200 FIELD CROPS 



at 35 cents a bushel. A general investigation of this subject 

 was reported by the Bureau of Statistics in the Crop Reporter 

 for June, 1911, where estimates of some five thousand corre- 

 spondents in all parts of the country on the cost of producing 

 oats in the year 1909 are tabulated. The average of all 

 reports showed a cost of $10.91 an acre, or 31 cents a bushel. 

 The average farm value of the crop that year was placed at 

 $14.08 an acre, or 40 cents a bushel. The items included in 

 the cost totals were commercial fertilizers, preparation of the 

 land, seed, planting, harvesting, preparation for marketing, 

 land rental or interest on land values, and miscellaneous 

 items of expense. The largest single item was rent, averag- 

 ing $3.78 an acre; then followed preparation of the land, 

 $1.88; preparing for market (thrashing, grading, etc.), $1.51; 

 harvesting, $1.34; and seed, $1.12. The average net return 

 from the grain was $3.17 an acre, to which should be added 

 the value of the by-products, $1.42, making an average total 

 profit of $4.59 an acre. 



The cost per bushel in the five states of greatest produc- 

 tion was: in Iowa, 29 cents; Illinois, 30 cents; Wisconsin, 31 

 cents; Minnesota, 28 cents; and Nebraska, 30 cents. These 

 figures show a margin of from 5 to 11 cents net profit when 

 compared with the farm prices for the same year. When 

 the value of the by-products is added, the net return per 

 acre was $3.34 in Iowa; in Illinois, $3.79; Wisconsin, $6.24; 

 Minnesota, $3.93; and Nebraska, $2.09. The highest cost 

 of production recorded was for Maine, $20.64 per acre, 

 with a net return including the value of the by-products of 

 $6.52; the lowest cost was for North Dakota, $8.71, with a 

 net return of $3.47. The highest net return for any state 

 was for New Hampshire, $16.57 an acre, and the lowest, for 

 Nebraska, $2.09. 



