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Show I Kite Standard's IL A. C. iireai j Articles of Interest to Farmers, Housekeepers and Others Written for The Standard by Experts at Utah's Noted j Agricultural College at Logan 4 H I NEED FOR BETTER WINTER CARE OF LIVESTOCK. By DR. W. E. CARROLL I'rofossor of Animal Husbandry, Utah Agricultural College. The season just passed has been a trying one for the livestock business. Due to a protracted drought over large areas of the range sections, grazing has been poor and has resulted In the livestock coming down from the summer sum-mer ranges very thin and in poor condition con-dition to withstand the rigors of winter win-ter Not only did short feed on the summer range result In thin fall cattle, cat-tle, but they came, down considerably earlier than usual- This means, of course, a longer winter feeding period and. consequently, heavier expense to the livestock man. Unfortunately, too, the farms thisl year are less able to stand this longer I feeding period, because the drought j which cut down the productivity ot the; ranges produced a corresponding decrease de-crease ia the yields of the farm crops. These lighter yields (and consequently consequent-ly loss winter feed), resulted from an actual decrease In the amount of water falling on the soil as compared with normal, as well as from a greatly reduced supply of irrigation water. . Another factor has also operated to decrease the available supply of winter feed for livestock: because of less rainfall and irrigation water, home pastures have yielded less fcqd and in ordei to maintain the nnimals, such as dairy cattle and horses, which must be kept on the farm during the summer, sum-mer, it has been necessary to supplement, supple-ment, the short pasture with feed which normarhlly could have beon reserved re-served for winter use.x The unsettled condition of the livestock live-stock markets have also contributed ! their share to tho general uncertainty confronting the livestock business. High feed prices have caused many sleepless nights and much worry and careful figuring as to tho probable! profits to be realized from any prospective pros-pective feeding operations. After making mak-ing thepe careful calculations many men have concluded that conditions are so unsettled that certain profit; (even small) cannot be counted on and. rather than to risk incurring too great a loss they would sell, even though at some sacrifice, as the animals come from the ranges. These early sales have included all the way from legitimate legiti-mate surplus livestock to entire breeding breed-ing herds. In many cases the breeding herds have been cut to the lowest possible pos-sible number at all consistent with future fu-ture operations. Now, what does it all mean as a leaf out of the livestock history of these regions? To say the least it is most unfortunate that such a set of favorable favor-able conditions should have "struck" so to speak, during any one season. It cannot mean, however, that tho livestock live-stock business can be closed out permanently. per-manently. That being the case, great care is needed during the coming winter win-ter to tide the livestock business over this critical period. ! Better care should be given the j breeding herds to insure them coming out of the winter in a strong condition and ready to utilize to the fullest extent ex-tent the forage as they are turned , again on the summer ranges.' j No female of breeding age should be considered as having a just claim on a place in. the herd during the com-j ing winter unless she gives fairly con-j elusive evidence of her power to produce pro-duce young. Unproductive females or nialcfs cither, for that matter, if they have not already been culled from the herds and flocks, should be at once sold for meat purposes or into sections where feed is more plentiful. The remaining re-maining animals, which are considered! most productive, should then be given the best possible caro to insure them and their offspring coming out of the winter strong and in a condition to utilize to the fullest extent the forage on the ranges during next summer. This care will include, in some cases more feed than has beon customary, better shelter, and more careful attention. atten-tion. Close attention will especially be rewarded during the period just before be-fore and just after the young are born. Patience and care should be sufficient! at this time to insure' the savins of practically every offspring that, is born alive. This extra care and expense ex-pense are suggested as advisable in order to insui-p as quick recovery as possible in the numbers of livestock and be able to fill the ranges up to their carrying capacity. |