The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1911-09-28
"The Cost OF Mime
sofa Dairy Products. "
BY c. r. Barns, Minnesota
University Farm.


i. = = :. !. !. !. :. !. !. 4 + !. i.
The above is the subject of Bulletin
No. 124, just issued by the Minnesota
Experiment Station, and published
also as Bulletin No. SO, Bureau of Sta
tistics, United States Department of
Thomas P. Cooper, assistant in farm
management, aided by Professors An
drew Boss and A. D. Wilson. and with
the cooperation of eighty-fiv practi-
cal farmers in Rice, Lyon and Norman
! counties. 1t embodies the results of
an immense amount of patient investi-
cation, covering all the minutae which
enter into the cost of dairy products,
under the varying conditions of di-
verse localities; and the pointers
which it gives, toward betterments
and economies in the feed and care
of dairy herds, are we'll worthy of the
studious attention of farmers every
where. The greatest value of the bull
letin, probably, lies in the Illuminating
tables and diagrams with which it
abounds; but much of the text is as
full of meaning as it is readable; as
is shown by the following detached
paragraphs:
''The development of business meth
DDS in. the industry of farming, with
its inseparably attendant interests,
and the improvement in the man
agement of crops and land, which
has taken place in the fifty years
just passed, has been quite as mar
velous and as deeply fraught with
meaning as the contemporary de-
velopment of manufactures and COM
merce. This is particularly true of
dairying; which, as an enterprise of
the farm, has become through sci
entific methods one of the profitable
forms of agriculture"
"The cost of maintenance is practically
the same for a cow producing 5000
as for one producing 5000 pounds
of milk annually. The only differ
ence is the Slightly greater quantity
of food required to produce the addi-
tional 1000 pounds of milk There
fore, it is economy to produce milk
from herds with high yields. Other
conditions being the same, a COW
J with an average yield of 1000 pounds
per year will produce much more
cheaply than one with a yield of
1000 pounds per year-notwith-
standing that the latter will show
maintenance cost several dollars less
than the former"
1T is exceedingly important that the
producer bear in mind that, except
where very high prices for his
product prevail, the cow giving av-
erage yields must invariably be kept
at a loss. Although in many cases
the farmer may be warranted in re-
tanning such cows for short time,
good business management demands
at least sufficient improvement in
yields to make the income from
product equal to cost of mainte-
nance"
Prices for dairy products are so much
higher in winter than in summer
that the total income per COW is
larger and net profits more satisfac-
tory, provided the large flow of milk
may be produced during the winter
months (as by feeding succulent ST.
lage) Other advantages of winter
dairying might be cited; but the
strongest argument in its favor is
it's adoption by the most capable
dairymen, and the constant tenden-
cy in the dairy sections toward
maximum production during winter
months"
"From a productive viewpoint, farm
er cannot afford to pay $50 or 500
for a COW, unless she will produce
| $500 to $500 pounds of milk The
average cow, producing 1000 pounds
of milk annually, would be kept at
loss of $3.50 per annum."
"The dairy industry particularly aids
the farmer, in that it affords a
steady income from month to month,
and enables. him to have continu-
Gus market for his labor and farm
products. 1t is of particular impor-
lance to the farm as a whole, in
that it aids in keeping up the fer
tility Of the soil, and thus main
tanning the production Of farm crops
at maximum"