10 
BULLETIN 214, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Table II. — Average cost per acre 1 of the farm operations involved in growing spring 
wheat in the Great Plains area. 
[The wage scale assumed is $2 per day for each man and SI per day for each horse.] 
Operation. 
Force employed. 
Day's 
work. 
Item 
cost. 
Cost per 
Men. 
Horses. 
acre. 
Plowing 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
4 
4 
4 
3 
4 
4 
4 
4 
Acres. 
3£ 
8 
35 
3| 
15 
16 
10 
15 
$1.71 
75 
"Disking 
Harrowing 
17 
Subsoiling 
1 43 
Drilling 
40 
Cultivating 
38 
Listing 
60 
Harvesting: 
Cutting and binding 
$0.40 
.13 
.25 
.15 
l 
Shocking 
Twine 
no 
\ .93 
Binder wear and repair 
J 
! 
1 The cost of thrashing is not included in the cost per acre, but it is estimated at 10 cents per bushel and 
deducted from the price of 80 cents in the granary, thus giving a value of 70 cents per bushel in the shock. 
The costs of hauling, stacking, and thrashing are not included in 
the per-acre cost of production because they can be calculated more 
accurately on the basis of cost per bushel, as hereafter explained. 
The average farm price of wheat used in these computations is 
based on the data given in Table III, furnished by the Bureau of 
Crop Estimates. The four States of Kansas, Nebraska, North Da- 
kota, and South Dakota were selected because their extensive wheat 
production has given them established market prices, which are not 
greatly influenced by local conditions. 
Table III. — Average price of spring wheat at the farm granary for 10 years in four States 
of the Great Plains area. 
[The quotations are given in cents per bushel. Those for the year 1914 are for the date of Nov. 1; in other 
years Dec. 1 is taken as the date.] 
Year. 
North 
Dakota. 
South 
Dakota. 
Ne- 
braska. 
Aver- 
age. 
Year. 
North 
South 
Ne- 
braska. 
Kansas. 
Aver- 
Dakota. 
Dakota. 
age. 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 
63 
87 
92 
92 
90 
67 
61 
89 
92 
90 
89 
66 
57 
79 
84 
89 
80 
71 
58 
82 
88 
96 
84 
St 
84| 
89 
91f 
85f 
1911 
1912 
1913 
1914 
Average. 
89 
69 
73 
97 
91 
69 
71 
90 
87 
69 
71 
92 
91 
74 
79 
94 
89* 
70i 
73J 
82 
81 
77 
82 
80i 
Table III shows that the average farm price of wheat on December 
1 for the past 10 years has been, in round numbers, 80 cents per 
bushel. It costs about 10 cents per bushel to take the grain from 
the shock, thrash it, and put it in the granary on the farm. This 
cost per bushel does not vary greatly with the yield and is therefore 
a fixed price per bushel instead of a fixed price per acre, as is the case 
with the other costs of production. It is therefore obvious that the 
relative profits of producing wheat under the different methods can 
best be determined by finding the difference between the fixed cost 
per acre and the value per acre of the grain at the point where the 
, 
