Adjustments in the Organization of 

 Machinery and Equipment 



G. E. Frick, S. B. Weeks, and I. F. Fellows* 

 Introduction 



The trend toward greater substitution of machines for labor to increase 

 output per man and decrease costs of operation has proceeded rapidly on 

 New England dairy farms since the end of World War II. The increase in 

 mechanization raises several problems on these farms. The increasingly largej 

 investment in machinery and equipment means correspondingly high annual 

 costs of ownership of the machinery and equipment for established dairymen. 

 The large capital outlay necessary for the purchase of farm machines is 

 often an important barrier to young people who are interested in starting 

 dairy farming. 



Both the increase in numbers of machines and the general rise in prices 

 have increased the value of the machinery on farms. If the equipment on 28 

 Connecticut farms which were a part of the sample for this study had been 

 bought new at 1949 prices, the investment would have averaged S10,600 per 

 farm, or about $380 per cow. Investment in machinery would equal invest- 

 ment in livestock and it would be about half the investment in land and 

 buildings. 



One aspect of the mechanization of dairy farms is the duplication of 

 machines from farm to farm and the small annual use of each machine. 

 Many specialized machines are used for only a few hours in a year. 



A tractor-drawn corn planter, for example, costing about $225 with 

 an annual ownership cost of $35 per year, may be used only three or four 

 hours in a year. A baler involves a capital outlay of as much as $2,400 and 

 has an annual ownership cost of about $580, yet it may be used no more 

 than 50 hours in any one year. 



Objectives 



This study has three objectives: 



1. To learn the amount of work done on New England dairy farms 

 with machines in performing field operations, the custom services that are 

 available to farmers for hire, the performance rates of both owned and hired 

 machines, and the charges for different types of custom work. 



2. To outline a method of deciding upon the optimum economic or- 

 ganization of machinery for a dairy farm. 



*Mr. Frick is Agricultural Economist, Production Economics Research Branch, 

 Agricultural Research Service, U.S.D.A., stationed at the University of New Hampshire; 

 Mr. Weeks was formerly Agricultural Economist, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 

 U.S.D.A., stationed at the University of Connecticut; Mr. Fellows is Associate Pro- 

 fessor of Agricultural Econoiaics, University of Connecticut. 



