XIII Application of Study to Typical Farms 



The data for this study have been 

 obtained mostly on dairy farms with 

 30 to 60 cows. Much of the analysis 

 has been pointed toward the manage- 

 ment of a large herd. How can the 

 results be related realistically and 

 economically to the dairy farms of the 

 state when only 14 per cent of the 

 commercial dairy farms have over 

 20 cows and only a limited number 

 carry as many as 40 cows? The an- 

 swer is that this study has been di- 

 rected as much toward the small op- 

 erator, who is, or vdll be, expanding 

 his herd, as toward the operators of 

 large farms. The dairy industry in 

 New Hampshire is going through a 

 transition period in which operations 

 on many small farms must either be 

 expanded or discontinued. Due to 

 rough topography and small irregu- 

 lar fields, modern field equipment can- 

 not be used advantageously on some 

 farms. Operators are so greatly 

 handicapped in production that the 

 financial returns are inadequate. The 

 dairy enterprise will probably be 

 abandoned on such farms in the next 

 10 years. Expansion to a greater 

 herd size on such farms would require 

 additional labor. This is not prac- 

 tical under the conditions where out- 

 put per man is, and would continue 

 to be, very small. 



Trend Toward Larger Farms 



On the other hand, the trend on 

 aggressively operated good farms is 

 toward 30 to 50 cows. Many of the 

 farms now carrying small herds can 

 be reorganized to produce economical- 

 ly sufficient roughage for 30 to 40 

 cows. This can be accomplished by 

 more intensive land management, by 

 the addition of tillage land by pur- 

 chase or lease, or by clearing new 

 fields. Thus many operators have or 

 can eventually obtain the potential 



land resources for the development 

 of a 30- to 40-cow enterprise. 



Some of these already have ac- 

 quired expensive field equipment ade- 

 quate for the production of roughage 

 for 40 cows. Often this equipment 

 cannot be used economically until 

 roughage production has been in- 

 creased. These operators have had 

 the personal experience of owning 

 and operating equipment which is 

 sufficiently efficient in output per hour 

 to accomplish all the field work in a 

 few weeks' operation per year. With 

 both machines and manpower under- 

 employed, the operators have a bet- 

 ter understanding of their potential 

 opportunities. As a result they are 

 exploring ways and means of expan- 

 sion. This study is especially di- 

 rected to these operators who are or 

 will be expanding their herds. The 

 contents of this bulletin may aid 

 them in realizing that one man can 

 care for a large number of cows, if 

 the barn facilities are adequate and 

 if the operator adopts good practices. 



The possible application of these 

 data to several farm situations is dis- 

 cussed briefly in the next few para- 

 graphs. Each situation is typical of 

 a group of farms. 



The Small Farm 



It is recognized that the adoption 

 of better chore practices as suggested 

 in this bulletin will have very little 

 financial benefit to the small farmer 

 who for one reason or another con- 

 tinues to have only a few cows. Effi- 

 cient chore practices can benefit such 

 a farmer financially only if he is or 

 will be interested in developing a good 

 dairy unit. 



The Potentially Good Dairy Farm 



This typical farm contains 40 acres 

 of good tillage, 30 acres of pasture, 



68 



