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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 919 
Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 
jZ&^j-u. 
Washington, D. C. 
December 10, 1920 
UNIT REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCING 
IN WESTERN WASHINGTON. 
MILK 
By J. B. Bain, Dairy Husbandman, and G. E. Braun, Market Milk Specialist, 
Dairy Division. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Character and scope of the work 1 
Methods used in obtaining the 
data 2 
Comparison of winter and 
summer results 3 
Description of herds 3 
Requirements for producing 100 
pounds of milk 4 
Requirements for keeping a cow 
one year 6 
Credit for manure 7 
Credits for calves 9 
Requirements for keeping a bull 9 
Page. 
Factors involved in production of 
milk 10 
Feed 10 
Pasture 11 
Labor 12 
Other costs 13 
Per cent comparison of factors in- 
volved in milk production 15 
Average compared with " bulk-line " 
costs 16 
Monthly distribution of factors in 
milk production 17 
Summary , 19 
CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. 
What does it cost to produce milk? This is a question which has 
brought increasing concern to each dairyman as the cost of feed has 
increased and hired men are being attracted to other industries pay- 
ing higher wages. The United States Department of Agriculture, 
through the Dairy Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, began 
a series of studies in 1915 intended to give the dairymen of the United 
States information on the cost of producing milk. These studies 
were made in different sections of the United States. The project 
with which this bulletin deals was organized in August, 1917, in 
Skagit County, Wash., about 70 miles north of Seattle. 
Other objects of these studies were to separate and analyze various 
factors to obtain data which would aid in improving general milk- 
production methods. 
The climate and fertility of the soil in this section produce excep- 
tionally good pasturage throughout the larger part of the year. 
The many herds of black and white cattle grazing over the large ex- 
12649°— 20 1 
