84 DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



to reduce his herds, the station was not only able to maintain its normal 

 number of livestock, but to increase the size of all herds and flocks, which 

 were used to consume the feeds which would have otherwise been wasted. 



The system which is recommended is to provide for extremely unfavor- 

 able seasons during those years when there is an abundance, in order that 

 the livestock population may be more nearly constant from year to year, 

 eliminating the financial sacrifice which accompanies the marketing of 

 cattle during periods of depression due to large liquidation and restocking 

 when feed is abundant and cattle relatively scarce. In some of the most 

 favored sections along streams, alfalfa can and should be grown, but for 

 the most part cattle should be maintained on grass during the summer, 

 supplemented with silage or dry forage from the sorghums. Kafir has met 

 the conditions of soil moisture and weather better than any other crop when 

 the season is long enough for it to mature. The headed kafir has been 

 extensively used for the winter maintenance of beef-breeding animals and 

 has proved to be equally as valuable as corn stover, which is the basis of 

 winter maintenance rations in the corn belt. 



During the past three years we have maintained breeding herds in 

 excellent condition at Hays by feeding twenty pounds of silage per head 

 daily, all of the wheat straw they could eat, and one pound of either 

 cottonseed or linseed meal per head daily. The cost of maintenance during 

 the period of 100 days, from the middle of December, 1912, .until the first 

 of May, 1913, was $4.44 per head for feeds fed, with silage at $2.66, straw 

 $.50, and cottonseed cake at $30 per ton. Assuming that the cost for the 

 earlier part of the year, during September, October and November was the 

 same, the total cost of wintering a breeding cow was $6.66. The cost of 

 grazing amounts to $7.50 throughout the larger portion of the grazing 

 section, making the total cost for the year $14.16. With an 80 percent 

 calf crop, the cost per head would be $17.70, to which should be added a 

 bull service fee of $2, or a grand total of approximately $20 as the food 

 cost for cow maintenance for the year. 



From November, 1913, to April, 1914, a similar lot of cows was 

 wintered on kafir stover from the 1912 crop, wheat straw and a limited 

 amount of kafir silage, used as a carrier for cottonseed or linseed cake. 

 On account of the short crop, kafir silage was worth $4, stover $2, straw 

 $1, and cottonseed cake $28 per ton. Under these conditions the cost of 

 food for wintering was $5.46 per head, bull service $2, grazing $7.50, a total 

 of 14.96 for the entire year, or $18.70 based upon an 80 percent calf crop. 

 The labor involved amounted to $2 per head. 



From these figures it may be assumed that the production cost of a 

 beef calf will average $20 in the shortgrass section of western Kansas. 

 At the same time due allowance should be made for the following con- 

 siderations : 



1. In every instance, sufficient allowance is made to insure a profit 

 in the production of the crops used directly for feeding purposes. 



2. A market was furnished for kafir stover at $2 per ton and for 



