COST OF PRODUCING WHEAT. 3 
APPLICATION OF COST DATA TO FARM ORGANIZATION. 
The farmer is primarily interested in the total net profit from his 
farm as a unit. The determination of the best possible combination 
of enterprises that provides the proper balance in the use of land, 
labor, and capital is a constant problem with him. Complete cost 
studies aid in analyzing seasonal demands for labor and capital and 
provide basic data of great value in planning farm reorganization. 
The wide range in the costs computed for the wheat farms covered 
in this study suggests that considerable variation must have existed 
in the profits from producing wheat. It is not an easy matter to 
SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 
(197 spring-wheat records, 284 winter-wheat records.) 
Cost per acre: 
Spring wheat, $12.98 to $47.84; average, $22.40. 
Winter wheat, $10.55 to $50.23; average, $27.80. 
Cost per husliel: 
Spring wheat, $1.15 to $14.38; average, $2.65. 
Winter wheat, $0.96 to $8.24; average, $1.87. 
Yield: 
Spring wheat, 20.8 bushels per acre to less than 
1 bushel; average, 8.4. 
Winter wheat, 30 bushels per acre to 2.2; average, 
14.9. 
In the spring-wheat area about 33 per cent of the 
production was on the farms having costs above the 
average ; in the winter-wheat area about 40 per cent 
of the production was on farms having costs above 
the average. 
overcome the handicap that may be imposed by unfavorable weather 
or by certain diseases, or, perchance, by insect enemies. These are 
risks that demand the constant attention of the grower. Partly 
because of these risks, the progressive wheat farmer is intensely inter- 
ested in the development of methods which wiU reduce his costs 
per unit of product and increase his profits. 
A study of production costs on several farms wUI provide many 
suggestions with respect to practices that are more economical than 
the customary methods on the majority of farms in the community. 
Detailed analysis brings striking illustrations into the foreground. 
When a better plan or a more economical practice is displayed, 
farmers in general will appropriate the idea and will profit thereby. 
