UNITED STATES Le maa OF AGRICULTURE 
. Contribution from the Bureau of Crop Estimates 
AN aw i LEON M. ESTABROOK, Chief 
Washington, D.C. Vv March 19, 1919 
GEOGRAPHICAL PHASES OF FARM PRICES: 
OATS. 
By L. B. Zaroueon, formerly of the Division of Crop. Records. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page. | 
PRMICORNSNS soe os cece sete gse me's sate obss 2 | Receipts, shipments, and consumption of ; 
Survey of regional differences in farm prices chiefimarketss yp Meee ee accesecekcseisaucaece 10 
GROAiSam a fee one an eta d ces coke eas eee 2p Price;zonesiflexd bless sas snc. pee ae etek eet 11 
Price levels and trade routes........-------- 2 | Sectional price ratios changing with economic 
Disposition of United States oat crop.-...--- 4 ErATIS TORN AGT OU S ae eee pea ee ee iil 
Local variation in uses of oats......--------: 5 | Retrospective view, 1871 to 1915......-...-.- 11 
Production, consumption, and marketings, Trend of yields to the acre........-----.-..- 13 
BY Obabes ard SCCLLONS =. = --2)2-5--- 5-255 6 | Trend of values to the acre..............-... IS 5 
HOCH PMGE TACLOIS2< 102.1274 =1- lone 3 oe eee 6 | Sectional changes in production of oats...-... 13 
ISGIAREM ATCAS (op apres oan Sak legen cece ceed 8 | Price vs. cost of production................. 13 
Local variations in demand ......--.-..-..-- 8 | Appendix: Average farm prices of oats, by 
Costs of hauling to shipping points ..-........ 9 counties, 1910-1914......2-.-------2---2-.. 21 
(O74 TE 5 6d a 10 
INTRODUCTION. 
The price a farmer gets for his products varies greatly according 
to the section of the country in which he is situated. For some 
crops—the staples even—twice as high a price level frequently pre- 
vails in one part of the United States as in another. 
The charting of geographic variations in farm or producers’ prices 
has possibilities of practical usefulness. General price levels of most 
agricultural products fluctuate constantly, of course; but as between 
two sections the difference in the farmers’ price of a product remains 
approximately the same. This price advantage or disadvantage 
differs with each product, so that a region of high prices for one may 
have low prices for another. 
In this bulletin a survey is made of the sectional differences 
throughout the United States in the producers’ prices of oats. Some 
consideration is also given to the influence of producing areas, 
trade routes and consuming centers upon such variations, and to 
local factors which qualify price advantage—factors such as relative 
yields in bushels to the acre and costs of production. 
89781°—19—Bull. 755——1 
