OATS IN THE GREAT PLAINS AREA. 
9 
allowance is made for the deterioration of other farm equipment, 
as it is believed that the wages allowed for men and teams arc suffi- 
cient to cover this item for the remainder of the equipment. The 
above-mentioned items are fixed charges per acre; that is, they do not 
vary greatly with the yield per acre except for the item of twine, 
but this variation is not sufficient to affect materially the relative 
total cost of production under the several methods. 
Table II shows the cost per acre, based upon what is considered an 
average day's work for each of the farm operations involved, at the 
above-mentioned wage. As before stated, the type of soil and 
seasonal conditions will determine to a certain extent the labor 
required and the consequent cost per acre. 
Table II. — Average cost per acre 1 of the farm operations involved in growing oats in 
the Great Plains area. 
[The wage scale assumed is $2 per day for each man and $1 per day for each horse.] 
Operation. 
Force em- 
ployed. 
Men. Horses. 
Day's 
work. 
Item 
cost. 
Cost 
per 
Plowing 
Disking 
Harrowing 
Subsoiling 
Drilling 
Cultivating 
Listing 
Harvesting: 
Cutting and binding — 
Shocking 
Twine 
Binder wear and repair. 
Acres. 
34 
35 
3| 
15 
16 
10 
15 
•SO. 40 
.13 
.25 
.15 
$1.71 
.75 
.17 
1.43 
.40 
.38 
.60 
.93 
» The cost of thrashing is not included in the cost per acre, but it is estimated at 5 cents per bushel and 
deducted from the price of 35 cents in the granary, thus giving a value of 30 cents per bushel in the shock. 
The average farm price of oats used in these computations is based 
on the data given in Table III, furnished by the Bureau of Crop 
Estimates. The four States of Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, 
and South Dakota were selected because their extensive oat produc- 
tion has given them established market prices which are not greatly 
influenced by local conditions. As given hi Table III, the average 
farm price of oats on December 1 for the past 10 years has been nearly 
35 cents per bushel. It costs about 5 cents per bushel to take the 
grain from the shock, thrash it, and put it in the granary on the farm. 
This cost per bushel does not vary greatly with the yield and is 
therefore a fixed price per bushel instead of a fixed price per acre, 
as is the case with the other costs of production. The relative 
profits of producing oats under the different methods can therefore 
best be determined by finding the difference between the fixed cost 
per acre and the value per acre of the grain at the point where the 
