UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
o^rw*. 
BULLETIN No. 501 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
February 20, 1917 
A STUDY IN THE COST OF PRODUCING MILK 
ON FOUR DAIRY FARMS, LOCATED IN WIS- 
CONSIN, MICHIGAN, PENNSYLVANIA, 
AND NORTH CAROLINA. 
By Morton O. Cooper, Scientific Assistant; C. M. Bennett, 
Agriculturist, and L. M. Church, Assistant. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
The scope of the study 1 
Locations and descriptions of farms where 
cost records were obtained 2 
Methods of procuring data 4 
Factors involved in the cost of producing 
milk 4 
Feed and bedding 5 
Labor 10 
Use of buildings 12 
Use of equipment 12 
Use of bull 13 
Interest 13 
Depreciation 13 
Page. 
Factors involved in the cost of producing 
milk— Continued. 
Miscellaneous items 14 
Overhead 14 
Credits other than milk 14 
Quantity of milk produced 16 
Net cost per unit of product 17 
Data from other sources 19 
Discussion of results : 21 
Relation of individual cow to cost of produc- 
tion 29 
Summary 33 
Literature cited 34 
THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY. 
Concerning an enterprise so extensive as dairying, it is important 
that something be known of the cost of production of the principal 
dairy products and the economic factors affecting each. It has been 
found that by making a detailed study of the business on an indi- 
vidual farm it is possible to draw conclusions which, in a general way, 
hold true for other farms of the same type operating under similar 
conditions. By means of carefully kept cost-accounting records the 
Office of Farm Management has procured data on the cost of producing 
milk on four dairy farms of the better sort, located in separate and 
distinctive dairy regions, namely, those of Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn- 
sylvania, and North Carolina. These records cover periods of from four 
to seven years. It is the purpose of this bulletin to outline the prob- 
lem of obtaining the complete cost of producing milk on these farms 
and to show the relationship among the various items making up the 
total cost, as indicated by the data procured. 
68922°— Bull. 501—17 1 
