UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
| BULLETIN No. 972 
Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 
^J^'^J-U 
Washington, D. C. 
September 19, 1921 
UNIT REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING MARKET 
MILK IN EASTERN NEBRASKA. 
By J. B. Bain, Dairy Husbandman, G. E. Braun, Market Milk Specialist, Dairy 
Division, and E. A. Gannon, Cooperative Investigator, Nebraska Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Character and scope of the work 1 
Methods of obtaining data 2 
Influence of seasons on cost factors 2 
Description of herds 3 
Requirements for producing milk 3 
Credit for calves 6 
Credit for manure 7 
Requirements for keeping a bull 8 
Page. 
Factors involved in the production of milk . . 9 
Feed 9 
Pasture 10 
Labor 10 
Other costs 11 
Percentage comparison of factors involved in 
milk production 12 
Average compared with bulk-line costs 13 
Monthly distribution of factors in milk pro- 
duction 15 
Summary 15 
CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. 
How many pounds of grain, hay, and silage do dairymen feed to 
produce 100 pounds of milk in different sections of the United States ? 
How many hours of labor do they expend ? What other costs are 
involved? In 1915 the Bureau of Animal Industry, United States 
Department of Agriculture, began a series of studies on groups of 
dairy farms in different sections of the United States to obtain accu- 
rate information along these lines. 
The project with which this bulletin deals was organized near 
Omaha, Nebr., in cooperation with the department of dairy hus- 
bandry of the University of Nebraska. The study was begun in 
September, 1917, but was discontinued at the end of the first year 
because of the resignation of the field man who was conducting it. 1 
1 C. H. Cook conducted the field work during the first year. 
Note.— The work was carried on in eastern Nebraska in cooperation with the Department of Dairy 
Husbandry, University of Nebraska, and applies especially to milk shipped from that section to the Omaha 
market. 
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