FAKM ORGANIZATION" IN SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA 99 
the number of brood sows from 10 to 18. Since the farmer raises his 
own brood sows, this latter change involves no cash outlay. This 
increased efficiency in the marketing of crops through livestock will 
return $735 more to the organization. 
Effect upon returns of expanding the dairy enterprise. — A further 
expansion of the dairy enterprise to 18 cows and an additional 
increase in the hog enterprise to utilize the skim milk and more of 
the grain produced would affect the returns as follows : 
5,000 pounds additional pork, at $0.08 $400 
640 pounds additional butterfat, at $0.45 288 
Total value additional product 688 
Decrease in sales: 
490 bushels corn, at $0.50 245 
250 bushels oats, at $0.30 75 
2 tons hay, at $10 20 
340 
Increased veterinary and medicine costs 12 
Total subtraction 352 
Net increase in returns to the organization 336 
This expansion of the livestock enterprises Would provide for a 
much fuller utilization of the labor available, because approximately 
630 additional hours of man labor would be required. This addi- 
tional labor would be quite uniformly distributed throughout the 
year and with good management would not necessitate hiring extra 
labor, although the increased returns are sufficient to warrant hiring 
some extra labor if needed. More corn would have to be cut for 
fodder and more alfalfa grown in order to meet the roughage require- 
ments for the cows. Even then the margin of safety between amounts 
of hay produced and that needed by livestock is greatly reduced. 
The effect upon the soil fertility and crop yields of the increased use 
of grain for feeding instead of sale can not be determined, but it is 
reasonable to expect some long-time improvement from this source. 
Effect on returns of shifting from beef to butterfat production. — Another 
possibility is the expansion of the dairy enterprise to 18 cows at the 
expense of the beef enterprise. By reducing the production of beef 
3,000 pounds, 4 more cows producing 160 pounds of butterfat each 
could be kept on practically the same feeds. The relative returns 
would be as follows: 
4 cows, 640 pounds butterfat, at $0.45 $288 
3,000 pounds beef, at $0.06 180 
Net increase in returns from producing butterfat instead of beef__ 108 
This change could be effected without hiring additional labor or 
reducing the margin of safety between the feeds being produced and 
those required for the stock. It would, however, require 400 addi- 
tional hours of work on the part of the family. 
SUMMARY 
The examples given illustrate a method of using unit-requirement 
data in planning the farm organization. With these data available, 
it is possible to project with a reasonable degree of accuracy opera- 
tions for a year on the farms of this area and to estimate the probable 
variations in returns that may normally be expected, as well as the 
variations in the outlay to be made if each of the several probable 
alternatives is chosen. 
