16 BULLETIN 963, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
or sheep to feed. This provided a cash return to the farmer and 
was considered in the present analysis. (Table X.) 
BEET ACREAGE PER FARM AND PER ACRE IN RELATION TO COST. 
As has already been pointed out, yield per acre is an important 
factor when making a study of crop costs. The number of acres 
planted per farm also appears to exert influence on cost of produc- 
tion. (Table XII.) 
Increasing the yield per acre made the total cost per acre greater, 
but each successive increase in yield reduced the cost per ton. It 
would seem that the grower who is producing from 15 to 18 tons per 
acre,either in small, medium, or comparatively large tracts, can grow 
and market these beets at a much lower cost per ton than the man who 
gets 12 tons or less per acre under similar conditions. With greater 
efficiency in handling a few of the major operations, higher yields 
would undoubtedly result, and this m turn would appreciably 
increase the margin above cost. In Table XII there are at least two 
groups too small to be safely used as a basis for conclusions, but the 
general trend of the farm in the respective groups indicates that 
yield per acre is an important factor and that the farms with the 
larger acreages in sugar beets produced the crop more.economically 
than the smaller farms. 
TasLe XII.—Acres in beets and yield per acre as influencing cost of production. 
Yield 12 tons or Gelato 15) | Vacldetstone a avacidioneets 
less per acre. tons. tons. tons. 
Acres in sugar beets. | 
|Num-/| Cost | Cost | Num-| Cost | Cost | Num-| Cost | Cost | Num-| Cost |Cost 
| ber of| per | per | berof} per | per | ber of} per | per | berof| per | per 
farms.| acre. | ton. |farms.| acre. | ton. | farms.| acre. | ton. | farms.| acre. | ton. 
Winders (ONS a acrer 42/3124. 24/13. 99 27/3147. 45)$10. 45, 28/3142. 73) $8. 59 24/3162. 81/37. 45 
LO;GORUD esa ee Se 24| 110.11) 12. 29 11] 134.95) 9. 45] 15} 132.13): 8.01 7| 136. 54} 6. 73 
isan OVeLe . 25-2 = 13} 121. 95} 13. a 14) 122.63] 8.65 14) 132.42) 7.98 1) 127. 55) 6.54 
| 
RANGE IN COST PER TON. 
The accompanying frequency chart (fig. 3) shows the distribution 
of farm operators in these four districts on the basis of cost per ton in 
producing sugar beets. In this study the records for the two crop 
years 1918-19 have been combined. There were two growers in 
these areas who produced sugar beets at a cost of $5 per ton. These 
men obtained an average yield of 24 tons per acre. The maximum 
unit cost for an individual farm was $35 per ton, incurred by an 
operator who had a yield of but 3 tons per acre. Another individual 
had a cost of $34 per ton. Here the yield was approximately 7 tons 
per acre harvested, but a part of the planted acreage was abandoned. 
