Beans In Colorado 
i 7 
age amount of labor, therefore, required to produce an acre, would 
be equivalent to about 15 man hours per each acre of beans per 
year, and about 42 horse hours. The labor cost of producing a 
bean crop on the dry lands will probably run from a minimum of 
$5 to a maximum of $8 per acre. To this labor cost must be added 
interest and depreciation on machinery used and interest on the 
land or rentals. 
The cost of producing beans under irrigation will give a labor 
cost somewhat higher, running from $9 to $15 per acre. Under 
irrigation, in addition to machinery costs, which will be quite com¬ 
parable to those on the dry land, there will be added the cost of 
irrigation, water rentals or ditch up-keep. Land rentals, or inter¬ 
est on land investment will be consequently higher. 
It is possible that where a farmer does all his own work, he 
will be able to produce Deans on the dry lands for from $5 to $7 
per acre, and under irrigation for from $15 to $30 per acre, de¬ 
pending upon the locality and land conditions and land values. 
If all labor must be hired, it is quite possible that the efficiency 
of labor will be lower and the price somewhat higher than nor¬ 
mal going wages in dry land and irrigated regions because if all 
labor is hired, it will usually be wanted at times when everybody 
is busy and as a consequence more will have to be paid for the 
labor. This will likely raise these estimated costs somewhat. 
For two years, during which studies were made on the dry 
lands, it was found that the cost of operations for the production 
of beans varied from a minimum of $2.15 per acre to a maximum 
of about $6 per acre. The cost of operations included the cost of 
all horse and man labor and does not include seed costs, interest 
and depreciation on machinery or land rentals. The differences 
in cost were due to differences in number of cultivations and the 
manner of preparing the seed bed. In computing these costs, 15c 
per hour was allowed for the value of man labor and 10c per hour 
for horse labor. Where the farmer is doing the work himself, if 
he allows these costs, he is, of course, paying himself wages at 
these rates. Labor is occasionally cheaper than these prices and 
in rush periods is often higher. The figure given was found to be 
the average paid in dry-land regions for two successive years, the 
average being the average wages paid for the entire season, and 
not the average paid during rush periods. 
USE OF BEAN STRAW 
The bean straw and hulls after the beans have been thrashed 
out will yield from one-half to three-quarters of a ton per acre 
on dry lands, and somewhat heavier yields will be received from 
