UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 641 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
Washington, D. C. ▼ March 4, 1918 
FARM PRACTICE IN THE PRODUCTION OF HAY IN STEUBEN 
COUNTY, N. Y., AND WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA. 
(A detailed study of the amount of labor required per acre and per ton for each 
operation, and the machinery charges per acre and per ton.) 
By H. B. McClure, Agriculturist. 
CONTENTS. 
Object and scope 1 
Facts brought out 1 
Page. 
Labor charges for different operations 4 
Machinery charges 12 
Description of the areas 2 Total cost of producing hay 14 
OBJECT AND SCOPE. 
Since hay is very susceptible to damage by bad weather at harvest 
time, and often demands attention when other farm work is pressing, 
the problem of getting haying done with a minimum expenditure of 
time and labor is of great importance to the hay grower. The object 
of this bulletin is to present data that may help the farmer in solving 
this problem. 
The figures on labor and other factors of production given in the 
following pages were obtained in a study of hay production made 
in 1915 on 52 farms in Steuben County, N. Y., and on 37 farms in 
Washington County, Pa. The methods used by hay growers are 
practically the same for both of these sections, so that results for each 
operation are comparable. 1 
FACTS BROUGHT OUT. 
The total items of production, including labor, machinery charges,, 
interest on hay land, taxes, and seed, averaged $5 per ton for the 
New York area and $6.10 for the Pennsylvania area, with an average 
yield of about one and a half tons per acre. 
1 Acknowledgment is due to Mr. Robert W. Meyer for valuable assistance in the collection of the data 
discussed in this bulletin. 
18024°— 18 
