99 BULLETIN 1198, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
TABLE 15.—Relation of average wheat land values to the average operating expense and 
average net cost per acre by counties, winter wheat, 1920. 
(152 owned farms). 
| Aver- Operating expense per acre. Net 
age cost 
Nat value per 
State and county. ber of | _° Aban- _ acre 
) . | wheat includ- 
farms. | Yand | Labor. |,Ma-_ | doned |Thresh-) other. | Total. | ing 
per - age 8: inter- 
acre : eStz 
Oklahoma: 
Woodward County...-.. 28 $40} $7.88] $1.85 | $3.38 | $2.03 | $3.79 | $18.93 | $21.82 
Kansas: : 
Thomas County, --s--22-| 19 68 6.19 LGUs le See 2.10 3: 205) S210 17. 83 
Pawnee County. ...-....| 15 86 7.24 2.37 2.47 2. 34 4.30 | 18.72 24.62 
Nebraska: 
Cheyenne County.......- 18 114 6. 48 2.06 .18 1.78 8.14 | 18.64 27.25 
Oklahoma: 
- Garfield County..-....... 31 123 8.07 Qe .02 4, 33 6.19 | 21.38 30. 55 
Kansas: 
McPherson County.....- ill 144 8.47 2: 90G|Haaee ee DES 5.14 | 19.09 29. 62 
Nebraska: 
ClayiCounty2224-------2- 13 187 9.99 3.15 1.33 1.75 4.00 | 20.22 33. 69 
Gage Countyin= 5-5. 535. 2- 17 233 | 11.78 3. 50 - 08 2. 28 5.44 | 23.08 37. 24 
} 1 
VARIATION IN NET COST PER ACRE. 
All owned farms have been classified by counties in Table 16 
according to the net cost per acre in order to indicate the number 
of farms and the percentage of acreage and total production that 
fall within the several acre-cost groups. This classification shows 
that approximately 49 per cent of all farms, 42 per cent of the har- 
vested acreage, and 47 per cent of the total production, fall within 
the $25 to $35 cost group. The number of farms in each of the 
other two groups was about the same, approximately 25 per cent 
having costs of under $25, and 26 per cent having costs of $35 and 
over per acre. However, the wheat acreage per farm was much 
larger on the farms having a cost of under $25, than on the farms 
with costs per acre of $35 and over. 
The average cost for all owner operators was $26.30 per acre. 
Approximately 34 per cent of these operators grew about 59 per 
cent of the harvested acreage and produced 50 per cent of the total 
production, at or below the average cost per acre. The range in 
cost per acre for individual farms was from $13.49 to $54.86. The 
farm with the lowest cost was in Woodward County, Okla., and had 
a very low labor expense, and alow charge for interest on investment. 
On the other hand, the farm with the highest cost, which was in 
Pike County, Mo., had a relatively high expense for fertilizer, inter- 
est on investment and: an abandoned acreage charge for over half of 
the seeded acreage. 
Seventy-eight per cent of the farms with costs of under $25 per 
acre were located in Thomas and Pawnee Counties, Kans., and 
Woodward County, Okla. Ninety-five per cent of the farms in 
Thomas County were in this cost group. ‘The interest on investment, 
use cost of machinery, and the charge for loss due to abandoned 
wheat acreage, were relatively low for these farms. 
Of the farms having costs of from $25 to $35 per acre, 46 per cent 
were located in Pike County, Mo., and Garfield County, Okla. Sixty- 
