COST OF PRODUCING WINTER WHEAT IN OREGON 
21 
AVERAGE COSTS BY TENURE 
The principal items entering into the cost of wheat production are 
man labor, horse work, seed, sacks, taxes, insurance, use of land, 
and equipment. These and other costs have been summarized to 
show the average itemized cost per acre of winter wheat to owner 
and to tenant operators. From the total gross cost a deduction was 
made for the value of stubble pasture and insurance received for 
damage to the crop, leaving the net cost of producing wheat. The 
average acre cost of each item of expense is a weighted average com- 
puted by dividing the total cost of each expense item by the total 
harvested wheat acreage. The net cost per bushel to owner opera- 
tors for a given year was determined by dividing the total net cost 
by the total yield for that year. 
The acre cost to tenant operators represents only those expense 
items furnished by them and includes all expenses incident to the 
wheat crop except interest on land and buildings, taxes on land and 
buildings, and fence overhead. The average net cost per bushel to 
these operators is based on their share of the total cost divided by 
their share of the total production. 
Averages of the man-labor and horse-work rates and values for seed 
wheat and grain sacks, which were used in computing the cost of 
producing winter wheat are shown in Table 18. 
Table 18. — Prices of labor and materials, 1920-1924 
Item 
Man-hour rate: 
Pre-harv«st— 
Tractor operator 
Other labor 
Harvest and market — 
Large crews 
Small crews 
Horse-hour rate 
Seed per bushel, including seed treatment 
Grain sacks, including sewing twine 
1920 
1921 
1922 
1923 
Dollars 
Dollars 
Dollars 
Dollar 
0.80 
0.50 
0.35 
0.40 
.45 
.35 
.30 
.35 
.75 
.50 
.50 
.55 
.65 
.45 
.45 
.50 
.14 
.11 
.12 
.12 
2.16 
2.20 
1.03 
.86 
.22 
.10 
.11 
.13 
1924 
Dollars 
0.35 
.45 
.40 
.11 
1.30 
.105 
The man-labor rates represent the prevailing wages paid for farm 
labor at the period at which the work was done, including board 
when furnished. The man-labor rates for harvesting and market- 
ing work were weighted according to the number of men employed 
and the wages paid. On each farm the total cost of man labor was 
determined, including the value of the labor of the farmer and his 
family, as well as the cost of hired labor and the value of board when 
furnished. The direct man-labor cost to wheat for each farm was 
arrived at by multiplying the hours of man labor spent on wheat by 
the man-labor rates which prevailed for the year under consideration. 
This cost of direct man labor to wheat was subtracted from the total 
farm-labor expense for the year and that portion of the remainder 
chargeable to wheat was carried as an overhead labor expense against 
the wheat crop. 
The 1920, 1921, and 1922 horse-hour rates were computed, for 
each farm, by dividing the total cost of keeping work stock by the 
total horse hours worked during the year. The horse-hour rates 
for 1923 and 1924 were adjusted to conform to changes in prices for 
horse feed and on higher or lower horse values for those years. 
