588 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



The yield of corn per acre and the tenant's labor income are the 

 largest on stock-share rented farms. The 300 records used in this study 

 are for the crop year 1915, when crop prices were relatively high com- 

 pared to live stock prices. The grain-rent landlords who sold half of 

 their crops received a higher rate on their investment than other land- 

 lords. No account has been taken of the difference in the amount of fer- 

 tility lost by selling crops compared to feeding them. Studies made in 

 Iowa since 1910 show that live stock farming generally pays the highest 

 present returns and insures the highest future returns by maintaining 

 crop yields. Labor and equipment are more fully utilized on live stock 

 farms and a better grade of hired help is usually obtained when employ- 

 ment can be given throughout the year. 



Many young men who are struggling along with inadequate capital 

 and inexperience in buying and selling farm products should change either 

 from grain or cash rent to the stock-share method. There are many 

 capable landlords who have rented their farms for grain or cash rent 

 who have nothing to do in town. If they would change to the stock-share 

 plan, they would find profitable and pleasurable employment in helping 

 to manage their farm business. 



It is proper that the younger man should assume the responsibility 

 of raising and feeding the crops. This leaves the landlord free to take 

 care of the marketing end. By co-operating with the tenant, the landlord 

 will forget his grouch and will be a far better citizen in promoting the 

 interest of the town as well as the country. 



STATE FARM CREDIT. 



Iowa has an exceptional opportunity of furnishing adequate farm 

 credit. An Iowa farm loan bank can furnish this need better than any 

 credit institution which is making loans within the state. Iowa is rightly 

 called "the paradise of the farm loan business." With 96 per cent of the 

 area of the state in farms and 86 per cent of the farm land improved the 

 volume of business is tremendous. 



Farm credit should be easily obtained at low interest rates. The 

 average size of the Iowa farm is about 160 acres and the market price 

 is $250 per acre or more. This gives a total valuation of $40,000 per farm. 

 It requires little more expense to a loan company to make a $30,000 loan 

 than a $1,000 loan. The larger the average loan the lower the cost of 

 handling each unit of business. 



The risk of foreclosure is less in Iowa than in other states. Soil, 

 climate and market facilities require diversified farming to obtain the 

 largest net returns from farming. The average Iowa farmer has three 

 or more sources of income and a complete failure is unknown. 



The Federal Land Bank of Omaha does a loan business in the eighth 

 district, which comprises Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. 

 All receipts and expenses in the four states determine the rate that is 

 charged in each state. The wheat farmer in western Nebraska or Wyo- 

 ming gets a farm loan at the same rate as an Iowa farmer. A Wyoming 

 farmer with less than twenty inches of rainfall may live twenty-five miles 



