Show Si bierling sierling cook labeled LIr virgest gest baittle feeder sterling cook farmer fanner and cattle feeder in the vernal area is one of the largest cat tie lie feeders in uintah county the aria arca not served by rail roads and one that la is a great distance from the fat cattle market mr cook is doing well in his cattle fit eding ding though be cause fellow farmers and consider consid cr him the most progressive farmer in tile the county HE STARTED in the beet beef feeding business in 1045 1945 ile he now feeds about baters and heifers heffers a year and sells to a local buyer whit levanger who trucks the finished cattle to market mr levanger in ci dentally supplies mr cook with all his feeder calves 1 practically all the steers fed out are from uintah basi dasan n herds of late he has been concentrating on calves from tin the altamont area with geo rg fisher providing most of the stock mr cook likes form calves but notices that evin with the best uniformity in calves performance in the feed lot varies THE FEEDER puts the weaner calves on a growing ration 0 of f alfalfa and corn oil ail age with only ionly a little grain and grows the calves out until the last days of the feed ing period then the calves go on a full feed of rolled barley protein and mineral supplement and very little hay ile he ea estimates that the calves gain 2 pounds per day on the growing ration and then jump to 2 5 or 3 pounds per day on the full grain feed sterling cook notes that due to changing market demands he has to change his feeding program constantly ile he presently la Is trying to get the calves finished at lighter weights 1000 pounds to tit fit tile the demand of the retailer and consumer re he has a modern feeding setup and feeds his steers with a power wagon the feed Is augured directly into his cement mangers as he drives the tractor down the feed alley there are no sheds and the animals are in the open all the time they are on feed mr cook contends this type of arrangement keeps the cattle working eating and putting on pounds evenly RECENTLY MR mn COOK con strutted ted a modern farm shop where he is able to make al most all of his own machinery repairs ile he finds this practice has cut expenses considerably ills farm land consists of acres of highly productive land some four miles north of vernal ile he has acres under cultivation and 58 acres of native pasture of the cultivated land he grows 70 acres of corn silage 40 acres of alfalfa and about 10 acres each year are planted to oats and barley which are nurse crops tor for new alfalfa the small grains however are cut with a forage harvester and ensiled enfiled lie figures he cannot afford to raise small grains such as barley and oats ile he buys his grain from nearby west slope colorado dry farmers in the craig area ile he feeds about goo tons of barley a year STERLING COOK believes in maintaining high levels of fertilizer to get high crop yields ile he gets from 7 to 8 tons of alfalfa per acre and about 20 tons of corn silage sterling and his big wife are the parents of four boys larry the eldest is in austria on a mission for the church the cooks also have one of the finest orchards in ashley val ley where peaches and apples are raised their red and gold en delicious trees produce ap plea pies that command premium prices and the quality will compare favorably with tm tha apples produced anywhere the cook farm arm lies under heavy ledges that constitute part of the south end ot of near ly completed dam |