THE OUTLOOK FOR TIMBER DEMANDS 



29 



Farm construction expenditures for structures 

 other than dwellings totaled about $1.4 billion in 

 1962 — somewhat below the average of the 1950's 

 but substantially above earlier periods (table 17). 

 About two-thirds of these expenditures were for 

 new construction and one-third for repairs. 



Table 17. — Farm output and construction expendi- 

 tures, 1920-2000 



[1961 dollars] 







Construction expendi- 



Construc- 







tures ' 



tion ex- 



Period or 



Gross 

 farm 





penditures 



year 









as a per- 





product 





New 





cent of 







Total 



struc- 

 tures 



Repairs 



GFP 





Million 



Million 



Million 



Million 







dollars 



dollars 



dollars 



dollars 



Percent 



1920-29 2.,_ 



14, 800 



920 



480 



440 



6.2 



1930-39 2. __ 



15,600 



620 



210 



410 



4.0 



1940-49 2,.. 



17,800 



1,060 



620 



440 



6.0 



1950-59 2__. 



19,200 



1,540 



1,040 



500 



8.0 



1960 



20,900 



1,310 



890 



420 



6.3 



1961 



21,400 



1,470 



980 



490 



6.9 



1962 



21,600 



1,420 



950 



470 



6.6 



PROJECTIONS 



1970. 

 1980. 

 1990. 

 2000. 



23,500 



1,530 



1,060 



470 



25,800 



1,680 



1,160 



520 



28,500 



1,850 



1,280 



570 



31,500 



2,050 



1,420 



630 



6.5 

 6.5 

 6.5 

 6.5 



1 Includes farm service buildings and structures, excludes 

 dwellings. 



2 Data shown are annual averages for the decade. 



Sources: GROSS FARM PRODUCT: 1920-28, U.S. 

 Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical 

 Statistics of the United States, 1960. 1929-62, Office of the 

 President, Economic Report of the President, January 1962 

 and 1963. 



CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES FOR NEW 

 STRUCTURES: 1920-56, U.S. Department of Labor and 

 U.S. Department of Commerce, statistical supplement to 

 vol. 3 of Construction Review, Construction Volume and 

 Costs, 1915-1956, 1958. 1957-62, derived from U.S. De- 

 partment of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, "Value of 

 New Construction Put in Place — ". Construction Reports, 

 July 1961. (C30-25, supplement) and U.S. Department 

 of Commerce, Business and Defense Services Administra- 

 tion, Construction Review. 



CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES FOR RE- 

 PAIRS: 1920-56, statistical supplement to vol. 3 of Con- 

 struction Review, Construction Volume and Costs, 1915- 

 1956, 1958. 1957-62, U.S. Department of Commerce, 

 Business and Defense Services Administration, Construc- 

 tion Review. 



PROJECTIONS: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Forest Service. 



Farm construction expenditures as a percent of 

 gross farm product have ranged from a low of 

 2 percent in 1933 to as much as 10 percent in 

 1951, with an average of about 6 percent over the 

 period 1920-62. Projections of farm construc- 

 tion expenditures in future years have been based 

 upon an assumed rate of 6.5 percent of gross 

 farm product (including 4.5 percent for new 

 structures and 2 percent for repairs) — about the 

 same average rate as in the period 1956-62. 

 Using this rate and the projected gross farm 

 product, total construction expenditures were 

 projected to rise from $1.4 billion in 1962 to about 

 $2.1 billion in 2000 (table 17). 



An Estimated 2 Billion Board 



Feet of Lumber Used on Farms in 1962 



The total volume of lumber used for farm struc- 

 tures, excluding farm housing, was estimated at 

 about 2 billion board feet in 1962 (table 18) .^o 

 A marked downward trend in lumber use on farms 

 has been attributed in large part to a decrease 

 in number of farm buildings constructed. Ac- 

 cording to the Census of Agriculture, the number 

 of farm service buildings constructed annually 

 has declined from 877,000 in 1949 to an average 

 of 209,000 for the years 1958 to 1960. This 

 drop was offset in part by an increase in average 

 floor area from 520 to 1,220 square feet per 

 building. 



2» Estimates of wood use for farm service buildings in 

 1958-60 were derived from data in the 1960 Sample Survey 

 of Agriculture showing number of new farm buildings 

 constructed by types and regions (U.S. Bureau of the 

 Census, U.S. Census of Agriculture: 1959, vol. V. Special 

 Reports, Part 5, 1960, Sample Survey of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D.C., 1962) together with wood-use factors 

 showing amounts of lumber, plywood, and other building 

 materials used in each major type of farm, building in 

 each section of the country. These factors were deter- 

 mined by field surveys in a number of farming areas 

 plus judgment estimates of farm building specialists. 

 Changes in farm construction expenditures between 1958 

 and 1962 were used to update estimates of wood use 

 to 1962. 



Lumber use in miscellaneous farm structures such as 

 fencing was estimated from local studies of wood use on 

 farms. (See for example, Beazley, Ronald I., and Lund- 

 gren, Allen L., Farm Lumber Consumption and Use, East- 

 Central Minnesota, 195If. St. Paul, University of Minne- 

 ■sota, Agricultural Experiment Station, March 1961, 

 58 pp., illus. (Scientific Journal Series, Paper No. 4584); 

 also unpublished data from a pilot survey of rural con- 

 sumption of timber products in Missouri, 1958, U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, 

 D.C.) These indicated that lumber used in miscellaneous 

 farm structures equaled about 15 percent of all lumber 

 used in new construction, and about 40 percent of lumber 

 used in farm repairs. 



