FARMERS EARNINGS IX SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA 
33 
Table 29. — Relation of milk produced during the winter season to the season the 
cows freshen 
Percentage of 
annual production during winter 
season 
Percentage of herd freshening in— 
Fall 
months 
Winter 
months 
Spring Summer Total for 
months months year 
20 to 29.5-- 
Per cent 
9.3 
21.7 
34.2 
49.6 
67.9 
75.4 
Per cent 
25.3 
30.2 
24.6 
22.9 
16.2 
21.9 
Per cent Per cent 
55. 4 10. 
34. 1 14. 
23.9 17.3 
13.6 13.9 
5. 9 10. 
Per cent 
100 
30to39.5 . 
100 
40 to 49.5 
100 
50 to 59.5 
100 
60 to 69.5 __ 
100 
70 to 79 5 
0. 2. 7 
100 
Part of the difference in the prices that different men received for 
their milk was due to the premium that they received for the higher 
fat-content of their milk. Whether it pays to produce this higher- 
test milk depends upon the extra feed cost of the richer milk. 
Table 30 shows the average relation of the test of the milk to the 
feed cost per 100 pounds, after adjusting the feed cost to eliminate 
the effect of the quantity of feed which the cows received and its 
protein content; and the season of year the cows freshened. 
Table 30. — Relation of the butterfat test of the milk to the feed cost of milk -production 
Per cent of 
butterfat • 
Herds in 
group 
Value of feed 
consumed ! 
per 100 pounds 
of milk pro- 
duced 
3.3 
3.5 
3.7 
3.9 
4.1 
4.3 
Number 
18 
56 
44 
25 
12 
7 
Dollars 
1.17 
1.22 
1.26 
1.34 
1.44 
1.49 
1 The simple average of the 12 monthly tests. 
2 Exclusive of pasturage. 
The farmers producing 3.7 per cent milk fed 9 cents more feed for 
each 100 pounds of milk produced than did the farmers producing 
3.3 per cent milk. At the premium of 4 cents per "point, they re- 
ceived 16 cents more per 100 pounds, so with the feed prices of 1922-23 
it paid them to produce the richer milk. The men producing 3.9 per 
cent milk fed 8 cents more feed per 100 pounds than did those pro- 
ducing 3.7 per cent milk, and it was worth just 8 cents more. But 
from 3.9 per cent to 4.1 per cent the extra feed cost of producing milk 
of higher fat test was more than the extra value of the milk, while 
above 4.1 per cent there were too few records for significant results. 
This would indicate that, with the kind of cows used in this area, 
dairymen who produce grade B milk attain the greatest profits by 
producing milk of about 3.7 to 3.9 per cent fat. and that using cows 
producing milk with more or less fat than this tends to reduce the 
net returns slightly, with the differential for butterfat the same as it 
was in 1922. This does not applv, of course, to men who produce 
rich milk for a special market, suet as the grade A or grade AA pro- 
ducers. 
