48 BULLETIN 726, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Insurance and taxes. — Each operator gave a report on the insurance 

 and taxes paid during the year. These expenses were apportioned to 

 the different enterprises of the farm and the amount to be assigned 

 to sugar beets was determined. The insurance and taxes paid by 

 tenant farmers in 1914 and 1915 were only personal taxes and were 

 relatively small in comparison with the amount paid by owners or 

 owners renting additional land, who had a land tax to pay in addition 

 to personal property tax. A group of farms including a large number 

 of tenants would show therefore a comparatively small charge under 

 the heading "Insurance and taxes," but the proportion included 

 with rent would balance up this apparent deficiency. The Greeley 

 and Rocky Ford groups were almost equally divided between owner 

 and tenant farms, while the Fort Morgan district gave only 42 per 

 cent of straight tenant operators. This explains the slight difference 

 in the amounts given for insurance and taxes in the three districts. 



Interest and rent. — The investment of a given amount of capital in 

 land should bring a definite return each year. When money is 

 borrowed and farm land secures this loan, interest must be paid. If 

 money is worth 7 per cent and land is valued at $200 per acre, then 

 the crop which is grown upon that soil should be charged with $14 

 as interest. 



In each of these districts estimates showing the value of farm 

 land were secured and used in figuring the interest charge. Land 

 rental was computed from the amounts received by the landlord in 

 1914 and 1915 as a direct cash payment or indirectly through the 

 sale of sugar-beets. The Greeley group had the highest interest and 

 rental cost per acre ($21.21). The Fort Morgan and Rocky Ford 

 operators had an average interest and rental cost approximating 

 $17 per acre. 



Some cash is required to meet the operating expenses of the farm 

 during the growing season. A part of the total cost of the contract 

 labor must be paid when the bunching and hoeing are completed. 

 Money for this purpose is frequently provided by the sugar company, 

 but principal and interest must be met when the crop is harvested. 

 The interest on this loan was included along with interest and rent. 



Machinery. — These costs not only involve interest on the origi- 

 nal investment in machinery, but also embrace depreciation and 

 annual repairs. There are a few implements, such as the beet drill, 

 topping knives, and the lifter, that are used exclusively on sugar beets. 

 Other equipment, like the plow, harrow, disk, leveler, cultivator, 

 wagons, etc., may be used for several crops, hence the costs that are in- 

 volved must be apportioned according to the relative importance of 

 the enterprises. This expense stands second in this group of costs. 

 In the Greeley and Rocky Ford sections the machinery costs per acre 

 were practically identical. The sugar beet is by far the most impor- 



