UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
•PARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1144 
Washington, D. C. ▼ March 20, 1923 
COST OF MILK PRODUCTION ON FORTY-EIGHT WISCONSIN 
FARMS. 1 
By S. W. Mendum, Junior Economist, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Feed requirements and consumption- 3 
Labor applied to milk production 10 
Other costs — Incidentals, overhead 12 
Page. 
Production and prices 15 
Summary of costs 20 
Other considerations 21 
Note. — The writer wishes to express his appreciation of the patience and courtesy of 
the cooperating farmers in making reports, and to thank a number of other men and 
women who have helped in the preparation of the bulletin. 
The purpose of this study was to observe the management of a 
number of herds kept under ordinary farm conditions and to measure 
the more important factors of cost, with a view to determining the 
nature and degree of changes in management which may be expected 
to result in a more favorable relation between income and expense 
as prices of materials and of products change. Information was 
gathered through regular reports submitted by the farmers, supple- 
mented by personal observations. The determination of an average 
cost figure was urgently solicited by farmers, with a view to influ- 
encing prices paid b}^ consumers and factories, but for reasons ap- 
parent to all who are familiar with cost data, this figure is of only 
minor significance. 
Milk production is only a part of the farm business on most Wis- 
consin dairy farms. Besides milk production, there are the herd 
itself, other classes of productive livestock, the corn, small grains, 
and hay grown to feed the livestock, and a variety of special crops 
grown for sale. Each of these other enterprises contributes more or 
1 less to the farm income, and entails its share of the farm expense. 
These shares are variable and not always well defined. Moreover, 
there are wide differences in the amount and value of land, buildings, 
equipment, and labor devoted to the several farm enterprises. 
1 The data for this bulletin were gathered by the writer under a cooperative arrange- 
ment between the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. United States Department of Agri- 
culture, and the University of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Division of Markets also 
assisted in the field work. 
26543—23 1 
