Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-04-24
Cost of Milk.

II ~
A detailed study of the cost of produc
ing milk on four farms, recently con
Quoted by the United States Department
OF Agriculture, leads to the conclusion
that on these farms feed accounts fo
one half or more of the total cost, tn,
remaining charges being divided abou
equally between labor and other items
such as shelter, use of equipment, use o.
bull, interest, depreciation, and over
head. The conclusions are based upor
an exhaustive analysis of the business Of
the four farms, each of which is repre-
sentative Of type of dsirying. While
the actual costs on the farms, as else
where, vary from year to year, the ratio
betwe cen each item and the total remain
ed nearly uniform when the same system
of management was followed. 1t is be.
lieved, therefore, that milk producers
Throughout the country will find valuable
suggestions in the report of this study
just published as Bulletin sol of the De.
partment of Agriculture, and entitled
"The Cost of Producing Milk on -Four
Dairy Farms Located in Wisconsin,
Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North
Carolina" by Morton o. Cooper and c.
NJ. Bennett.
The fact that the cost of feed is shown
to be at least one-half of the total cost OF
producing milk on the farms is cited as
evidence that the feed item Is of great
Importance to the dsiryman who seeks
to reduce the cost of production. 1t is
pointed out, however, that the greatest
economy of production is not always at
tanned by cutting down the feed cost,
and that som etimes IL is necessary to in
crease the feed bills in order to increase
profits.
The question of feed supply is held to
be one for individual solution. "Just
how near the specialized dairyman
should come to growing all the feed re-
quired by bis dairy herd Is a question of
individual business management. One
man may find it more profitable TO grow
all the feed required, while another may
increase his profits by supplementing
the income from cows with crop sales
and purchase part of the feed. In few
localities in the United States crops may
be selected that will not only yield a
product for which there is ready sale
at good prices but which also leave on
the farm much feedsble material. Sweet
corn is an example of this type"
1t is pointed out that when this prac-
tice of supplementing the dairy business
with the production of cash crops is feas-
ible, it is often good business for the
dairyman to sell crops aud buy concen-
tratss, and that "if by the growing of a
cash crop, it is possible from the net re-
ceipts of acre to buy quantity of con-
centrstes equivalent to that which could
be raised on 1-2 or 2 acres, IL would be
folly to grow the concentrates.
In a discussion of the dairy labor
problem, special attention is directed to
a system of winter dsirying practiced on
EN- mployment Cor labor was offered at a
season when otherwise there would be
little to do and yet summer work on
crops was not interrupted.
OF particular interest to the dairymsn
who is considering the question of build
ing up his herd is the fact that though ii
was found to cost more to keep the COW
that gives a high yield than one that
gives a low yield, the unit cost of milk
produced fell in all cases as the produc-
tien per COW rose. OF perhaps greater
interest to the average dsiryman, how
ever, is the further fact that "tbe de-
crease in the cost of milk per pound was
much greater in the step from the poor
COW to the COW of fair quality than in
the step from the fairly efficient cow to
the good COW or the exceptional cow"
This fact is cited as evidence that "the
tirst step in building up poor dairy
herd (that is, replacing scrubs with
grsdes)is not merely the easiest step, but
also the one which promises the most
for a given expenditure of money and
labor"