FARM ORGANIZATION IN SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA 57 
proportion of cows milked by hand and those allowed to nurse their 
calves. Some cows nursed their calves throughout their lactation, 
whereas others were allowed to nurse the calves only a part of the 
time and many not at all. The general plan of handling these cattle 
other than in the manner of milking differs little from that of the dairy 
herds of Shorthorn breeding. The product of the cows milked is 
marketed as cream. 
The unit requirements for the mixed cattle enterprise are shown 
in Table 40. Since the age and size of the individuals composing 
these herds varied so widely, the requirements are computed on an 
animal-unit bases. 14 Under value of stock are included all sales of 
breeding, feeding, and fat stock, as well as any increase in cattle on 
hand. Fluctuations due to changing price levels in opening and clos- 
ing inventories have been eliminated. The dairy products include 
all cream sold, all dairy products used in the house, and skim milk 
fed to swine and poultry. The lower value of dairy products in 1921 
as compared with 1920 is largely due to lower prices received. At 
least as many dairy products were produced in 1921 relatively to 
beef as in 1920. The reason the price deflation did not affect the 
value of the stock produced is that little stock was sold in 1920 until 
after prices had fallen. The two years are on very nearly the same 
price basis for stock, but not for dairy products. 
FEED REQUIREMENTS FOR MIXED CATTLE 
The variability of the enterprise, as well as the difference in systems 
of management on different farms, produced a wide range in feed 
requirements. Liberal silage feeding is usually associated with low 
grain or dry roughage requirements. On farms 4 and 20, having the 
highest value product per farm, the heaviest feeding was practiced. 
The higher feed requirements on farm 20 are due to the fact that 
dairy production was emphasized relatively more than on farm 4. 
On both these farms grade Shorthorn cows of the milking strain were 
kept and the calves raised for beef fed on the farm and sold as fat 
cattle. (See Table 40.) 
CAUSE FOR VARIATIONS IN LABOR REQUIREMENTS 
On all farms on which more than the usual amount of dairy products 
were produced the man labor per animal unit was correspondingly 
high. Man labor, on the other hand, did not increase so definitely 
with increased value of stock product. 
In general, the man labor per animal unit decreased as the size of 
the herd increased. 
On farms 11, 16, and 20, having the highest man-labor require- 
ments, all cattle were put in the barn, at least at night, all winter and 
were fed largely in the barn. On most farms part of the young cattle, 
especially feeding cattle, were fed in the yard and had only an open 
shed for shelter. 
VETERINARY AND MEDICINE COSTS 
Very little is spent for veterinary services or medicine for mixed 
cattle. The large cost reported on farm 13 was incurred for testing 
the herd for tuberculosis. 
14 See footnote 6 , p. 14, 
