The Feeding Value of Speltz in Beef and Pork Production

Three subjects were investigated in this experiment:(1) The value of speltz, both whole and ground, for steers as compared to whole corn.(2) The value of speltz, both whole and ground for the production of pork.(3) The comparative value of speltz and corn for hogs when following steers fed in these grains.Speltz is of Russian origin and has evidently found a home in the semi-arid region of the Northwest. The real name is Emmer (Triticum dicocuum,) but speltz is the commonly accepted term. With the exception of three countries west of the Missouri River it is now grown in every county in the state. According to the second census report of South Dakota, published in 1905, of the crops for 1904, two-thirds of the speltz produced in this state was grown in a section lying east of the Missouri River and north of a line passing through the southern boundary of Brookings County westward to the Missouri River

Tankage and Other By-Products for Pigs. Shrunken Wheat for Swine.

The word by-product is applied to a class of substances which during the process of manufacture at the mills and factories remain after the more valuable materials have been extracted. There are several kinds of these by-products in the market for sale as feeding stuffs, such as gluten meal, cottonseed Meal, oil meal, tankage, blood meal, bran, etc., and some have boon found to be of great value Lo the stockman when fed in conjunction with our commonly grown grains. They are valuable for feeding purposes because they contain, in abundance, the protein or nitrogenous part of a feed so necessary for the growth of the animal

Speltz and Millet for the Production of Baby Beef

1. In feeding calves for the production of baby beef the following prices were obtained per bushel for grains used: Corn 47 cents, oats 26 cents, millet 38 cents and speltz 33 cents.2. They were shipped to Chicago under two years old; averaged 1,250 pounds, and sold on their merits in lots, same as they were fed, at the following prices per hundred pounds: The corn lot, $6.25; the oats lot,$6.00; the millet lot, $5.75; the speltz lot,$5.85.3. It required .37 of a pound more of ground millet seed than it did ground corn to produce a pound of gain on calves fattened for baby beef.4. Calves raised and fattened on Black Veronesh millet seed, sown on the 28th day of June on spring breaking of prairie sod, were made to average 1,175 pounds per head at 1 year, 10 months and 23 days of age, and brought $5.75 per hundred pounds on the Chicago market.5. Fat made by Black Veronesh millet seed was much softer to the touch than that made by either corn, oats or speltz.6. When fed as a fattening ration, this variety of millet seed seems to be more like oats than corn. This is shown by the fact that the lot fed on oats required practically the same quantity of hay per pound of gain as did the lot fed on millet.7. Black Veronesh millet seed produced a carcass equal in quality to that of corn, as is shown by the cut on page 74 of this Bulletin.8. The best gains were made with the ground millet during the fattening period, being 1.76 pounds per head daily, while the lot fed on corn meal produced 2.08 pounds per head daily during\u27 this period.9. The lot fattened on speltz made an average daily gain of 1.69 pounds, while the lot fattened on corn made an average daily gain of 1.84 pounds.10. During the grass period the lot fed on speltz gained 112 pounds more than did the lot fed on corn. It required only 5.16 pounds of speltz for a pound of gain, as compared with 7.03 pounds of corn to produce a pound of gain during the grass period.11. The lot fed on speltz did not consume as much hay per pound of gain as did other lots, indicating that the husk of speltz is a good substitute for hay.12. Speltz produces a hard fat, about the same as oats; and as good a quality of meat as corn, as may be seen by cut of rib and loin on page 73 of this Bulletin. 13. With the exception of the speltz lot, the spayed heifers brought the same price as the steers. In this case a reduction of 50 cents per hundred was made on account of the spayed heifer being smaller than the steers in the lot which brought$6.00 per hundred.14. Ground oats proved to be a profitable feed for the production of baby beef. From a careful examination of the lots before shipping these steers were nearly as fat as those fed on corn. The cut of rib and loin from an average carcass of the oat lot on page 74 of this Bulletin shows a high quality of meat.15. When calves were fed in lots on the same kind of grain from birth to maturity those which received the most highly carbonaceous grain produced the largest per cent of dressed meat

Fattening Range Lambs

Certain sections of South Dakota, known as the range, where live stock is produced the cheapest, furnish a large per cent of the lambs for the feeding yards of this and the adjoining states. On account of the small amount of rainfall, the native grasses in this section cure while standing on the ground and furnish a very palatable and nutritious feed for stock. The lambs are purchased in the fall when from five to seven months old, pastured on rape or good pasture grasses until cold weather, then put into the feed yard and grained during the winter months for the early spring market. For the past several years the Chicago market at this time has been good for lambs of this quality, in many cases fetching as much and sometimes more per hundred than the hjgh-bred natives. It has been a very profitable business as the growth of the lambs is rapid and the selling price has been from 75 to 100 percent more than the purchase price

I. Pasture and Forage Plants for South Dakota II. Feeding Dairy Cows III. Flies IV. The Artesian Waters of South Dakota V. Some Destructive Insects VI. Elements of Prairie Horticulture

I. Pastuire and Forage Plants for South Dakota II. Feeding Dairy Cows III. Flies IV. The Artesian Waters of South Dakota V. Some Destructive Insects VI. Elements of Prairie Horticultur

Stock Food for Pigs

The production of pork is one of the principal industries throughout the entire corn-belt. As the corn-belt is being extended northwestwardly, and as hundreds of farmers from eastern points are coming to this State, annually, to make it their future homes, the production of pork is sure to increase rapidly. There is no place in South Dakota, in which the small grains are grown, where the hog will fail to be a valuable addition to the livestock on the farm, if given a chance. The demand for pork in the market is usually as good as it is for any other kind of meat. Early maturity is a desirable characteristic in any kind of livestock, and if this feature can be brought about by feeding artificial compounds (other than are produced on the farm) their use must be considered a benefit rather than a detriment, providing the cost is not prohibitive. In the following pages are given the results obtained during the past two years in feeding stock foods to the fattening pig. Prepared stock foods are becoming a common commodity in our markets and wonderful claims as to their value are made in some instances when fed in conjunction with grain. Some claim that they will save feed. Prepared stock foods are-to be found for sale in probably every town and city in South Dakota. Many requests have reached the writer during the past few years as to their relative feeding value, which is best, etc., etc. As it was impossible to give each food found in the market a trial, five of the commonly used brands were selected and during the summer of 1906 an experiment was planned to determine these facts. In 1907 it was repeated to ascertain whether results by feeding the same brands would be similar for the two years, thereby establishing the superiority of one brand over the others

Alfalfa and Red Clover

This bulletin presents the results obtained during the past three years with alfalfa and clover at this Station and the Forage Testing Station at Highmore; also a few letters containing practical experience in growing these legumes in different parts of the state. This latter feature is included to show that these plants are a t home in nearly all sections of the state east of the Missouri river, as well as in the agricultural districts of the Black Hills

Millet for Fattening Swine

This experiment was undertaken to ascertain the relative feeding value of millet, as a fattening ration when fed to hogs, as compared to that of the more commonly grown cereals. Various millets have been widely grown in this state for several years and considered a very valuable forage crop for cattle and sheep if harvested at the proper stage of maturity. There is probably no crop that can be sowed that will mature in so short South Dakota, and produce so large a yield of forage or grain per acre, as millet. There are, however, numerous new varieties of millet which have been introduced into this section of the country by this station through the co-operative work which has been carried on for several years with the United States Department of Agriculture. These new millets were imported by the department from -foreign countries where the climatic conditions are similar to ours and, as a result, many varieties have been introduced, well suited to our country which, probably would not have reached us otherwise. Among the kinds imported, one from Russia, the Black Voronesh ( Panicum miliar ceum), or commonly known as hog millet, has proved to be one of the best, not only from the fact that it is a heavy yielder of forage and grain, but that it is a quick grower, drought-resistant and the grain furnishes, when ground, a very palatable and nutritions feed for cattle, sheep and swine. It can be sown as late as the middle of June and will be ready to harvest the latter part of August or before frost

I. Lamb Feeding II. Fattening Shep on Grass

The production of a high class of meat products from the raw materials at hand should be the aim of every stockman in the state. Of all the animals on the farm the sheep is regarded by many as the most profitable, not only from the fact that it will convert, economically, the grains and forage plants into higher selling products, but also because it has no equal as a weed destroyer and a general improver of the farm. Of the six hundred or more different weeds and grasses found on our prairies and cultivated fields, the sheep will eat nearly all. The days of raising sheep in large flocks in this state, for the feeder market, is slowly passing away. However, numerous flocks of pure-breeds are being started, and this line of improvement is keeping pace with the gradual change that is being made, from the extensive to the intensive mode of farming. Good profits have been realized during the past winter by the raisers and feeders of sheep because of the brisk demand for mutton from foreign countries. This demand, according to the report of the Foreign Markets Division, Department of Agriculture, was brought about by a falling off of the imports into England from her colonies. During the first three months of the present year there were 2,399,922 pounds more of mutton exported from the United States than during the corresponding months one year ago. While this large increase is unusual and was no doubt the cause of the prevailing high price of mutton, good fat lambs are always in demand. This experiment was undertaken in order to determine the relative feeding value of some of the newer grains recently introduced into this state, as compared with those of a more staple nature; and also the benefit, if any, of grinding the same when fed to lambs under the same conditions