60 BULLETIN 14 64, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
FEEDER AND STOCKER CATTLE 
DEFINITION OF FEEDERS AND STOCKERS 
Feeders are animals which lack sufficient finish to produce the 
highest grades of meat but which show evidences of ability to take 
on additional flesh and fat, economically, most of the gain resulting 
from additional fat or finish rather than growth. 
Stockers are animals which not only lack sufficient finish to 
produce the highest grades of meat, but are also usually immature 
and therefore capable of material additional growth as well as the 
acquisition of additional finish. 
There are, however, certain general broad differences which apply 
to the groups as a whole but which are frequently disregarded in 
individual cases. The most important of these is maturity. As cattle 
approach maturity their rate of growth usually slows down and for 
this reason their ability to take on added fat or finish is increased. 
Hence this kind of an animal is especially suited to the man who 
has concentrated or fat-producing feed to dispose of. Most feeder 
cattle, therefore, are animals which have attained an age of approxi- 
mately 18 months or over, although a considerable number of cattle 
are sold on the market as feeders which range from around 18 months 
down to about 6 months in age. These are usually purebred, high- 
grade, or crossbred animals of the beef type, and as a rule grade good 
or higher as feeders. 
Young animals, on the other hand, devote much of their feed to 
growth rather than the accumulation of adipose tissue. Steady 
growth can usually be maintained by the coarser feeds almost as well 
as by the so-called concentrates. Hence the man who has roughage 
to dispose of usually selects younger animals which are still growing. 
Such animals then are called stockers and as a rule they are indi- 
viduals which range from around 6 months up to about 18 months 
old. However, on the market a considerable number of animals, 
especially cows which are over 18 months old, are sold as stockers. 
On the market feeder and stocker cattle of different sex condi- 
tion, age, weight, conformation, finish, and quality sell at widely 
different prices largely because of differences in value which they 
will probably have after they have been fed and returned to the 
market as slaughter cattle. 
Thus different market classes, age-selection groups, weight-selec- 
tion groups, and grades of feeder and stocker cattle have arisen which 
are more or less generally recognized at most of the large central 
livestock markets. These have been incorporated into the system 
of market classes and grades of feeder and stocker cattle shown in 
the following schedule. 
From the above definitions it is apparent that animals belonging 
to the two groups are similar in all important respects, hence it is 
impossible to draw a hard and fast line between them. In market 
practice almost identical animals frequently sell to one man as feed- 
ers and to another as stockers. In many instances determination of 
the use to which they shall be put depends more upon the circum- 
stances of the purchaser than upon the animals themselves. 
