28 BULLETIN 1198, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
EFFECT OF YIELD ON COST PER BUSHEL. 
The cost of producing a bushel of wheat is a figure much desired by 
all wheat farmers and since this cost depends so largely upon yield it 
is essential to analyze the yield factor in its relation to the cost per 
bushel. Here again it is desirable to study the range in yield, together 
with the range in cost per bushel, since the cost per bushel based on 
the average yield might be interpreted to mean that all the wheat in 
a given region was produced at a loss, whereas as a matter of fact 
there might be many farmers producing at a substantial profit. 
The average yield per acre for the farms studied in 1920 was 14.3 
bushels per acre as compared with a yield of 15.3 bushels per acre for 
all United States winter wheat. (See Table 21.) Seventy per cent 
of the farmers visited obtained wheat yields ranging from 7 to 19 
bushels per acre; 6 per cent had yields of less than 7 bushels; and 24 
NET COST 
PER BU 
DOLLARS 
8.00 
7.00 
6.00 
5.00 
4.00 
3.00 
2.00 
) ey ; cE — 
: 2 WELDS PER AGRE , BUSHELS 
Fic. 9.—Relation of yield per acre to net cost per bushel of producing wheat—1920—216 owned farms. 
Each dot represents one farm, and its position indicates the yield and net cost per bushel of wheat 
on thatfarm. The cost per bushel for those farmers who had a yield of from 19 to 25 bushels per acre 
was 31 per cent less than for those having a yield of from 7 to 13 bushels. The average yield per acre 
was 14.9 bushels. 
per cent had yields of over 19 bushels per acre. Five per cent had 
vields of over 25 bushels per acre. 
The cost per bushel in relation to yield for a particular year may be 
the cause of misleading conclusions as to the efficiency which has 
been exercised in production. High costs per bushel may be due to 
causes which are not a result of lack of skill in management. A 
farmer may handle his crop according to approved methods of pro- 
duction only to have the crop destroyed by insects, fungous diseases, 
or climatic factors over which he has no control. The comparatively 
low yield in Pike County, Mo., was influenced by a period of wet 
weather at seeding time, followed by an infestation of the growing 
crop by the Hessian fly at the beginning of warm weather in the early 
spring. Chinch bugs also caused appreciable damage. In Clay 
County, Nebr., heavy windstorms in the early spring followed by 
damage from black rust just prior to the harvest period, were con- 
tributing factors; while in Cheyenne County, Nebr., hail damage and 
