COST OF PRODUCIjSTG SUGAR BEETS IIST UTAH AND IDAHO. 3 



has worked in cooperation with the Office of Sugar-Plant Investiga- 

 tions, Bureau of Plant Industry.' 



In working out the cost figures in this bulletin, man labor was 

 calculated by using an average rate per hour, based upon actual 

 wages paid in 1918 and 1919. To place all records on the same 

 basis, compensation for supervision of the farm business was omitted. 

 The work of each operator was charged against the crop just as if 

 some person had been hired to do each task. Likewise, the horse- 

 labor cost was computed on the basis of the average price paid by 

 farmers for this labor in the respective districts. If it is desired to 

 bring the cost figures down to date, the hours of man labor and horse 

 labor can be multiplied by prevailing rates. Similarly, changes can 

 be made where increases or decreases have occurred in the cost of 

 materials, supplies, rent of land, or other costs. 



OBTAINING THE DATA. 



The survey method was used. A special schedule was prepared 

 and the blanks were filled out by well-trained enume'rators, who 

 visited the beet growers and obtained conservative estimates as to 

 the methods and costs involved in growing the crop of the preceding 

 year. Detailed records were obtained on the size of the crew and 

 the normal time required in performing the various operations. 

 Each gi'ower was questioned systematically with reference to the 

 successive steps that were taken in growing and harvesting the 

 crop. Very few men keep systematic accounts of the daily work 

 performed on each field or in connection with business transactions 



' Some preliminary observations were made in these areas during the years 1910. 1911, and 1912. The 

 work at that time dealt almost entirely with farm practice, although some attention was given to certain 

 special problems of farm management. Cultural information was sought with a view to offering sugges- 

 tions for a few districts where the beet growers were experiencing difficulty in producing satisfactory yields. 

 Subsequently it was felt that data of this character would be of value in planning agronomic experiments 

 which might have a direct bearing upon some of the more urgent problems of the beet grower. The field 

 practice of one district has features which can be adapted with proQt in another; and, if enough farms are 

 studied, many general questions with reference to soil and crop management can be answered. The 

 investigation was planned not only for the acquirement of field-practice information with reference to sugar 

 beets, but it was also developed in such a way as to provide basic material concerning the hours of man 

 labor and horse labor, the quantity of seed used, the pnimds of fertilizer applied, tons of manure applied, 

 and the utilization of land on farms where the sugar Ix^ct constituted one of the mast important enter 

 prises. 



See the following bulletins: Department nulletin No. 693, "Farm Practice in Growing Sugar Beets for 

 Three Districts in Utah and Idaho;" Department Bulletin No. 726, "Farm Practice in Growing Sugar 

 Beets for Three Districts in Colorado;" Department Btillettn No. 73,5, "Farm Practice in Growing Sugar 

 Beets in the Billings Region of Montana;" Department Bulletin No. 748, "Farm Practice in Growing 

 Sugar Beets in Michigan and Ohio;" Department Bulletin No. 760, "Farm Practice in Growing Sugar 

 Beets in Three California Districts; " Fanners' Bulletin No. 1042, "Saving Man Labor in Sugar Beet 

 Fields." 



NoTK.— Acknowledgment is duo to -Messrs. R. S. W;vshburn and M. R. Cooper, of the OlTice of Farm 

 Management and Farm Economics, U. S. Department of .\griculture, and to Mr. Byron Ilimter, College 

 Of .Vgriciilture. Moscow, Idaho, for able assistance in collecting the data which are presented in this bulletins 

 Acknowledgment is also due Miss Catherine R. llawley, of the OfTice of Farm Management and Farm 

 Economics, for careful work in supervising the tabulations that were used as a basis for this discussion. 

 Thanks are extended to the firmers of the.sc districts who cooperated in giving detailed estimates with 

 reference to the cost of producing sugar beets. 



