30 
BULLETIN 1388, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Table 20. 
■Effect of wheat yields upon the price needed to return $30 x per acre for 
the use of family labor, land, and equipment, 1922 
Item 
Yield per acre (bushels) 
20 
30 
40 
50 
CO 
Cash labor cost for binding and threshing dollars.. 
Cash material cost for seed, sacks, and twine do 
Price per bushel needed to return $30 per acre for "other 
costs" in addition to those above 2 dollars.. 
4.30 
2. 65 
1.85 
5.20 
3.42 
1.29 
6. 10 
4.20 
1.01 
7.00 
4.98 
.84 
7.90 
5.75 
.73 
i The $30 assumed for "other costs" approximately covers the amount of these costs in producing an 
acre of wheat. The cash labor and material costs for each next higher yield is computed by adding to 
the preceding costs the extra costs of labor and materials for each additional 10 bushels of wheat. The 
price per bushel needed t o return $30 per acre for "other costs" is computed as follows: Add extra labor 
costs ($4.30), extra material costs ($2.65), and $30 per acre for "other costs." Divide this sum by the 
yield (20 bushels) which gives $1.85 for the price needed for the 20-bushel yield given in the first group. 
2 " Other costs " are value of operator's and family labor and use of land and equipment. 
The possibility for the economical production of a crop on an in- 
dividual farm is often determined by the quality and uniformity of 
the soil. A farmer needs to know just what crops and yields the 
soil in each part of his field is capable of producing. That portion 
of the farm that has an excess of alkali or is infested with crop pests 
should be planted to crops which have the best chance of surviving 
these difficulties, until they can be overcome. Rutabagas, squash, 
fall wheat, and sweet clover seem better able to withstand alkali 
soils than the other crops. Such soils often make excellent pastures, 
and it is possible that in many cases this is the best way to use and 
improve alkali soils or those infested with crop pests. 
Having inventoried the crops it is possible to grow on an individ- 
ual farm, the next steps to consider are which crops to select and 
how to combine them into a cropping program. Crops are produced 
primarily for two purposes: (1) To be sold on the market or fed 
to livestock and (2) to maintain or increase the soil fertility. 
The crop organization best suited to an individual farm will depend 
considerably upon the condition of the soil, available markets, 
and the fitness of the operator to conduct the various enterprises 
successfully. 
On the farms where the soil is uniform, productive, and suitable 
for growing the principal crops of the area, and where suitable mar- 
kets for the sale of these crops are available, it is usually not necessary, 
and is considered poor business, in. many individual cases, to keep 
more livestock than can profitably utilize the wastes from the tables 
and crops. Although it is likewise unnecessary, under similar con- 
ditions, to devote a large part of the crop area to crops which are 
grown mainly to improve the fertility of the soil, some sort of crop- 
ping system should be followed which will permit the most econom- 
ical utilization of the land over a long period of years. This usually 
means the use of a crop rotation. 
On the averaged-sized farms in this area it is considered good prac- 
tice by many of the best farmers to keep about half of the land in 
alfalfa each year, rotating the fields so that the land will remain in 
alfalfa about four years, followed by a cultivated crop for two years 
and then a grain crop seeded back to alfalfa. 
The marketing outlook should be an important factor in deciding 
which cash crops to grow on land set aside each year for cultivated 
