COST OF GROWING OAT8 199 



241. Prices. The price of oats per bushel depends on the 

 supply not only of this crop but of other grains, and on the 

 local demand. The mean price of oats on the farm on 

 December 1st for the ten years from 1902 to 1911, for the 

 entire United States, was 36.8 cents per bushel, ranging from 

 29.1 cents in 1905 to 47.2 cents in 1908. The highest 

 average price is to be found in the Pacific and Rocky Moun- 

 tain states, from 45 to 75 cents a bushel. In New England 

 and the South the price is but little lower, while in the upper 

 Mississippi Valley where the bulk of the crop is raised, the 

 average price in recent years has been from 30 to 40 cents. 



The value of an acre of oats depends naturally on the 

 yield and the value per bushel. The highest values are 

 found in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific states, where high 

 yield and high price are combined; but as most of this grain 

 is grown under irrigation, the cost of production is also high. 

 High values are also prevalent in New England. In the 

 South, the high price makes up in part for the low yield, so 

 that the acre value is about as high as the average for the 

 entire country. The lowest acre values are found in the 

 states of largest production, where medium yields are com- 

 bined with low price per bushel. The average value per 

 acre for the entire United States for the ten years from 1902 

 to 1911 was about $10.66. The value in the New England, 

 Rocky Mountain, and Pacific states ranged from $18 to $30, 

 while in Iowa, Nebraska, and some of the adjoining states 

 the acre value was around $8 or $10. 



242. Cost of Production. The most definite figures on 

 the cost of producing an acre or a bushel of oats are those 

 collected by the Bureau of Statistics and the Minnesota 

 Experiment Station. These figures showed a cost of from 

 $7 to $10 an acre, or from 23 to 31 cents a bushel. In Illinois, 

 the cost of production of the average crop of oats is estimated 



