52 



BULLETIN 1000, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Example 2. — Cost of producing clover hay in New YOrlc, 1921. 

 [See Table 30.] 



Item. 



Man labor hours. 



Horse labor hours. 



Seed pounds. 





Esti- 



Amount. 



mated 





rate. 



8.9 



SO. 30 



9.9 



.20 



10.1 



a. 53 



Cost. 



§2.67 

 1.98 

 2.67 



Total cost of labor and material (80 per cent of operating expense) $7. 32 



Total r operating expense (100 per cent) b ; 9. 15 



Interest on land ($84 at 5 per cent) c 4. 20 



Total cost of producing 1 acre 13.35 



Average yield per acre tons. . 1. 96 



Average cost per ton $6. 80 



a If seed is estimated at $32 per bushel the total cost of seed per acre is $5.35, which must be prorated 

 over the number of years that the land is expected to remain in hay. In this illustration it was assumed 

 that the field would be left two years (35.35h-2=$2.67). It was also assumed that the seed was sown with 

 a nurse crop, so there was no labor nor machine charge for sowing. Cm farms where the sowing of the 

 grass seed is a separate operation, the cost of such labor must be added to the cost of the seed. Thus, 

 1 man hour and 2 horse hours for sowing would make a cost of 65 cents per acre, to which may be added 

 15 cents for the seeder, thus giving a grand total of 80 cents for sowing. This, added to the cost of seed, 

 would increase the seed charge from $5.35 to $6.15 per acre ($6. 15-^2= $3. 07 per year). 



b $7.32-f-80X100= 89.15, or total operating expense. 



c See Table 42 on present land values. 



Example 3. — Cost of producing potatoes, Barron County, Wis., 1920. 

 [See Table 8.) 



Item. 



Amount 

 per acre. 



Esti- 

 mated 

 rate. 



Cost 

 per acre. 



Man labor hours. . 



Horse labor hours.. 



Manure tons. . 



Seed bushels. . 



92.7 



100.3 



7.1 



11.6 



$0.40 



.20 



2.00 



3.75 



$37. 08 

 20.06 

 14.20 

 43.50 



.1.6 per cent of operating expense $114. 



Total operating expense 142. 48 



Interest on land (6 per cent on $179) : 10. 74 



Total cost per acre 153. 22 



Total cost per bushel (90 bushels) 1 . 70 



Note.— In this example 1920 rates and values were applied to the basic quantity requirements found 

 in the 1919 study for the Barron County area. The man labor rate increased approximately 20 per cent 

 and cost of seed potatoes 300 per cent over 1919. The high price of seed accounts for the high cost per 

 bushel of yield. Figuring labor, fertilizer, and seed together at prevailing rates for any year, the result 

 will be approximately 80 per cent of the total operating expense per acre (not including land rent). This 

 percentage will fluctuate slightly from year to year, as the rates for one or more of these factors increase 

 or decrease more rapidly than the others. It may, however, be taken as a fair approximation. A few 

 farmers in Barron County applied commercial fertilizer to the potato crop. When this charge was pro- 

 rated to allfarms, it amounted to a cost of 14 cents per acre. This amount has not been added in preparing 

 the potato example. On farms where fertilizer is applied this item should be included in computing the 

 operating expense per acre. 



