FARM LAND VALUES IN IOWA. 27 



with 5 per cent on operating capital and with the rent paid for use 

 of the land. Owners additional are charged 5 per cent on operating 

 capital and land owned by them, and with the rent of land leased. 

 The labor incomes thus obtained are called ' ' operators' labor incomes " 

 to distinguish them from farm labor incomes presented in Table XIII. 

 For purposes of comparison the farm labor incomes of owners, which 

 are also operators' labor incomes, are included. The data for opera- 

 tors' labor incomes are summarized in Table XV. 



The figures for operator's labor income emphasize the relative 

 financial disadvantage under which the farmer must labor in owning 

 the land farmed as compared with renting all or part of it, if as an 

 owner he must charge himself with 5 per cent on the value of the 

 land owned. The disadvantage is even greater when the charge 

 for capital is 5^ per cent. This relative disadvantage is especially 

 great in the Tama district because the percentage of landlord's net 

 rent to value of land is much less than in the Warren district. (See 

 Table XVI.) While owners in the former district were able to earn 

 average labor incomes of $1,166 after deducting 5 per cent on land 

 values of 1918, and minus $148 after deducting 5 per cent on land 

 values of 1919, tenants earned average labor incomes of $3,053 after 

 paying the rent charged. Owners additional earned average labor 

 incomes of $2,129 after deducting rent paid on land leased and 5 per 

 cent on the value in 1918 of the land owned by them. The incomes 

 of this class would have been considerably less if calculated on the 

 1919 value of the land owned by them. 



However, these comparatively large labor incomes in the Tama 

 district — considerably more than double those earned by the corre- 

 sponding classes in 1913 — are based on rents paid in 1918. It is 

 probable that somewhat higher rents prevailed in 1919, for there are 

 indications that rents are increasing. Not only is this conclusion 

 justified by general reports from various sources, but it was verified 

 by a supplementary investigation of the cash rent paid on upwards of 

 100 farms for lease years beginning March 1, 1918, 1919, and 1920. 

 The average cash rent was $7.71 in 1918, $8.31 in 1919, and $10.07 

 in 1920. 



In view of the fact that tenants' average labor income in the Tama 

 district was only 132 per cent higher than in 1913, no large increase 

 in rent could occur in this district without lowering the relative 

 purchasing power of the tenants' labor income; for, as shown above, 

 the purchasing power of the farmer's dollar was probably not more 

 than half as great in 1919 as in 1914. Moreover, 1918 was probably 

 an unusually favorable year in yields and in prices obtained for farm 

 products. 



In the Warren district the operator's labor income of tenants, $819, 

 was even less than the farm labor income for this class, for the net 



