Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1918 — Declares Cattlemen Facing Large Deficits—Government Alone Can Save Bankruptcy [ARTICLE]

Declares Cattlemen Facing Large Deficits—Government Alone Can Save Bankruptcy

Cattle feeding is a manufacturing business.. The farm with its buildings and equipment is the plant. The steers’ digestive apparatus is the machinery. Corn silage, cotton seed meal, straw, hay and fodder, the raw material to be converted into beef. So many pounds of corn, silage, cotton seed meal and forage passed through the machinery of a steer’s digestion turns out 100 pounds of beef, the finished product, writes Wymond J. Beckett, in the Indianapolis Star. The amount of feed, when properly combined, required for 100 pounds of gain, remains practically constant The cost of feed known, the cost of 100 pounds of gain can be easily determined. This has been worked out at agricultural experiment stations, and on the farms of the country by actual demonstrations. Cost of beef is not absolute, but relative, depending wholly on the cost of feeds. The cost of 100 pounds of beef normally, bears a direct relations always to the cost of the feeds which enter into its production. Every business man understands that the cost of ihe raw material and the expense of operation determines rhe cost of production. These same items determine the cost of agricultural production. Then it should be comparatively easy to determine the cost of 100 pounds of beef and what it should sell for on the market to yield the farmer a reasonable profit for bis labor and investment. Is the cattle feeder today getting even the cost price for his finished product? If not, why not? •