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Show FOUR TORS OF BEEF FROM EIGHT ACRES OF IRRIGATED PASTURE By DON B. NIELSON One-half ton of beef from an acre of irrigated pasture represents repre-sents a lot of cash, and Glen Gilbert, of Myton, has the weight bill to prove it. In May, Glen rented two 4-acre pieces I of irrigated pasture for a share of the increased pounds of beef, i Eleven yearlings and a cow were weighed and put into one I of the pastures. A crop of hay was cut from the second pasture. pas-ture. Two yearlings bloated on the alfalfa when they were turned into the second field, because the alfalfa grew higher than the clover and grass. By the middle of November when the cattle were removed, the scales showed a gain of 4 tons of beef and more than 4 tons of hay for the season. At 30c a pound for beef and $20 a ton for hay, the income from the 8 acres was more than $2480.00 or $320.00 per acre. For the 165 day period, the average av-erage daily gain was 48.4 pounds of beef for 12 head, or more than 4 pounds each day for each animal. Glen used 100 lbs. of available avail-able phosphate fertilizer per acre when the pasture was planted in the spring of 1950, and since then the only attention atten-tion the pasture received was regular irrigation, clipping with a mower to keep the growth uniform, and moving the cattle from one pasture, to the other. This 8 acres of irrigated pasture pas-ture is only one part of a farm plan Glen is carrying out with the supervision and cooperation of the Uintah Basin Soil Conservation Conser-vation District. This plan includes in-cludes additional pasture plantings, plant-ings, good use of irrigation water, wa-ter, crop rotation, use of commercial com-mercial fertilizer, the establishment establish-ment of a good irrigation system, sys-tem, including relocation of ditches and installation of head-gates, head-gates, farm drainage, green manure, ma-nure, leveling and planting grass for seed production. Irrigated pasture in the Uintah Uin-tah Basin, if properly handled, ca be very profitable. To get the most from your irrigated pasture, follow- these suggestions: sugges-tions: 1. Do not graze before the grass has made 4 to 6 inches growth in the spring. 2. Divide the pasture into at least 4 parts so the stock can be on fresh feed all the time, and move the stock from one to the other regularly. Do not keep the stock on a pasture while irrigating. 3. Clip with a mower two or three times each season to keep the feed growing uniformly. 4. Use commercial phosphate to keep the clovers thrifty. 5. Use a little irrigation water often. |