70 BULLETIN 1421, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ~ 
NET RETURNS PER ACRE FROM SEVEN CROPS 
Table 61 presents averages of the following items for the seven 
crops: Yield per acre, prices received per unit of product sold, gross 
acre values, net costs per acre, and net returns per acre. The 
average yields, prices received per unit of product, and gross values 
per acre for 1922 were obtained from the farm survey records. The 
net costs per acre for 1922 were computed by the method outlined in 
the discussion of Table 63. The average price received per unit of 
product equals the total amount received divided by the amount 
sold. Gross value per acre is average yield times average price 
received. Net cost per acre includes interest on the estimated capital 
involved at 7 per cent and wages for all unpaid labor. Net returns 
per acre is gross value per acre less net cost per acre. The minus 
signs in Table 61 indicate that the cost per acre was greater than the 
gross value. 
VARIATION IN THE COST PER HOUR OF DIRECT MAN LABOR ON 147 FARMS, 1921 
NUMBER 
OF FARMS | 
40 
' 
| 
30 
20 
| ae: 
1 I 
I ! 3 
0 30234) 35-39 2 40-44 455495 50-5 ls5- So mGa oe 
COST GROUPS- CENTS PER HOUR 
Fic. 23.—Variation in the cost per hour of direct man labor on 147 farms, 1921. The farms here repre- 
sented are arranged in 5-cent cost groups (see figures at the bottom of the chart). The figuresat the 
left show the number of farms falling within the respective man-hour cost groups. There was 2 
very wide variation in the average cost of an hour of direct man labor per farm. At the extreme 
left the chart shows four farms on which the cost was between 20 and 24 cents per hour, and at the 
extreme right one farm is shown on which the cost was between 60 and 64cents. The35 to 39 cent 
cost group contained nearly twice as many farms as any other cost group 
20=2hnes=-o 
A consideration of wheat in Table 61 should assist in making net 
returns per acre clear. This crop made a net return of $7 per acre 
in 1919, but in 1920, 1921, and 1922 there were net losses of $12, $17, 
and $7 per acre, respectively; that is, the average gross value of 
an acre of wheat exceeded the average net costs approximately $7 
in 1919, whereas in 1920, 1921, and 1922 the net costs exceeded the 
average gross value $12, $17, and $7, respectively. 
Table 61 shows a very wide variation in the net returns per acre 
of the seven crops during the four years and Table 62 shows how 
these crops ranked in the net returns per acre during the same period. 
No crop made the highest net return each of the four years; neither 
did any crop make the lowest return each year. Potatoes stood first 
in 1919 and 1921 and lowest in 1920 and 1922; sugar beets were lowest 
in 1919 and 1921, second highest in 1920; and highest in 1922. 
Variations in the prices received, the yields obtained from year to 
year, and costs per acre are the outstanding factors which contribute 
