UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



I BULLETIN No. 955 



Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 

 JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 



jj^^*<?^ 



Washington, D. C. 



May 16, 1921 



UNIT REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING MARKET MILK IN 

 SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA.^ 



By J. B. Bain, Dairy Husbandman, G. E. Braun, Market Milk Specialist, and W. D. 

 Wood, Assistant Market Milk Specialist, Dairy Division. 



CONTENTS. 



Character and scope of the work 1 



Methods of obtaining data 2 



Requirements for producing 100 pounds of 



milk 3 



Description of the herds 4 



Requirements for keeping a cow one year 4 



Credits for manure and calves 4 



Requirements for keeping a bull 7 



Factors involved in the production of milk. . . 7 



Feeds 7 



Factors involved in the production of milk- 

 Continued. 



Pasture 8 



Labor 8 



Other costs 9 



Percentage comparison of factors involved ... 10 

 Average costs compared with bulk-Une costs. 11 

 Monthly distribution of factors in TnilTr pro- 

 duction 13 



Summary 14 



CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. 



How many pounds of grain, hay, and silage and how many hom's 

 of labor does it take to produce 100 pounds of milk in the different 

 dairy sections of the United States? How much does it cost for 

 buildings, equipment, and the general expenses of the dairy? The 

 answers to these questions should be of interest and value to dairy- 

 men throughout the country. In 1915 the Bm-eau of Animal Indus- 

 try, United States Department of Agi-iculture, began a series of 

 studies on groups of dairy farms in different sections of the United 

 States to obtain accurate information along these lines. The first 

 step taken was to develop a system whereby the actual cost of pro- 

 ducing milk could be obtained month by month on practical dair}' 

 farms in market milk centers of the United States. 



Investigations have been completed and the results published for 

 northwestern Indiana (Department Bulletin 85S), North Carolina,^ 



1 The data in this bulletin apply especially to milk shipped from this section to the New Orleans 

 market. 



2 A bulletin on this investigat ion was published by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. 



40557°— 21— Bull. 955 



