FARM-MANAGEMENT STUDY IN ANDERSON CO., S. C. 25 



COMBINATION OP ENTERPRISES SUITABLE FOR THE BELTON AREA. 



CROPS. 



The cost of producing crops is an indication of the type of farming 

 that should be followed. "With costs computed by standard cost- 

 accounting methods, cotton was produced at a profit. Corn and 

 wheat were produced at an apparent loss, but oats and cowpeas 

 were grown at a profit. To understand fully the relation of these 

 costs to the type of farming, however, two things must be borne 

 clearly in mind. One is that if the labor and equipment were not 

 used for the minor crops they would otherwise be idle. In computing 

 these costs, labor and equipment were charged at their full value 

 against the minor crops, but nevertheless it would have been wise 

 to use them in growing these crops even though they earned only a 

 part of their real value, for otherwise they would have earned nothing. 

 For this reason, although the indicated cost of producing corn, when 

 computed by standard cost-accounting methods, is more than the 

 value, it is nevertheless profitable to grow some corn when the farm 

 is considered as a whole. In fact, by growing the minor crops, even 

 though they do not give a full return for the labor and equipment, 

 it is possible to grow the major crop at a lower cost than otherwise, 

 for in this way the charges against it for these items are reduced. 

 If, however, the major crop can not make up for the lower return on 

 the minor crop, the system of farming will become unprofitable. 



The second point in regard to type to be considered is that a crop 

 may be produced profitably for home consumption, but when sold 

 in the markets of the world it may be unprofitable. The reason for 

 this is that as long as crops are produced for home consumption they 

 have a value equal to the retail price, but when any more than this 

 is grown the value of the surplus immediately falls to the wholesale 

 price, except for a limited amount that may be retailed locally. This 

 may be illustrated by oats, winch were produced in the Belton area 

 at a cost of 43.3 cents per bushel. Oats shipped into Belton come 

 from the Middle West, and there are dealer's, elevator, sacking, and 

 freight charges attached to the prices received by the grower. As 

 tins is written there is a difference of 20 cents per bushel in the whole- 

 sale price of oats at Champaign, 111., and Columbia, S. C, the price 

 at the former place being 38 cents and at the latter 58 cents. By the 

 time the oats pass through the local dealer's hands at Belton and reach 

 the farmer at a retail figure the price is 65 cents per bushel. So long 

 as the farmer in the Belton area can grow oats for 43.3 cents per 

 bushel it is cheaper for him to produce the oats needed for his farm 

 than it is to buy them, and he can even to a limited extent compete 

 in the local market with the middle western grower. But when he 

 sells outside the local market and has to pay dealer's, bagging, and 

 shipping charges, or when he produces so much oats that the straw 



