Vehicles, Machinery and Energy 



In 1975-79, the real cost of vehicles, trucks, cars, tractors, and farm 

 implements increased. Even though the real price of tractors rose about 50%, 

 farmers have increased their use of tractors and other implements. The number 

 of tractors increased by 46% and trucks by 26%. Farmers have increased the 

 use of these inputs because they have substituted them for labor or land. As 

 machinery has become more efficient, it has allowed the farmer to lower his 

 use of land and labor, and because it is more productive, its cost per unit of 

 output is declining. 



Real fuel and energy prices also have increased substantially. The cur- 

 rent price paid for diesel fuel rose from 10.2 cents per liter in 1975 to 25.3 

 cents per litter in 1979. In real prices, this was an increase from 6.9 cents 

 to 8.6 cents per liter. Gasoline price increases were similar to that for 

 diesel fuel. 



Wages 



The wages of farm labor in 1975-79 increased about 38%. When this is 

 broken down into categories, "piece rate" workers received the largest in- 

 crease (45%). Farmers have not decreased the use of labor overall because the 

 high value of land has lead them to substitute labor and capital for land in 

 the production of agricultural products. 



To increase profits, most farmers will continue to adjust their use of 

 inputs as their relative prices change up to the point of technical feasibil- 

 ity. Farmers also will continue to increase input until the cost of an addi- 

 tional unit of input equals the revenue from the sale of an additional unit of 

 output. Most farmers will increase the use of fertilizers as long as the cost 

 is less than the additional revenue. 



AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES 



Northwest Florida accounts for little more than 2% of the State's total 

 cash receipts from farm products, but it accounts for a substantial portion 

 (14.6%) of the State's timber sales. Crops (i.e., vegetables, fruits and 

 field crops) accounted for 49.5% of Northwest Florida's total agricultural and 

 forest sales in 1978 and 1.4% of the State's total crop sales. Livestock and 

 poultry products accounted for 35.4% of the region's total agricultural and 

 forest sales, and 2.6% of the State's livestock sales. Timber accounted for 

 13.9% of the region's sales and 14.6%of the State's timber sales. Northwest 

 Florida is a major producer of soybeans, poultry and field crops such as 

 peanuts, wheat, corn, and cotton. Santa Rosa County alone produced 84% (3,197 

 bales) of the State's cotton crop. The counties ranked in order of the value 

 of production are Walton, Santa Rosa, Escambia, Okaloosa, Gulf, and Bay. 

 There are no data for Franlkin County. The value of the primary agriculture 

 and forestry products for the region are given in Table 13. The following 

 section is a detailed discussion of Northwest Florida farm commodities. 



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