22 MILK PRODUCTION COST ACCOUNTS 



the average cost of labor on certain Missouri farms was $24.60 

 per year per cow. Warren ' concludes that in well-managed 

 dairies 150 hours are required per year per cow, and that in a 

 study of labor cost it is necessary to decide the kind of milk 

 being produced. The necessary extra time to produce clean 

 milk is less than many suppose. Whittaker ^ gives as the 

 additional time necessary to raise ordinary conditions 16 points 

 in score, only 15 minutes per cow per day. He summarizes 

 conditions involving expense as follows: 



Item. Minutes per day per cow. 



Cleanliness of cows S 



Cleanliness of stable and air 3 



Cleanliness of milkhouse 2 



Scalding utensils i 



Wiping udder 2 



Removal of milk 2 



Total IS 



"To increase the score of a dairy from 42 to approximately 70 

 points, there may be in fifteen-cow dairies an added expense of 5 

 cents per cow per day for labor." 



In large herds and where a high grade of milk is produced 

 the following units of time for each operation will be found to 

 be applicable: 



Operation. Time required per cow per day. 



Cleaning stables of manure 3 minutes 



Feed, grain and roughage 3.5 



Groom 3 



Wash cows 3 



Bed cows 1.5 



Milk cows twice a day 10 



Total 24 minutes 



These units are only applicable where the barn is conven- 

 ient, and where the men do nothing but care for the milch 

 cow and not the young stock which accompanies them. It is 

 on a basis of each man doing a particular single operation. 

 The man who feeds does nothing else, and the milkers only 

 milk the cows. 



' " Farm Management," p. 122. 



2 U.S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. of Animal Ind., Circ. No. 170, pp. 128-129. 



