UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 919 



Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 

 JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 



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Washington, D. C. 



December 10, 1920 



UNIT REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING MILK 

 IN WESTERN WASHINGTON. 



By J. B. Bain, Dairy Husbandman, and G. E. Bratjn, Market Milk Specialist, 



Dairy Division. 



contents. 



Page. 



Character and scope of the work 1 



Methods used in obtaining the 



data 2 



Comparison of winter and 



summer results 3 



Description of herds 3 



Requirements for producing 100 



pounds of milk 4 



Requirements for keeping a cow 



one year 6 



Credit for manure 7 



Credits for calves , 9 



Requirements for keeping a bull 9 



Page. 

 Factors involved in production of 



milk 10 



Feed 10 



Pasture 11 



Labor 12 



Other costs 13 



Per cent comparison of factors in- 

 volved in milk production 15 



Average compared with " bulk-line " 



costs 16 



Monthly distribution of factors in 



milk production 17 



Summary 19 



CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. 



What does it cost to produce milk? This is a question which has 

 brought increasing concern to each dairyman as the cost of feed has 

 increased and hired men are being attracted to other industries pay- 

 ing higher wages. The United States Department of Agriculture, 

 through the Dairy Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, began 

 a series of studies in 1915 intended to give the dairymen of the United 

 States information on the cost of producing milk. These studies 

 were made in different sections of the United States. The project 

 with which this bulletin deals was organized in August, 1917, in 

 Skagit County, Wash., about 70 miles north of Seattle. 



Other objects of these studies were to separate and analyze various 

 factors to obtain data which would aid in improving general milk- 

 production methods. 



The climate and fertility of the soil in this section produce excep- 

 tionally good pasturage throughout the larger part of the year. 

 The many herds of black and white cattle grazing over the large ex- 



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