Connecticut western news., 1909-08-26
INTERESTING PAPER
 ON MILK QUESTION
BY PROF. CHARLES S. PHELPS
Writer Tells Why There Is No Profit to the Farmer in the Production of Milk and Suggests Remedies Which He Thinks Would Be Practicable.

He Thinks Would Be Practicable.
 The writer having had a wide exper- fence in the production of milk and be- ing at present a dlsinterested party. feels that he can discuss the milk situation from an unprejudiced standpoint. The chief factors bearing on the production of milk are of course the cost of feed and labor. Too commonly the latter is left out of account, because 1t is supposed that the farmer and his sons will do the work without regard to what they may be paid for it.
 The cost of grain feeds has increased fully fifty per cent. in the past ten years and yet the wholesale price of milk has not advanced, The majority of our farmers must. of necessity, be interested i'll keeping some kind of stock in order to find a market for the directly unsala- ble products of the farm During the past 20 years it las seemed as if there should be fair profit in dairying; but if the price of feeds continue where they have been for the past two or three years, farmers must either Ego to the wall, y or find a way to get better price for thair milk.
 Now perhaps a few facts bearing di- rectly cn the cost of producing milk may be of interest. In order to keep up fair milk flow at least the following amounts of feed will be required, for the average sized COW, during the year: tons of hay, at $10. (at the barn.) equal to $3O; pounds of grain Der day, for 1S0 days, at one and one-half cents pr1 pound, equaling $2l 50; 26 weeks of pas turage, at the very low figure of 20 cents week, making $5.20; the grand tota, being $56.6 as the cost of keep for one year, to which must be added $25 to $50 to cover cost of care.
 Now as to the production: This Ge- bends very much upon the kind of COW vs kept; and right here is where the farmer can help himself greatly, ifhe will study into the matter. There are many herds throughout the milk shipping districts that produce less than 2,000 quarts per COW. per year. The average price paid by the Bordens for the past year has been three and two-fifths cents; but at this rate the income on the above basis of production (2,O00 lbs.) would be $6S, leaving $11.20 to pay the farmer for his years labor. There are some herds in the milk shipping districts that will produce as high as 5000 quarts of milk each. per year. On this basis of production, the value of the milk would exceed the cost by about $45. This shows the possibility of the farmers being able to help him. self if he will make a careful study of COWS and raise or buy only the best. But even at these figures the farmer is being only fairly paid for his labor. In the first estimate on the 2,000 quart basis, nothing was said about labor. But let me add here that wide expert ence and observation has led me to real ize that the labor cost of caring for herd of considerable size will amount to at least thirty dollars per year, per COW. If we assume that the farmer must manage his farm mainly by hired labor, there is certainly very little left for profit, even at the higher rate of pro- duction of 5000 quarts. Perhaps few facts gleaned from actual producers of milk for the Bordens will be more tell ing than data from my own experience. Last December the writer had occasion to gather some facts on the farmers share of the profits, for use in an ad- dress before the Country Life Commits sion, at Springfield, Mass. My aim was to show the small share of the amount that the city consumer paid for his pro- ducts that actually went to the farmor. Incidentally let me say that only atout one-third of every dollar that the con sumer pays for his milk reaches the pocket of the farmer. As bearing on this question, I interviewed two farmers whose operations indicated that they were large producers and whom the general public seemed to consider were successful farmers. One of these men told me that he kept herd of B cows, which produced him a little less than 5000 quarts of milk each. In talking with him about his feed, I found that hls grain ration fed for six months dur
 Ing the winter, at an average price of $50 a ton amounted to $32.40 for each COW. Two tons of hay came to S20 aud two tens of corn fodder, $l0; 26 weeks of pasture, at 20 cents, S5,2O, making a total of $676 as the cost of keep for each COW for year. He told me that the average price received during the | op