Page 39

Crop Reporting Service Bulletin
                                      PART. IV
                    Manitowoc County Livestock and Dairying
       Expansion of livestock farming continues to be an important feature
of
Manitowoc County agriculture. The value of livestock on farms was about 18
million dollars on January 1, 1953. General trends in livestock numbers have
paralleled the over-all pattern in the state and in adjacent counties with
declines following the record-high estimates of the mid-1940's. Cattle num-
bers are again at record highs for the county and hogs and sheep are above
the 1950 low.   The rapid increase in the use of tractors has resulted in
a
steady decline in the number of horses,    Chicken numbers are below any
year
since 1929 after reaching an all-time high in 1944.
              Chart 9.- Value of Livestock on Farms, January 1953
                           Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
COWS - 77.22%
  STOCK SHEEP -
HORSES & -MULES -
         CHI(
       Production of livestock products has increased since the war despite
decreases in some livestock numbers. Improvement in quality and more effi-
cient husbandry practices have been important factors. Dairying continues
to
dominate the livestock enterprise.   Milk cows on farms made up three-fourths
of the value of livestock and along with other cattle comprised 94 percent
of
the total value of livestock on January 1, 1953.
       High livestock and dairy investments-of farms produce a large part
of
the farm income. In Manitowoc County 85 percent of the cash farm income in
1949 came from livestock and livestock products. More attention is being
given to pastures as farmers are becoming more aware of the value of grass-
land improvement and many are using it advantageously to keep livestock pro-
duction costs down. With dairying as the base, the development of the live-
Stock industry in Manitowoc County is an important key to its agricultural
future,
39