10 MISC. PUBLICATION 7 02, U. S. DEPT. .OF AGRICULTURE 



Piedmont area of the State are being studied with special attention 

 given to those systems that emphasize utilization of pasture, hay, 

 and other forage. A considerable number of farmers are being in- 

 terviewed and out of this group a smaller number is being selected for 

 special study. A number of visits are being made to the latter 

 group throughout the year to obtain current and detailed records of 

 feed production, feed purchases, grazing and feeding practices, graz- 

 ing record by fields, and production of meat and milk. Equal atten- 

 tion is being given to costs of pasture establishment and maintenance 

 and returns from sales of seed and hay, or from use as a soiling crop. 

 These data, together with those obtained from experimental results, 

 should provide a basis for economic evaluation of alternatives avail- 

 able to farmers in much of the Piedmont area. 



In the Western States ranching, dry farming, and irrigation are 

 found singly and in combination. In all these situations opportunities 

 exist for increasing the quality and quantity of forage production and 

 for greater efficiency in its use. During the reconnaissance year at- 

 tention centered largely on the economic feasibility of substituting 

 range grasses on some of the lower yielding wheat lands found on rep- 

 resentative ranches and wheat-livestock combinations in the northern 

 Great Plains. Attention was given to methods of revegetation that 

 are technically feasible and economically profitable and to problems 

 facing farmers and ranchers during the years needed to bring about 

 the adjustments. Preliminary findings from these studies are pre- 

 sented in this progress report. 



More intensive work is now under way in cooperation with the 

 Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. In Kansas, in anticipa- 

 tion of possible surpluses of and lower prices for wheat an economic 

 appraisal is under way of the possibilities of utilizing wheat for feed 

 and its relationship to forage production and utilization in representa- 

 tive wheat-producing areas. Under such conditions, alternatives open 

 to farmers could include growing wheat and selling it at a feed price 

 or establishing livestock enterprises and utilizing wheat as a feed, to- 

 gether with forages obtained by reseeding the less productive wheat 

 lands to grass, and by winter grazing some of the small grain crops. 

 Analysis will be confined to possibilities and problems on representa- 

 tive farms and ranches in western Kansas. Similar work in the wheat- 

 producing areas of the northern Great Plains and the Pacific North- 

 west is planned for the year ahead to obtain a well-rounded picture of 

 alternatives open to farmers in the main wheat-producing areas of the 

 country. 



Other intensive work is needed in the western irrigated valleys where 

 forages may serve to introduce greater stability into farming systems 

 and at the same time to alleviate surplus production of cash crops 

 such as potatoes. 



SUMMARY OF PRELIMINARY FINDINGS 



The reconnaissance work of the first year was the basis for develop- 

 ment of some preliminary conclusions and it has laid the necessary 

 foundation for more intensive work to follow. Subsequent phases 

 will provide a better basis for drawing conclusions as to the economic 

 feasibility of greater emphasis on forage production and utilization on 



