THE COST OF RAISING A DAIRY COW. 23 



The man labor required in raising a heifer is about 40 hours dur- 

 ing the first year and 23 hours the second year. The total cost of 

 man and horse labor for the two years is close to $8. The manure 

 produced during the two years has been valued at $8 ; consequently, 

 the cost of labor is practically offset by the value of the manure. 



The item " Other costs " consists of expenses usually overlooked in 

 estimating costs. These are interest, charge for the use of buildings 

 and equipment, expense for bedding, miscellaneous expenses, a share 

 of the general expenses for the entire farm business, and a charge to 

 cover losses by death and discarding. The total for these forms 

 nearly one-fifth of the total cost of the 2-year-old heifer. 



If the cost of raising a dairy heifer on the Brigham farm is typical 

 throughout the dairy regions, the usual price received for such heifers 

 will not pay the cost of producing them. This is especially true of a 

 heifer sold at 1 year of age. 



These investigations of the cost of producing a dairy heifer seem 

 to indicate that a heifer entering the dairy herd at 2 years of age 

 must be worth at least $60 to cover cost only. It would appear that 

 a farmer can not afford to raise a heifer calf that will not sell for 

 more than $60 at 2 years of age. 



o 



