UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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BULLETIN No. 1069 
Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 
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Washington, D. C. 
May 19, 1922 
RELATION OF PRODUCTION TO INCOME FROM 
DAIRY COWS. 
By J. C. McDowell. Dairy Division. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Purpose of the work 1 
Character of data used— 2 
How the records were studied 3 
General averages of production, feed 
cost, and income 4 
Quality of cow-testing-association 
cows 5 
Relation of butterfat production to 
income 5 
Page. 
Prices and profits 14 
Relation of milk production to in- 
come 14 
What a cow-testing association can 
and can not do 19 
Summary and conclusions 20 
PURPOSE OF THE WORK. 
Large yields of milk and butterfat per cow are the aim of most 
dairymen and also of most breeders of dairy cattle. It is plain that 
the income from a farm dairy depends ultimately on the earning 
capacity of the individual units in the herd — the cows. The purpose 
of the work here reported is to analyze a large number of records 
and to show the relation between the productivity of cows and the 
income received by their owners. The records used are those of cow- 
testing associations. 
Such an association, as ordinarily conducted in this country, is an 
organization of about 26 dairy farmers who cooperatively employ a 
man to test their cows for production of milk arid butterfat. As the 
tester can ordinarily test only one herd a day, the 26 dairy herds 
furnish employment for each working day in the month. Eecords 
from a large number of cow-testing associations are a veritable mine 
of useful information. They cover a wide range of interesting dairy 
topics and show actual production under normal farm conditions. 
For the purpose of this bulletin the records of individual cows from 
96 cow-testing associations have been tabulated to show the relation 
of production to cost of feed and to income over cost of feed and 
91234°— 22 1 
