UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
I BULLETIN No. 955 
Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 
&U& B §rLru 
Washington, D. C. 
May 16, 1921 
UNIT REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING MARKET MILK IN 
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA. 1 
By J. B. Bain, Dairy Husbandman, G. E. Braun, Market Milk Specialist, and W. D. 
Wood, Assistant Market Milk Specialist, Dairy Division. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Character and scope of the work 1 
Methods of obtaining data 2 
Requirements for producing 100 pounds of 
milk 3 
Description of the herds. .1 4 
Requirements for keeping a cow one year 4 
Credits for manure and calves 4 
Requirements for keeping a bull 7 
Factors involved in the j roduction of milk. . . 7 
Feeds 7 
Factors involved in the production of milk- 
Continued. 
Pasture. ., 8 
Labor 8 
Other costs 9 
Percentage comparison of factors involved ... 10 
Average costs compared with bulk-line costs. 11 
Monthly distribution of factors in millr pro- 
duction 13 
Summary 14 
CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. 
How many pounds of grain, hay, and silage and how many hours 
of labor does it take to produce 100 pounds of milk in the different 
dairy sections of the United States? How much does it cost for 
buildings, equipment, and the general expenses of the dairy? The 
answers to these questions should be of interest and value to dairy- 
men throughout the country. In 1915 the Bureau of Animal Indus- 
try, United States Department of Agriculture, began a series of 
studies on groups of dairy farms in different sections of the United 
States to obtain accurate information along these lines. The first 
step taken was to develop a system whereby the actual cost of pro- 
ducing milk could be obtained month by month on practical dairy 
farms in market milk centers of the United States. 
Investigations have been completed and the results published for 
northwestern Indiana (Department Bulletin 858), North Carolina, 2 
1 The data in this bulletin apply especially to milk shipped from this section to the New Orleans 
market. 
2 A bulletin on this investigation was published by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. 
40557°— 21— Bull. 955 
