220 FARM MANAGEMENT 



143. Production required for profit. The production 

 required to pay a profit depends on many factors. The 

 cost of the cow, labor, feed, and buildings, and the value 

 of the products are the chief factors. 



With present prices in most of the Northern States, the 

 feed and pasture are usually worth $50 to $75 per cow; 

 the labor varies from $20 to $40 per cow and probably 

 averages about $25. The interest, repairs, taxes, de- 

 preciation, and insurance on the barn in northern regions 

 is usually about $5 per cow. The many other expenses 

 bring the cost up to $80 to $100 per cow for well-managed 

 herds. 



The Wisconsin Experiment Station 1 estimates that one- 

 fourth to one-third of the cows do not even pay for their 

 feed, to say nothing of other expenses. This is at once a 

 strong argument for finding out which these cows are 

 and a striking proof of the narrow margin of profit in the ' 

 dairy business. When one is in a business that shows so 

 low a margin of profit, he must be ever alert or he may find 

 himself working for nothing. The only way that a living 

 can be made from poor cows at present prices is to have 

 the milking done by women and children who are not paid. 

 The cows must be better than the average if they are to 

 pay regular farm wages to the milkers and all other costs. 



In Tompkins County, New York, in 1907, it was found 

 that the products sold must exceed $75 per cow in order 

 to allow the owner to make as good wages as hired-men 

 received. Only those herds from which the products 

 sold for at least $100 per cow resulted in much profit. 2 



On intensive dairy farms in the Northeastern States, 

 it is usually considered that a mature cow should be sold, if 



1 Wisconsin, Bulletin 226, p. 3. 



* New York, Cornell Bulletin 295, p. 485. 



