GROWING SUGAR BEETS IN MICHIGAN AND OHIO. 

 Table XXVII. — Relation of beet acreage to tillable area. 



43 



District. 



Number 

 of farm 

 records. 



Acres per 

 farm. 



Acres per 



farm 

 tillable. 



Acres per 



farm in 



beets. 



Per cent of 

 tillable 

 area in 

 beets. 





134 

 53 

 36 



97 



109.6 

 103. 65 

 126.11 

 134. 75 



82.3 



74.47 



89. 33 



111.96 



15.1 

 9.54 

 6.40 



15.72 



18. 33 





12.81 





7.17 





14.00 







Only 7.17 per cent of the tillable land was planted to beets in the 

 Grand Kapids area, while 18.33 per cent was given over to sugar-beet 

 production at Caro. In the former area there has been a tendency 

 on the part of the farmer to decrease his beet acreage. At one time 

 all the sugar beets contracted by the Holland factory were produced 

 in this locality. Most of the beets for that factory are now shipped 

 in from points in northwestern Michigan and eastern Indiana. The 

 scarcity of farm labor to perform the handwork on this crop is prob- 

 ably responsible for this situation more than any other one factor. 

 In many instances larger acreages could be grown, since the sugar 

 beet has a place in the crop rotation of this section. 



BEET ACREAGE PER FARM AND YIELD PER ACRE IN RELATION 



TO COST. 



It seems reasonable to assume that the man who grows a large 

 acreage of sugar beets can produce them at a lower cost per acre than 

 the man who grows a small acreage. In general this is true, but the 

 variation is small (see Table XXVIII). It is also natural to sup- 

 pose that the larger the yield in tons per acre the greater the cost 

 per acre, since the handling of more beets is involved. 



Table XXVIII. — Acres in beets versus yield per acre as influencing cost of 



production. 





Yield, 8 tons or 

 acre. 



less per 



Yield, 9 to 13 tons per 

 acre. 



Yield, 14 tons and over 

 per acre. 



Acres in sugar beets. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms. 



Cost 

 per 

 acre. 



Cost 

 per 

 ton. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms. 



Cost 

 per 

 acre. 



Cost 

 per 

 ton. 



Num- 

 ber of 

 farms. 



Cost 

 per 

 acre. 



Cost 

 per 

 ton. 



6 or less 



13 

 22 

 24 



$48. 98 

 49.28 

 47.06 



$8.10 

 7.05 

 7.00 



46 

 47 

 51 



$54. 88 

 52.45 

 52.37 



$4.94 

 4.83 

 4.75 



19 

 25 

 23 



$60. 59 

 58.18 

 60.38 



$3.76 



7tol2 



3.92 





3.80 







Comparing the farms in each group on the basis of yield per acre, 

 it was found that in each of the three acreage groups the greater the 

 yield of sugar beets per acre the higher the cost of production per 

 acre. However, the larger the yield per acre the smaller the cost per 

 ton of beets. Where 6 acres of beets or under were grown, it cost 



