52 
BULLETIN 1000, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Example 2. — Cost of producing clover hay in New York, 1921. 
[See Table 30.] 
Item. 
Amount. 
Esti- 
mated 
rate. 
Cost. 
8.9 
9.9 
10.1 
SO. 30 
.20 
a. 53 
S2 67 
2 67 
Total cost of labor and material (80 per cent of operating expense) 87. 32 
Total operating expense (100 per cent) b 9. 15 
Interest on land (S84 at 5 per cent) c 4. 20 
Total cost of producing 1 acre. 
13.35 
Average yield per acre - tons. . 1. 96 
Average cost per ton . S6. 80 
a If seed is estimated at 832 per bushel the total cost of seed per acre is S5.35, which must be prorated 
over the number of years that the land is expected to remain in hay. In this illustration it was assumed 
that the field would' be left two years (35.35-=-2=S2.67). It was also'assumed that the seed was sown with 
a nurse crop, so there was no labor nor machine charge for sowing. On farms where the sowing of the 
grass seed is a separate operation, the cost of such labor must be added to the cost of the seed. Thus, 
1 man hour and 2 horse hours for sowing would make a cost of 65 cents per acre, to which may be added 
15 cents for the seeder, thus giving a grand total of 80 cents for sowing. This, added to the cost of seed, 
would increase the seed charge from So. 35 to S6.15 per acre (36.15-4-2=83.07 per year). 
b S7.32-r-80XlOO=S9.15, or total operating expense. 
c See Table 42 on present land values. 
Example 3. — Cost of producing potatoes, Bairon County, Wis., 1920. 
[See Table 8.] 
Item. 
Amount 
per acre. 
Esti- 
mated 
rate. 
Cost 
per acre. 
92.7 
100.3 
7.1 
11.6 
SO. 40 
.20 
2.00 
3.75 
S37.08 
20.06 
tons . . 
14.20 
Seed 
43.50 
80.6 per cent of operating expense S114. 84 
Total operating expense 142. 48 
Interest on land (6 per cent on S179) 10. 74 
Total cost per acre 153. 22 
Total cost per bushel (90 bushels) 1. 70 
Note.— In this example 1920 rates and values were applied to the basic quantity requirements found 
in the 1919 study for the Barron County area. The man labor rate increased approximately 20 per cent 
and cost of seed potatoes 300 per cent over 1919. The high price of seed accounts for the high cost per 
bushel of yield. Figuring labor, fertilizer, and seed together at prevailing rates for any year, the result 
will be approximately 80 per cent ofthe total operating expense per acre (not including land rent). This 
percentage will fluctuate slightly from year to year, as the rates for one or more of these factors increase 
or decrease more rapidly than the others. It may, however, be taken as a fair approximation. A few 
farmers in Barron County applied commercial fertilizer to the potato crop. When this charge was pro- 
rated to allfarms, it amounted to a cost of 14 cents per acre. This amount has not been added in preparing 
the potato example. On farms where fertilizer is applied this item should be included in computing the 
operating expense per acre. 
