4 BULLETIN 126, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



due mainly to the heavier soil types at Rocky Ford, which necessitated 

 a greater amount of tillage. 



2. Labor, including man, horse, and contract labor, was the most 

 important charge. It varied from 54.3 per cent to 59.1 per cent of 

 the total cost. 



3. Charges for materials, such as seed, manure, and water, varied 

 from 8.6 per cent to 10.7 per cent of the total cost of production. 



4. Other costs, such as interest on land for owners and land 

 rental for tenants, insurance, taxes, and machinery, made up 32.3 

 per cent to 35 per cent of the total cost of raising this crop. 



5. The total cost of production per acre in 1914 and 1915 was 

 •S72.53 in Greeley, $65 at Fort Morgan, and $64.87 at Rocky Ford. 

 The total receipts per acre, including tops, amounted to $92.44 at 

 Greeley, $81.66 at Fort Morgan, and $67.36 at Rocky Ford. The 

 average yield for the Greeley area was 15.57 tons per acre, for Fort 

 Morgan 13.65 tons, and for Rocky Ford 12.99 tons. 



6. Farm owners produced beets at a lower cost per acre and per 

 ton than tenant operators, with the exception of the Rocky Ford 

 area, where the owners had the higher acre cost and a higher cost 

 per ton. That it was possible for owners in the Greeley area to 

 produce beets at a lower cost than the tenants was due chiefly to the 

 fact that the interest charge on beet land in the owner group in 1914 

 and 1915 was much less than the corresponding rental charge on 

 tenant farms. 



7. Seventy-four per cent of the farmers fed beet tops directly to 

 their own stock, 12 per cent fed a portion and sold the remainder, 

 and 14 per cent sold all tops. The estimated farm value, $3.35 per 

 acre, for beet tops was 28 cents per acre greater than the actual sell- 

 ing value in the districts under observation. 



8. Since the cost of production per ton of sugar beets decreased 

 as the yield increased, any change in the methods of sugar-beet grow- 

 ing which does not violate the principles of good farm management, 

 and which will increase the tonnage per acre without materially 

 increasing the cost of production, should receive the attention of 

 sugar-beet operators in these areas. 



METHOD. 



The tables that are presented in this bulletin were not taken from 

 systematic records kept on farms, but are based upon a large number 

 of detailed reports given by beet growers on the 1914 and 1915 crops. 

 The, results represent the best judgment and experience of men who 

 have been producing this crop for several years. During the year 1914 

 the field records were confined entirely to cost studies. In other 

 words, the schedules, which were filled out by well-trained enumer- 

 ators, contained only the items necessary to the compilation of cost 



