ANNUAL REPORT, 1939 5 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 

 AND FARM MANAGEMENT 



A. H. Lindsey in Charge 



Adjustments in Dairy Farm Organization and Practices in Massachusetts. 



(C. R. Creek and Emil Rauchenstein — in cooperation with the Bureau of 

 Agricultural Economics of the United States Department of Agriculture.) Work 

 on this project during the past year consisted of the preparation of a manuscript 

 on the study which is now being considered by cooperating workers in the Bureau 

 of Agricultural Economics. 



In addition to the previous calculations of net returns on wholesale and retail 

 dairy farms, normal returns were computed for the wholesale group on the basis 

 of normal or average expenses and income for the ten-year period 1926-35. 

 The average labor income per farm was increased for each of the five areas by 

 which the farm records had been classified. In Berkshire County normal receipts 

 were higher and expenses less, which increased net returns by $218. In the 

 Connecticut Valley counties the increase was less — $122 per farm. The increase 

 was greatest in the southeastern area where normal labor income was $298 

 greater per farm and was lowest for the farms in the northeastern area at $64 

 per farm. For individual farms the increase in returns under normal price condi- 

 tions was low for specialized dairy farms and relatively high for farms with a 

 poultry flock; but for those farms with cash crops of potatoes or apples, normal 

 returns were lower than the actual farm income in 1937. 



Combinations of farm enterprises with the dairy business were analyzed and 

 those farms with almost one-fourth of the total receipts from the poultry flock 

 had the lowest returns per farm. A small number of dairy and fruit farms showed 

 the highest incomes; while dairy and cash crop (potatoes, tobacco, or onions) 

 combinations were more profitable than the average of all farms. On those 

 farms with income from poultry, crops, and dairy the net returns were also high 

 with an average labor income of $956 per farm. 



A comparison of all the specialized dairy farms with a similar number of the 

 most diversified farms showed a loss of $18 per farm in labor income for the former 

 and a gain of $802 for those farms with other enterprises than the dairy. The 

 diversified farms were larger in total size of business, more labor was required, 

 and this labor was more efficient than on the strictly dairy farms. 



Budget analyses were made of successful dairy farms for each of the five areas 

 to show items and amounts of receipts, expenses, and capital investment as well 

 as the various factors of size, production, and efficiency. The same analysis was 

 made for each of four types of enterprise combinations with the dairy business. 

 Pasture and hay improvement practices, methods of feeding the dairy herd, crop 

 fertilization practices, and other methods of management were discussed for 

 each farm. 



Enterprise Relationships and Farm Organization on Selected Farms in Massa- 

 chusetts. (C. R. Creek and Carl Bokina.) A study was made of physical inputs 

 and costs of producing set onions on 25 farms in the town of Hatfield for the 

 1938 crop year. The total costs of growing and harvesting an acre of onions 

 averaged $267 on these farms with a total of 126 acres. Less than four acres per 

 farm were grown on 17 farms and only two farms had 15 or more acres. Man 

 labor averaged 509 hours per acre with a range from 371 to 667 hours. Fertilizer 

 was applied at the rate of 2860 pounds per acre, and 29.6 bushels of onion sets 

 were used. Man labor, which included the value of the operator's time and of 

 family labor, accounted for 47.7 percent of all costs, while sets and fertilizer were 

 each 18 percent. 



