The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1907-03-01
COST OF HAULING CROPS
Detailed Report Of Expense Of Get.
TING Grain Produce to Market.

Washington, Feb. 23.-The department
of agriculture is about to publish q
bulletin prepared by the expert on trans
portation in the division of foreign mar
kets. The bulletin is to be q detailed
report on the cost of hauling crops from
farms to shipping points, says special to
The Pioneer Press. The figures given are
based upon returns from nearly 1000
counties and cover practically the entire
farming area of the country.
The average cost to the farmer of
hauling wheat from farms to shipping
points is given as cents per 100
pounds, the average distance hauled is
o. miles, and the average wagon load
of wheat weighs 1928 pounds, thus con-
tanning about tifty-tive bushels. For cot
ton, the average load is l,702 pounds;
distance from shipping point, lis miles,
and cost of hauling l6 cents per 100
pounds. Reduced to terms of cost per
ton per mile, the rate for wheat Is 10
cents and for cotton q cents.
The highest cost of haul is for wool,
which is carried on an average 1913 miles
from farm or ranch to shipping point at
rate of A cents per 100 pounds for the
one product is for hemp, which is hauled
from farms to shipping points at an
average cost of cents per 100 pounds,
the average distance hauled being So
miles and the average load of hemp
weighing 1898 pounds.
For the entire distance from farm to
shipping point, corn, oats and barley are
each hauled at an average cost of 7
cents per 100 pounds; hay, tiaXseed, rye
and thimothy seed, 8 cents; wheat, pota-
toes and beans, 9 cents; tobacco and live
hogs, 10 cents; rice, hops and buck
wheat, ii cents; apples and peanuts, II
cents; vegetables (other than potatoes)
and cotton seed, Is cents; cotton and
wool, A cents.
Except in the case of wool, practically
all costs represent the expense incurred
by farmers in hauling their own produce.
Wool is hauled in the Rocky mountains
largely by regular freight wagons, and
the wool growers pay for the hauling at
varying rates per 100 pounds.
The total tonnage of farm products
hauled on country roads in the United
States is not known, but of twelve lead
ing products it is estimated that nearly
50.000,000 tons were hauled from farms
during the crop year 1906 at a cost
of about SS5, 100000 or more than per
cent of their value at local markets. OF
this traffic, 40,000,000 tons represent the
weight of corn, wheat and cotton, and
the cost of hauling these three products
was S70,00O,O0O.
The number of working days taken to
haul twelve leading crops fromvfarms
to shipping points during the crop year
1866 is estimated at 2l,4l7 800 and the
number of loads taken as 30,3l9, 900. The
greatest time for any one crop in haul
ing to shipping points, is S,494,2OO days
for corn; but if the time were taken for
hauling to local mills the wheat con-
sumed in the counties where grown be
included, the total number of working
days taken for hauling wheat from farms
during the crop year just mentioned
would be more than SS,900,0O0.
Although there were fewer loads of
cotton than of oats, it required 100000
more working days for men and teams
to haul the fiber than this grain, the
average time for a round trip for haul
ing oats being O6 day, and for cotton
one day.
Including wheat hauled to local mills
for grinding, the total number of wagon
loads of the twelve crops just referred
to was 34.2OO,OOO, and the services of
men and teams for 24500O00 working
days were used in moving these loads.