THE COST OF RAISING A DAIRY COW. 



21 



FEED PRICES. 



The feed costs given in all the foregoing tables are based on the 

 current monthly feed prices, in order to eliminate any errors that 

 might result from wide fluctuations in prices during a year. How- 

 ever, for purposes of comparison yearly feed prices are shown in 

 Table XIV for the period covered by the records on the different 

 groups presented in the previous tables : 



Table XIV. — Average yearly feed prices per ton at the Brigham farm from 

 Sept. 1, 1908, to Aug. 31, 1912. 



Feeds. 



Whole milk. 

 Skim milk.. 

 Grain: 



Bran 



Shelled corn 



Oats 



Barley and oats. 

 Ground barley. . 



Oil meal 



Mixture 



Roughage: 



Mixed hay 



Alfalfa 



Corn stover 



Silage :... 



Corn fodder (cut green) . 

 Pasture: • 



First year 



Second year 



1908-9 



H30.70 

 4.00 



25.26 

 25.00 



$30.56 

 4.00 



( 22.00 

 \ 22.08 



30.00 

 35.00 



8.00 



'4.66' 



.40 

 .50 



24.90 

 25.00 



25.30 

 41.00 

 39.60 



8.00 

 12.00 



3.88 

 3.97 

 3.69 



.43 



.50 



1910-11 



$32.00 

 4.00 



21.54 

 22.54 



40.00 



8.00 

 12.00 

 4.32 



S29. 26 

 4.00 



10.00 

 15.00 

 4.00 



.50 



. 75 



Average price per head per month. 



The yearly prices are obtained by dividing the total quantity of feed 

 consumed during the year by the total cost. The prices of feeds 

 did not change materially during the four years. However, two 

 slightly different yearly prices must be considered in determining the 

 feed costs shown in Table XIII by any one group of heifers. The 

 hay prices were advanced the last year, and silage was increased when 

 the cost of growing it was found to be not less than $4 per ton. The 

 grain prices represent normal variations. The lower prices for bran 

 were due to purchases in carload lots. The price of pasture was 

 increased to correspond with the rise in the prices of other feeds. 



Considering that feed makes up practically two-thirds of the total 

 cost of growing a heifer (Table XIII), it is apparent that a general 

 increase or decrease in prices would materially affect the total cost. 

 An increase of 10 per cent in the price of feeds would add approxi- 

 mately $1 to the cost of the heifer. This factor alone will cause 

 a wide variation in the cost of growing heifers in different sections 

 of the country, owing to the widely varying prices of the principal 

 farm feeds. 



