UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 641 





OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 



W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



March 4, 1918 



FARM PRACTICE IN THE PRODUCTION OF HAY IN STEUBEN 

 COUNTY, N. Y., AND WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA. 



(A detailed study of the amount of labor required per acre and per ton for each 

 operation, and the machinery charges per acre and per ton.) 



By H. B. McClure, Agriculturist. 



CONTENTS. 



Object and scope 1 



Facts brought out 1 



Description of the areas 2 



Page. 



Labor charges for different operations 4 



Machinery charges 12 



Total cost of producing hay 14 



OBJECT AND SCOPE. 



Since hay is very susceptible to damage by bad weather at harvest 

 time, and often demands attention when other farm work is pressing, 

 the problem of getting haying done with a minimum expenditure of 

 time and labor is of great importance to the hay grower. The object 

 of this bulletin is to present data that may help the farmer in solving 

 this problem. 



The figures on labor and other factors of production given in the 

 following pages were obtained in a study of hay production made 

 in 1915 on 52 farms in Steuben County, N. Y., and on 37 farms in 

 Washington County, Pa. The methods used by hay growers are 

 practically the same for both of these sections, so that results for each 

 operation are comparable. 1 



FACTS BROUGHT OUT. 



The total items of production, including labor, machinery charges, 

 interest on hay land, taxes, and seed, averaged $5 per ton for the 

 New York area and $6.10 for the Pennsylvania area, with an average 

 yield of about one and a half tons per acre. 



1 Acknowledgment is due to Mr. Robert W. Meyer for valuable assistance in the collection of the data 

 discussed in this bulletin. 

 18024°— 18 



