GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN COLORADO. 3 



Field practice and related costs are controlled by several factors, 

 some of the more important of which are: (1) season or climatic 

 conditions; (2) soil type; (3) manurial practice; (4) methods of pre- 

 paring the seed bed; (5) intertillage of the crop; (6) irrigation; (7) 

 distance from market; (8) the efficiency of man and horse labor; 

 and (9) crop yield. 



By comparing the methods of field treatment in the Arkansas 

 Valley with the methods that prevail in the Greeley area, it is found 

 that in Otero County it is a common practice to irrigate land imme- 

 diately after planting, while in Weld County the rainfall is usually 

 sufficient to germinate the seed promptly, so that early spring 

 irrigation is omitted. Season or climatic conditions in this particular 

 case impose additional work upon the operator who is producing 

 beets in the Arkansas Valley. Again, the soil type influences the 

 amount of work required to bring the land into first-class condition 

 for seeding. A heavy clay soil is much more difficult to handle than 

 a type like the Colorado sandy loam, and additional field work means 

 an increased cost. The same feature may be illustrated in methods 

 of fertilizing the soil, or in the preparation of the seed bed, or in the 

 cultivation of the crop. Investigations in other areas have empha- 

 sized the fact that the crop yields have a very important bearing 

 upon cost. 



Thus it will be seen that there is necessarily considerable variation 

 in the practice of growing sugar beets, and this, in turn, enters into 

 cost of production. A figure that may be applied to a given farm in 

 a typical beet area may not be applicable to the adjoining farm. 

 Likewise, a district average may be higher or lower than the cost of 

 growing this crop in an adjacent district or in a bordering State. It 

 is certain that a cost figure can not be used which will answer for the 

 country as a whole. The best that can be accomplished in making 

 these calculations will be found in a discussion of figures that can be 

 used in a relative way. Having full information concerning the 

 practice under which these costs were ascertained, the grower will 

 be able to see wherein his methods coincide and wherein they differ 

 from the record which has been compiled. By weighing each opera- 

 tion carefully, it will be possible for him to reach an estimate which 

 should cover the requirements of his farm. 



SUMMARY. 



1. A review of the farm practice outlined in this study shows that 

 the acre costs for all tillage operations for sugar beets performed by 

 the operators, with the exception of plowing, rolling beets, irrigating, 

 hoeing, and topping, were lower for the farms studied in the Greeley 

 and Fort Morgan areas than for those at Rocky Ford. This was 



