18 BULLETIN 1454, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
steers for each 100 acres of grass. There were more of the younger 
steers for each hundred acres of grass, the number of thin 2-year-old 
steers being 23.7 and 27.2 steers and the thin yearling steers 33.2 
and 25.4 steers per 100 acres. As was true of the aged steers, the 
young steers carrying more flesh had more grass than did the thin 
young steers. In many instances the younger steers were grazed 
on poorer pastures than the aged steers and this in part accounts 
for the small difference between the classes. 
In general, the thin cattle made more beef from 100 acres of grass 
than the cattle carrying more flesh. The gains for the thin aged 
steers annually were 6,534 to 7,056 pounds per 100 acres of grass, 
the thin 2-year-old steers gained 5,925 and 6,283, and the thin year- 
lings 5,232 and 8,134 pounds per 100 acres of grass. The gains made 
by each class of cattle from 100 acres of grass are shown in Table 6. 
The initial cost of the steers required to stock 100 acres of grass 
was greatest for the fat aged steers and decreased for both thinner 
and younger cattle. The initial cost of the fat aged steers varied 
from about $1,600 to nearly $1,900 per 100 acres of grass. The 
initial cost of the thin aged steers averaged from $1,235 to $1,325, 
whereas the thin yearling steers cost an average of $891 to $925 
per 100 acres of grass. 
The costs of carrying the cattle on grass showed the same tendencies 
as the initial cost although to a lesser degree. The costs of carrying 
the older and the fleshier cattle tended to be greater than the costs 
of carrying the younger and the thinner cattle. The lighter stocking 
of the grass with some of the older and heavier cattle somewhat 
offsets this tendency. The younger cattle and the fleshier cattle 
were in smaller herds than the thin aged steers. These differences 
result in differences in cost which would not be so evident if condi- 
tions were more nearly equal for all classes of cattle. 
The cattleman who had grass but only limited funds found it 
possible to stock the grass with steers with the least funds if he chose 
yearling or 2-year-old steers. Thin aged steers required less initial 
investment than the fleshier aged steers. 
THIN AGED STEERS 
Thin aged steers were the only class of cattle handled in numbers 
large enough to warrant a detailed analysis of the cost and income 
figures gathered on them. By an analysis of the grazing costs per. 
head for thin aged steers it was found that the factors affecting the 
carrying costs per head in order of their importance were (1) grass 
cost, (2) weight of the steer when going on grass, (3) the quality of the 
pastures, and (4) acres per steer. There was a tendency also for the 
gain made per steer to decrease as the cost of grazing the steer in- 
creased. This can partially be accounted for by the fact that there 
was some tendency for steers having the higher grazing charges to go 
to market earlier than the others. 
As pastures are leased at a flat rate per steer for the season and may 
be used by the lessee so long as he chooses without change in the lessee 
contract, the cost of each additional pound of gain during the summer 
decreased in almost direct ratio to the number of pounds gained. 
Although there were slight differences in the cost of grass because of 
the differences in bargaining abilities of stockmen, the principal 
factors influencing the cost of 100 pounds gain on thin aged cattle in 
