"If Illinois does return to the cattle breeding business, it will not be on the old extensive scale that prevailed throughout the state a generation ago. Grass grown on these high priced lands is too expensive to be disposed of with so lavish a hand as it was thirty or forty years ago.
"A return to cattle breeding in Illinois will be coincident with a more general adoption of supplement for pasture. The use of smaller proportions of permanent pasture, more extensive use of rotated or leguminous pastures, the passing of the aged steers in our feed lots, and the inauguration of what may be called intensive systems of baby beef production."[7]
"In reviewing the cattle breeding and the cattle feeding situation in Illinois in 1894, Mr. J. G. Imboden stated that the outlook was not very encouraging. The question was, "Are the men who are feeding the grain and fodder crop of the farm any worse off than those grain farmers who are selling their grain on the market, or even the butcher, the grocer, the boot and shoe dealer, or the drygoods merchant?" They undoubtedly were not at that time. Competition was very close, profits small, and unless a business man was satisfied with a small profit, his competitor did the business. Such were the conditions that faced the cattle breeders and feeders at that time.
"From 5 % to 10 % of the feeding value of the crops on Illinois farms were left in the field; straw-stacks stood in the field where the thresher left them; stover stood on the field after the corn was husked, while on these same farms were stock that were shrinking from exposure and lack of feed."
The outlook for the feeder was very discouraging, but much more so for the breeder. There were no hopes for success for the breeder until the feeder had two or three years of success in order to make a market for the cattle that were bred. Strong efforts were being made to devise some methods of feeding the farm products more economically and in such a way as would mean more grain and better profits for the feeder.
"The cattle feeders of Illinois presumed that the time was nearing when feeder cattle of the best grade for grazing and feeding purposes would be hard to secure. While at that time there were plenty of cattle west of the Mississippi river, in Illinois there was a scarcity of breeding cattle to supply the demand. It was harder to buy a bunch of fifty uniformly good steers, throughout central Illinois especially, than it had been for fifteen years past. This was probably due to the fact that feeders had quit raising their feeding cattle and the breeders had changed from one breed to another in hopes of finding a breed that would give them greater returns. Again, many breeders had become very careless of the merits of the cattle on their farm."[8]
The First Silo in Illinois
"In 1881, Oatman Brothers, of Dundee, Illinois, built the first silo in the state. At the eighth annual meeting of the Illinois State Dairyman's Association, held at Dundee, Illinois, December 14-16, 1881, Mr. E. J. Oatman read an article on "Silos and Ensilage.""