FARM MANAGEMENT IN LENAWEE COUNTY, MICH. 25 



This analysis suggests a very profitable line of improvement for 

 farms of Lenawee County on which dairying is carried on to a greater 

 or less extent. With one-fourth of the dairy farms in this area 

 reporting returns of less than -150 per cow, the importance of keeping 

 individual records for each cow and of eliminating the unprofitable 

 becomes evident. It further suggest the possibilities for increasing 

 the income by breeding up and systematically improving the entire 

 dairy herd. The production per cow is one of the very essential 

 factors in making dairying profitable. 



CROPPING SYSTEMS. 



Another factor of profitable farm management is the choice of a 

 cropping system and the proper distribution of the crop area among 

 the difl^erent crops. As previously stated, and as shown in Table III, 

 on 300 owner and 153 tenant farms, corn occupies an average of 

 29.5 per cent of the total crop area of each farm; oats 17.5 per cent; 

 wheat 14.9 per cent; barley 2 per cent; and hay 31.3 per cent. The 

 tabulation of the data gathered on 300 owner-farms shows that in 

 general on the more profitable of these farms corn occupies from 

 30 to 50 per cent of the total crop area, or an average of about 40 

 per cent; oats 1 to 20, or an average of about 10 per cent; wheat 

 from 10 to 30, or an average of about 20 per cent; barley, roughly, 

 from 1 to 10 per cent, and hay from 20 to 30 per cent. These results 

 are significant. Consider, in the first place, their bearing on the 

 corn crop. 



Since 1880 the corn crop in Lenawee County has more than doubled 

 in acreage. In spite of this and in spite of the fact that it is still in- 

 creasing in acreage, the indications are that corn on the average 

 farm has not yet reached the acreage it might well occupy. There 

 is every indication that on the average farm the acreage of corn 

 should be increased until this crop occupies anywhere from 30 to 

 ■ 50 per cent of the total crop area, according to the needs of the farm 

 for feed, and distance necessary to haul in marketing the surplus 

 of the crop. It is a significant fact in this connection that each 

 year from 75 to 100 cars of corn are distributed to the farms of Len- 

 awee County from Adrian alone. A material increase in the acreage 

 of corn on the average farm seems indicated as one step toward plac- 

 ing these farms on a more profitable basis. 



A further comparison of the figures presented shows that the total 

 crop acreage devoted to oats (17.5 per cent) puts this crop well to- 

 ward the upper limit of the acreage which it should occupy. As a 

 source of cash income, the oat crop is relatively unimportant, but 

 in this section oats are so valuable as a farm feed that it is still very 

 important that a good acreage be devoted to this crop. The oat 

 crop in many instances also is used as a means of getting a stand of 

 clover. 



