132 Missouri AgricuUural lleport. 



COST OF GROWING ONE ACRE. 



For plowing, including previous preparation. 



Preparing the land after plowing 



For seed , improved quality 



For plantins: 



For cultivating 



For liarvestint,', the grain only 



For cash rental 



Average cost per acre 



$12 26J 



As will be seen from this table, the cost of producing one acre of 

 corn in Missouri, according to these estimates, is $12.26, which, at the 

 present price of corn equals the value of 20 bushels. In other words, it 

 requires 20 bushels of corn to pay the cost of production and the rent 

 of the land, even at the present high prices. Now, the average yield 

 of corn in the United States for the last decade (1900-1909) has been 

 27.5 bushels, which means that the average net return from an acre of 

 corn when the country as a whole is considered, is $4.50, if we allow 

 a valuation of 60 cents on the bushel and the cost of production, to stand 

 at $12.26. This, of course, means that at least one-half of the farmers 

 of the comitry have been producing less than 27.5 bushels, and a large 

 per cent, of them less than 20 bushels per acre. It is true that the 

 cash rental in the estimate is figured high, when the country as a whole 

 is considered, but it must also be remembered that the present price of 

 corn is also high. If we figure the average price of corn for the last 

 10 years, we will find that it required 25.8 bushels to pay for the cost 

 of production, so that we cannot escape the conclusions that a great 

 number of farmers are growing corn at an actual loss. 



The average yield of corn in INIissouri for this same period hcis 

 been 28.6 bushels, thus giving an average excess over the 20 bushels 

 figured as necessary to pay the cost of production of 8.6 bushels, worth 

 at the average price for the period, $3.83. It must be remembered, too, 

 that in this estimate no account is taken of the loss of fertilization to 

 the soil resulting from this corn cropping, which must be given careful 

 consideration if our lands are to remain permanently fertile. 



It might seem at first thought that the remedy for this condition 

 would be a decrease in the cost of production, but it must be re- 

 membered that with our modern tools corn is being produced today 

 cheaper than ever before, and there is little hope of greatly decreasing 

 this cost. There remains but one solution, and that is, that the acre 

 yield must be increased, and to do this, the cost of production must be 

 increased rather than decreased. We must spend more time in soil 



