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About The Alliance herald. (Alliance, Box Butte County, Neb.) 1902-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1916)
STOCKMEN'S EDITION OF The Alliance Herald READ BY EVERT, MEMBER NEBRASKA STOCK GROWERS ASSOCIATION. ALL THE NEWS OF ALLIANCE AND WESTERN NEBRASKA OFFICIAL ORQAN NEBRASKA VOLUNTEER FIREME1TS ASSOCIATION. IT REACHES HEADQUARTERS FOR 15,000 FIREMEN The Leading Paper of Western Nebraska 5,000 Copies 16 Pages 2 Sections VOLUME XXIII ALLIANCE, BOX BUTTE COUNTY, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1916 NUMBER 52 WHAT KINO OF FEEDER CATTLE? 8 object OofMldomd from Scientific and Practical Viewpoint, Inter eating to Ilanchraen Not many ' Nebraska ranchmen feed out for market the cattle which they raise, but they are Interested In K 1 1 I.I . . I. supply the tauff to bo fed, they nat urally want to know the kind for which there will be the strongest de mand and that will bring the best rices from feeder buyers. An article written by II. J Grara llch of the Nebraska Experiment Sta tion on the subject. "What Kind of Feeder CattteT" waa published in The Nebraska Farmer of November 2t. The article 1a Interesting thru oit. but the part showing the trend of the demand for feeders and (he kind that will probably be wantedr most in the next few years will be of special interest to ranchmen who supply the feeder market. Decause of the importance of the subject, to ranchmen as well as farmers and feeders, and the able manner In which it is handled by Prof. Gramllch, it is reprinted en tire, as follows: Iiu) Ing Stock Cattle Each year the farmer who has a considerable amount of grain and roughness to feed is confronted with the problem of buying stock cattle unless he is equipped, as few farm ers are, to maintain a breeding herd and produce his own calves. Upon the large markets in almost any month of the year he can find cattle of all classes, ages and grades. These ,cattle are for sale. Generally they are in the hands oT a speculator, who is only too glad to move them, providing he can socuro a price which will insure him a profit. Con sequently the question of what kind of cattle to buy is not so much one of what classes are available as which one of the many classes avail able will prove most profitable. In the fall months, when most farmers buy their feeders, steers are avauaDie ranging irom calves up to three years old and over. These calves as a rule are fresh from the range and, carry a considerable amount of milk fat. They can' be taken out and fed a rather heavy grain ration during the winter and spring and erturned to the market il : In the early summer as finished baby beeves. Good, uniform calves of one of the beef breeds generally bell in carload lota at a figure around IS a hundredweight, or fully $1 higher than older steers of the name breed ing. Such calves will make gains of about two pounds a day under feed lot conditions. Under exceptional conditions they may make three pounds a day. This, however, re quires the use of large quantities of high-price feeds, and It is doubtful if the added gain thus secured is en tirely Justifiable. A calf when on maximum feed will consume as much as fifteen pounds, of corn, three to four pounds of oil meal and three to five pounds of alfalfa hay a day. Calves eat proportionately less than older steers and make 100 pounds of gain with less feed. In fact, it Is safe to say that the oldof steers be come the less economical , are their gains. Making Baby Reef ' It must be remembered that the feeding of baby boeves involves quite largely the use of highly con centrated feeds. This means that calves will ont use up very much roughness, providing they are fed In to really highly finished baby beeVcs. The one way to produce baby beeves and at the same time satisfactorily use up home-grown roughness Is to keep a herd of breeding cows and produce calves from them, allowing the cows to winter on roughness. Calves always should be vaccinat ed against blackleg. Sometimes a purchaser Is able to ascertain wheth er calves already havo been vaccin ated. It is not advisable to dehorn calves where they are taken out to be finished as baby beeves. The de horning sets them back materially, and besides the horns do not bother in the feedlot. Packers do not dis criminate against horns when the calves are sold. A good grade of calves, such as would develop into good baby beeves should weigh approximately 400 pounds apiece when they reach the market. In selecting calves to feed out as baby beeves, It is very import ant to see that they are low-set, com pactly built and of an early-maturing type; otherwise there is a mark ed tendency for the calves to grow during the first winter and spring, and when they go back to market they will be discriminated against because of a lack of finish. Baby beeves marketed In June, at which time they are about fourteen months old. usually weigh from 800 to 900 pounds apiece. At that season of the year they are comparatively safe from discrimination, becauso with the approach of warm weather there Is a strong demand for light cuts of beef. In recent years many feeders have taken to the feeding of calves and the game is not looked upon as so fascinating as it was five or six years ago. Perhaps It Is as safe- as any, however, owing to the fact that the cost of making the gains is some what less than with older cattle, and the- Initial weight Is so small com pared to the final weight that the purchase price quite easily can be absorbed. Yearlings are flood Feeders An increasing number of cattle feeders have adopted the policy of feeding yearlings. In tho fall months It is possible to purchnso yearlings weighing from 600 to 800 pounds of almost any quality desired. It the feeder wishes to put these cattle on the market an beeves tho following spring, it is quite essential that they be comparatively even, of good width and reasonably well bred, else they will develop bo unevenly and will lack the attractiveness so much sought by the buyers of handy weight steers. When calves are sell ing at $8 a hundredweight, a good class of yearling steers usually can be purchased at tfbout $7. Such steers will do quite well on roughness during the fall and can be put on feed about the first of 'the new year and finished for a rather late spring market. Steers taken out at a weight of about 700 pounds and handled In this, way can bo made ready for a June market weighing from 1,100 to 1,200 pounds. It has been a noticeable fact that during recent yearB steers of such weight, providing they carried sufficient fin ish, have brought practically the top of the market 'at almost any season of the year, more particularly from May until fall. Such steers make their gains at a somewhat lower cost than do two year olds, and will con sume considerably more roughness and other comparatively cheap feeds than will calves. If a farmer la purchasing cattle to rough through the winter and run on grass tho following summer, steers of the above class usually will be found the most satisfactory. This season, however, the man who pur chased .light two year olds last fall, roughed them through the winter and pastured them In the summer sold them as grass-fat three year olds to a much better advantage than did men who had the lighter grass-fat two year olds. Two Year Olds In Favor A great majority of feeders pre fer to handle two-year-old steers. These steers may be found In an as sortment of weights varying from 800 pounds up to 1,060 pounds. Us ually this difference In weight Is due very largely to the amount of flesh the steers carry. . Two year olds have an advantage over yearlings and ralves In that they are more ma ture and are able better to withstand adverse weather conditions; hence they need less shelter. They will al so consume a larger proportion of roughness to grain In the feedlot. The grade of steers that bring $8 on the market as calves and $7 as yearlings usually can be purchased ataround 16 to $6.40 as two year olds. This gives the feeder some what more margin on which to op erate, although proportionately less of the finished weight will represent gains roado in the feedlot; conse quently he must look for his profit more In the margin between the cost price and the selling price than In the gains he makes on the animals. Two-year-old steers pot in In the fall weighing In the neighborhood of 900 pounds, carried several months on rough feed and then finished on grain usually go back to market some time between February and June weighing from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds, and In most yearB find a ready sale. There are times, bow ever, when buyers discriminate against such steers because of ex cess weight. Few Three Year Olds Fed At the present time three-year-old steers aro fed only In small numbers. It is doubtful whether a feeder Is Justified in taking out three-year-old steers, because generally such steers carry sufficient flesh to cause pack ers to bid on them in the fall, and then when fed they are likely to coue back to the market weighing more than the trade demands. Pack ers' are very adverse to heavy cattle at certain seasons of tho year. Fur thermore, anlnmls of the ago and weight of throo year olda usually make gains at a high cost. It re quires a larne amount of feed to maintain their body weight. Usual ly three year olds as feeders sell at prices somewhat higher than two year olda, becaune of competition from the killers. Thin three year olds, of course, are an exception to this. In summing up the above we may say that the age of cattle to select depends very largely upon the con dtt'ons under which they are to be fed. If a feeder Is desirous of mak ing a short feed and turning his cat tle back in a short time, say In sixty, ninety or 100 days, he certainly should take out throe yen' olds or fleshy two year olds. If ho expects to rough the cattle along in the stalk-fields and on hay until about the first of the year and then finish them for an April market, two-year-old steers would probably answer his requirements best. If he has In mind a longer feeding period and has good shelter, yearlings or calves would prove highly satisfactory. Calves Itequlre Irftng Feeding One thing to remember, however, Is that calves should not be taken out with the expectation of finishing them as baby boeves short of eight months, and some feeders have come to the conclusion that ton months Is even better. Yearlings can be fin ished In somewhat less time than calves, although the feeder should figure on taking out yearlings that he would need to hold from seven to eight months In order to make the proper finish. The kinds of feeds a feeder has available must also be taken Into consideration in deciding what age of feeder cattle to buy. Where It Is a question of disposing of a con siderable amount of grain and only a limited quantity of hay, the younger cattle doubtless would answer the purpose best. If, as usually Is the case, the object in buying steers is to use up available feed in the stalk fields as well as considerable hay of poor quality, then the best plan would be to buy older steers, rough them several months and finish them on a grain and hay ration. At the Missouri river markets, cat tle generally aro divided into three classes: Westerns, southerns and na tives. Westerns originate In tho range country and have been raised under range conditions. They gen erally are dehorned and are more or less branded. While of good breed ing and well built, they are likely to be wild and are entirely unaccustom ed to man on foot. CIhshos of Feeders Southerns are of more or less In ferior breeding, usually small for their ago, narrow bodied, off color and rather plain In quality. They generally come from Texas and oth er southwest states. Often they are transplanted to northern ranges as two year olds. It Is not uncommon to see tralnolads of theso cuttle mov ing north in June and July, and even later. Natives usually are seen In bunch (Continued on page 4) DENVER TO GET CATTLE BUREAU United Statiw Department of Agri c allure Planning to Aid Indus try thru Large Centers Provision Is made In an announce ment by the Department of Agricul ture for the establishment In Denver and other Urge live stock centers of bureaus to collect and disseminata information and data regarding pric es and supplies of marketable live stock and moat products, according to Information received by J. D. Kli llan of Denver, assistant secretary of the market committee of the Amer ican National livestock Assoclatloa. Development of Denver as a great live stoek market may lead to the establishment there of a permanent agency representing the American National Live Stock Association. The prominence of Denver in this indus try and its central location resulting In the establishment of the head- quarters of the market committee there provide a precedent which the government and the association may; recognise. fAA.OOO for llurcau Mr. Killlun received information on two propositions of vital interest 10 siocamen. una concerned lue ap propriation of f 65,000 for the estab lishment of the market bureau. The other was a telegram from B. L. Burke of Omaha, vice president of the National Association, giving no tice that the national conference on marketing and farm credits, to meet In Chicago Dec. 4 to 9, would give over the third day of the convention entirely to the hvu mock industry. Prominent speakers from all over the country will discuss problems of vi tal Interest to the stock ralaor, the commission men, the stockyards man and the ultimate emisumer. , llcwoluMons Sent Out The following reiiolutlon was sent out to live stork men all over the country from the olllce of Mr. Kil Uan: "Hesolvod, That it Is the sensn of tho market committee of the Amer ican National Live Stock Association that, at the proper time, after the plans of the bureau of markets have been perfected and the collection and dissemination of statistical Informa tion hfin hMn inaugurated, there should be established, at one of the (Continued on page 3) liUwuuUiuil SERVICE FIRST iFPI ill hi SERVICE FIRST Receipts for Years Ending December 31, 1915-1914 Cattle Hogs Sheep Horses & Mules Carloads 1915 1,218,342 2,642,973 3,268,279 41,679 101,786 1914 938,817 2,258,620. 3,113,889 30,688 83,139 Increase 279,525 384,353 154,390 10,991 18,647 PER CENT INCREASE 29.8 17.0 4.9 '35.8 22.4 Why The Increase? Because it is a Clean Market for Clean Live Stock. It is the most modern Live Stock Market in the world, over $1,600,000.00 having been ' .. , expended during the past six years for improvements and betterments, insuring ship pers the very best and most efficient facilities for the prompt handling and marketing of stock. . . - The South Omaha Stock Yards are open for inspection, as well as for the handling of your live stock ' Enormous increase in Live Stock receipts during 1915 over previous years means SERVICE THAT SATISFIES UNION STOCK YARDS CO,, Ltd. 14 SERVICE FIRST OMAHA iS,W4lsW'ttwiialUlllUIMlliililSMiSW m sj mWMFHflW .If . RiP.lspBSjBBWJI 1SERVICE FIRST