June, 1940] Farm Management in Colebrook 15 



Eleven of the operators used over 1.5 man hours per ton of ma- 

 nure which is not an efficient operation. 



The Farm as a Factor in Production 



Labor, grain, and roughage are commonly considered to be the 

 chief inputs entering into milk production. This breakdown of fac- 

 tors represents a snnple procedure in studying certain phases of 

 dairy management. However, in a specialized dairy region where 

 most of the crop area is devoted to roughage production and where 

 the dairy cow has no near competitor for the hay, there is something 

 to be gained in the operator's appreciation of his management prob- 

 lem if the breakdown of production factors is made on the basis 

 of the farm, the operator's labor, purchased grain, etc. 



Thus the production of roughage is included as part of the pro- 

 cedure in producing milk. These factors, hay production and milk 

 production, can, in fact, be separated only on the basis of arbitrary 

 allocations. The yields of hay in New England, for instance, are very 

 dependent on the dairy. With the feeding of purchased grain, the 

 intelligent handling of manure, and the aggressive management of 

 soils, the land can be maintained in high-yielding capacity. The 

 value of the manure and the hay in turn is dependent somewhat on 

 the value of milk. 



On the average, the tillage land supported livestock at the rate 

 of .37 cows per acre, including young stock, and .55 animal units 

 per acre. But on individual farms tillage land varies widely in its 

 carrying capacity.* The number of cows varied from .18 to .76 

 per acre and the animal units from .29 to 1.27 per acre. This ratio 

 of livestock to tillage land is an important factor in dairy farm man- 

 agement from several angles. 



The amount of livestock determines the total amount of manure 

 available and the most economic use of this available manure is an 

 important problem which progressively changes with low to high 

 stock-tillage ratios. Under conditions existing in New Hampshire, 

 the amount of manure available over a period of years largely de- 

 termines the extent of the agricultural activities. In some instances 

 the man with a large tillage acreage and little livestock fully oper- 

 ates part of his farm and half operates the rest, the yields of hay 

 being so low on the latter part that he sometimes doubts the value 

 of harvesting hay at all. 



On the other hand a few operators with limited tillage land have 

 gradually built up yields to the point where the manure available 

 could be used more effectiveh^ if more land were available. 



Some of the tillage land was devoted to potato and grain produc- 

 tion and the numbers of livestock supported by acres of roughage 

 were somewhat greater. On an average, .4 cows or including young- 

 stock .6 animal units were supported per acre of tillage in hay or 

 silage. On nine farms less than .5 animal units and on six farms 

 more than .8 animal units were carried per acre. If the 18 farms 

 with less than .4 cows per acre of roughage could he brought up to 



*A few farmers purchased a limited amount of hay. 



