UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



% BULLETIN No. 972 



Contribution from the Bureau of Animul Industry 

 JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 



J\JS^i?U't 



Washington, D. C. 



September 19, 1921 



UNIT REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING MARKET 

 MILK IN EASTERN NEBRASKA. 



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

 Division, and E. A. Gannon, Cooperative Investigator, Nebraska Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Character and scope of the work 1 



Methods of obtaining data 2 



In n uence of seasons on cost factors 2 



Description of herds 3 



Requirements for producing milk 3 



Credit for calves 6 



Credit for manure 7 



Requirements for keeping a bull 8 



Factors involved in the production of milk. . 9 



Feed 9 



Pastiu-e 10 



Labor 10 



Other costs U 



Percentage comparison of factors involved in 



milk production 12 



Average compared witli bulk-line costs 13 



Monthly distribution of factors in milk pro- 

 duction 15 



Summary 15 



CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. 



How many pounds of grain, hay, and silage do dairymen feed to 

 produce 100 pounds of milk in different sections of the United States'? 

 How many hours of labor do they expend? What other costs are 

 involved? In 1915 the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, began a series of studies on groups of 

 dairy farms in different sections of the United States to obtam accu- 

 rate information along these lines. 



The project with which this bulletin deals was organized near 

 Omaha, Nebr., in cooperation with the department of dairy hus- 

 bandry of the University of Nebraska. The study was begun in 

 September, 1917, but was discontinued at the end of the first year 

 because of the resignation of the field man who was conducting it.^ 



' C. H. Cook conducted the field work during the first year. 



Note.— The work was carrietl on in eastern Nebraska in cooperation with the Department of Dairy 

 Husbandry, University of Nebraska, and applies especially '.o milk shipped from that section to the Omaha 

 market. 



51550°— 21 



