Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 185, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 August 1915 — THE SLAUGHTER OF CALVES [ARTICLE]

THE SLAUGHTER OF CALVES

Owing to the Increased Demand For Veal It Is Rapidly Increasing \ 1 The of young calves is one of the .serious phases of the problem of the maintenance of our country’s beef supply. Statistics indicate that the slaughter of such animals is Increasing rapidly, due primarily to an increase in the demand for veal, in spite of the fact that veal is ordinarily sold at an extremely high price per pound. These veal calves are largely ‘drawn from the dairy districts, but, with the growth in the demand for veal, other sections are marketing as veal In considerable numbers calves that, if kept and fattened, would have made good beef steers. The market for Stockers and feeders Is therefore affected.

Various suggestions have been made to prevent this, even such radical ones as legislation to prohibit entirely the slaughter of calves. The fact is not always recognized, however, that this practice is purely economic. In dairy districts, milk production is the chief business and calves are an incident, valuable only to replenish the milking stock or for such revenue as may be obtained from their s&le as veal. As the average dairyman must keep the number of his milkers at a maximum, economy demands that he relieve himself of his surplus calyes as soon as possible There Is not ordinarily any market for such calves except for veal, they become. The slaughter of calves in districts which are not exclusively devoted to dairying probably has as its governing factor a market near by which pays more for calves as veal than as stackers.

A comparison of English and Amer- . lean methods in this respect sheds some light on this problem. In England men make a business of buying young calves throughout the dairy districts to be raised on milk substitutes and subsequently fattened for beef. In England the dairy cows are largely Shorthorns whose calves are valuable for beef production. In the United States, on the other hand, the cows of the dairy districts are principally of the strictly dairy breeds (pure breds or grades) or natives with no breeding, and the calves from such cows have, have, as a rule, little value as feeders for beef, but make good veal. As the calves in a dairy herd are not a paramount importance, a system of breeding which would Increase their value for beef production would not necessarily decrease the dairy value of the herd when grade or native cows are used. If such cowh were bred to beef or dual-purpose bulls, the calves would have considerable value as stockers. .This practice would not be warranted, however, unless there wa a nearby market for such stockers. It must also be observed that this tlce necessitates raising calves by hand, largely on milk substitutes, which add to the expense, and calves so fed are not so easily raised as where they follow the cow until weaned naturally. The labor item is likewise important, as this system demands not only a considerable amount of labor but of skill also. In England skilled farm labor is cheaper than in the United States. Another possible solution of the problem would be an Increase in mutton consumption In the United States. We consume annually per capita 7% pounds of veal, which is 4 per cent of our total meat consumption; the people of Great Britain eat 4 pounds of veal per capita annually, which is 3 per cent of their annual per capita meat consumption. We consume 6% pounds of mutton and lamb per capita, which is whereas the British people consume 26 pounds of mutton and lamb per capita, which is 22 per cent of their annual meat consumption. An increase in our mutton consump-. tlon at the expense of the consumption of veal would, of course, tend to make calves less valuable as veal an dwould encourage a system of breeding which would brirfg them into demand as stockers. An Increase in mutton consumption would also encourage the farm raising of sheep, and this could be brought about on dairy farms without affecting the economy of management from the dairy standpoint. A small flock of sheep on a farm will increase the productiveness of the farm, keep the farm clean of weeds, and add to the family meat supply without entailing serious additional expense for feed, labor or shelter. (