Show I 1 LOSS IN GRAIN STRAW AND CORN STOVER M x if 7 HAY IN competition WITH STANDING FORAGE prepared by the united states department ment ot or agriculture the waste la in the united states of a vast quantity of feed available for cattle Is one of the important factors in causing high meat prices according to port part IV of a comprehensive survey of the meat situation in this country recently completed by the department of agriculture the failure to make use of this wasted material says the report has diminished profits from cattle feeding has unnecessarily increased the cost cos t of meat production and has discouraged many farmers from properly rounding founding out their agricultural activities in carrying on cattle raising according to the report the loss in grain straw and corn stover amounts to more than annually both of these products are disposed of most economically when fed to cattle in connection with some form of concentrated teed feed straw Is especially valuable in carrying the breeding herd through the winter in wintering stockers and as a supplementary roughage for fattening cattle stover too Is an excellent feed for wintering cattle especially mature breeding cows nevertheless in many sections of the country where these products are abundant little attempt Is made to take advantage of their value for these purposes of nn an annual straw crop of approximately tons it Is estimated that only two thirds Is put to its best U us use 0 livestock live stock production of the remainder ina inder a little more than one half Is sold or turned under and the rest 15 per cent of the total crop Is burned burning Is practically an absolute waste and although plowing under does contribute something to soil fertility the benefit to the land Is less than that which would be derived from the use of the straw to produce manure of nil all systems of obtaining permanent soil fertility says the report none Is so practical or as easily available as that of feeding live stock the average value of all kinds of straw straw is placed at about 5 a ton in many sections of course no such price con can be realized for it and as a matter of fact only about 8 per cent of the crop actually Is sold tho the figure mentioned however may be taken as representing the value to the farmer of straw it he be will use it properly in his farming operations as feed or bedding in order to illustrate how this may li be done the report gives three sample rations for wintering a breeding herd of beet beef cattle on straw combined with silage shock corn and cottonseed or linseed meal any one of these rations it Is said will prove economical they are as follows rations for cows ration citation 1 I pounds straw 10 silage 20 cottonseed meal or linseed meal 1 2 3 straw 1 29 20 cottonseed cake or oil cake 2 hatlon L I 1 straw 1 I 10 shock corn 10 cottonseed meal I 1 in this connection it Is pointed out also 1 0 that feeding straw in the winter w will insure under certain circumstances the full utilization of summer grass in a number of western states it frequently happens that grass goes to waste because feeders are unwilling to pay the high prices asked for steers in the spring with nn an abundance of straw on hand to lessen the cost of wintering feeders can take advantage of the lower prices for 8 stacker cattle in the fall to secure on reasonable terms at that time enough stock to pasture all the gross grass tho the following year the production of corn stover Is about twice that of grain straw amounting to approximately tons a year A larger percentage 61 of this is fed than of the straw but the waste Is nevertheless astonishing for this poor methods of feeding ore are largely responsible by far the most economical method of handling corn Is by castling en but as aa a matter of fact only 81 per cent of tha acreage was put in tho the silo in 1014 1914 the year tear in which these investigations were made about 11 per cent was tut tor for green feed and 81 per cent allowed to mature for grain it Is in the last portion of the ac acreage renge that the greatest waste occurs St stripping rIppIn g the file leaves from tho the stalks thach are subsequently burned removing the stalk above the top ear car only leaving tho the stalks to stand in the field until the loss of leaves and leaching have removed much of their fertilizing value are all unthrifty methods furthermore ther more almost 4 per cent of the stover is burned as though instead of being a potential source of revenue it was merely a nuisance to be got d of as a pIlm preliminary ln ry to plowing in wine states the percentage of stover that ts is thus thrown away is an high as aa 7 or 8 per cent and the total loss to the country from the practice Is estimated nt at nearly a year to obtain satisfactory results from the feeding of farm hages such as aa straw and stover they must be corn com blued with some form of concentrated feed at tho the present time large quantities of such feed la in the form fonn of coti cot and cake molasses peanuts and beans are exported for tho the use of european tedders feeders it if the tha straw and stover that alint ore are ROW now wasted were employed to feed more cattle these concentrates s could be consumed nt at home the result would be a tremendous fuen dous saving not only in the cost of producing beef but in he cost of oe enriching the soll soil as aa well weli in 1014 1914 for example nebout 1 tons of cottonseed meal half the total pro ducolon were applied directly to tho the soil eoll as fertilizer if this had been fed to cattle instead three quarters of tho the fertilizing value would have been returned to the soil as aa jain manure nure the loss of the other fourth would have been far more than counterbalanced by the profit on the meat produced economically by the meat meal and tho the necessary hages much the same thing Is true of the other oil meals the value of these meals Is far better te r appreciated in europe than here 1 enmark denmark for example feeds annually rounds of oil calce cake to each of her mature cattle the united states ap proximately 24 pounds furthermore the european feeder Is aware of the fact that the high protein meal while more expensive to buy Is more economical to use meal of this quality Is seldom sold on the domestic markets because tho american farmer has not yet learned its value cottonseed and linseed are perhaps the best known of the oil meals but abut there are ara others the use of which as teed feed could be profitably extended both peanut bennu and by bean meal and cake for instance aro are in good demand in europe the efficient use of these and other feeds discussed in the report la Is of tha utmost importance to the american farmer it Is pointed out because tho the day when close calculation in feeding was not necessary Is in all probability past hereafter it Is likely that success will depend upon ability to put to the best use all available products A greater knowledge of what these pro ducts arcand of the ways in shiell they can be f fed e d will result in tho the elimination of enormous waste |