentioned : 



(a) Grassland systems of farming that call for less intensive cul- 

 tivation of the land are usually thought of as extensive systems that 

 require larger acreages to provide an adequate farm income than do 

 systems that apply more labor and capital to each acre. The whole 

 problem of size of enterprise needs evaluation in its effect on the eco- 

 nomic feasibility of extending use of the forage. The work to date 

 indicates that many opportunities exist to give greater emphasis to 

 forage production and utilization on present types and sizes of farms 

 through small to medium increases in acreages of forage crops and by 

 giving more attention to yield and quality of these crops. 



(b) In this preliminary analysis, attention has been largely focused 

 on the out-of-pocket costs involved in extending forage uses and in 

 the net cash incomes that might result. Although recognition has 

 been given to the influence of forages in maintaining and improving 

 soil productivity, no money value has been placed on this contribution 

 in the economic analysis. Variations in sales value of farms afford a 

 poor basis for these evaluations as they are influenced largely by 

 farmers' expectations of continuation of present levels of income and 

 do not reflect actual changes in productivity of the land. This problem 

 is not an easy one but it deserves study in any careful analysis of the 

 net effect of adjustments in farming. 



(c) Capabilities of the soils of individual farms need to be con- 

 sidered not only from the point of view of crops alone, but in relation 

 to crops that are supported with such mechanical practices as terraces, 

 contour planting, strip cropping, and the like. The use of such prac- 

 tices makes it feasible to keep some land in cultivation that otherwise 

 would need to be kept in permanent grasses and legumes. The eco- 

 nomic effects of using these practices in combination with different 

 cropping systems on different soils needs further investigation. 



