2 BULLETIN 615, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
during the last three years show that losses on calves usually are due 
to excessive maintenance costs of the breeding cows. 1 
Much study has been devoted to selecting for dairy cows, and also 
for fattening cattle, rations that will give the best and most economi- 
cal results. There seems, however, to be but little information on the 
best rations for beef -breeding cows, although the data at hand clearly 
indicate that these animals must be wintered at as low a cost as is 
consistent with their welfare. When a cow is kept only for the pro- 
duction of calves, she should be fed a ration that will enable her to 
produce and raise a good strong calf and still keep in good bodily 
condition. To feed in excess of this amount merely for the sake of 
having a fine appearing cow, as is frequently done, is a waste of feed. 
This waste increases the maintenance cost, often to the point of 
wiping out profits, for when the business is conducted on as close a 
margin as at present it is impossible to raise calves at a profit unless 
the strictest economy is practiced in feeding the cows. 
BREEDING HERDS MUST GET MOST OF THEIR LIVING FROM 
FARM BY-PRODUCTS. 
The information at hand shows that where cows are kept exclu- 
sively for the production of feeder animals there must be a sufficient 
area of pasture, most economically utilized, to support the animals 
for at least six months of the year. Not only must they get fully 
one-half of their living from cheap grazing but they must be so 
handled during the remainder of the year that the greater portion 
of their winter feed is made up of those unsalable rough feeds, such 
as stalks, stover, and straw, which are abundant on corn-belt farms. 
The data obtained also show that on corn-belt farms the size of the 
herds usually should be limited to the number that can be supported 
on such cheap feeds. In other words, with the prices prevailing 
during recent years, the breeding herds must be made to utilize the 
farm by-products and convert them into beef and manure, while the 
more valuable products are sold or are fed to fattening animals. 
Every year there are large quantities of corn stover which are not 
utilized to their fullest extent. Every year also a vast quantity of 
straw r is wasted by letting cattle run to the stack and trample under 
foot more straw than they eat. An excellent illustration of this is 
shown in figure 1, where straw piles for three successive years are 
shown. Most of the straw on this farm is allowed to rot in piles and 
is not even hauled out as manure. In some parts of the country 
large quantities of straw are destroyed by burning. Much of the 
1 This investigation is being conducted cooperatively by the Office of Farm Manage- 
ment and the Bureau of Animal Industry. The results of the first two years' work have 
been published in Report 111, Office of the Secretary, " Methods and Cost of Growing 
Beef Cattle in the Corn Belt States." 
