The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1920-12-02

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State College Agricultural Exten-
sion R Report.
Brookings. S. D. Nov. "a. "A
summary of the cost Of producing
wheat in 1919 on farms in South
Dakota. North Dakota Kansas, Mis-.
souri,. Nebraska and Minnesota, has
recently been prepared from figures Of
the United State Department Of Agri.
culture and the results are well worth
careful study by South Dakota farm,
ers. The summary covers 481 farms
in the six states mentioned. The fol.
lowing conclusions are drawn from
these figures by N. II. Benedict. farm
management specialist in the extern
sion dividion at State College:
For the entire 481 farms the cost
varied from ST. per bushel up to more
than SIS per bushel with the average
at So. Is. Seventy-five per cent of
the farms had costs ranging between
81 40 and So. 80. The cost was con.
siderably lower in the winter wheat
belt than in the spring wheat .telt.
Two hundred eighty four farms grow
ing winter wheat had an average cost
of 81 81 per bushel, 73 per cent Of
them having costs that ranged be.
tween 81. 40 and So. SO perb ushel.
South Dakota Figures.
On 1877 farms growing spring
wheat, the average cost was So. 65
per bushel with 62.8 percent of the.
ferns having costs that ranged be-
tween 81. 80 per bushel and SIS per
bushel. The costs on 80 farms in
Sphinx county. South Dakota, are fair.
ly representative of the spring wheat
area. The costs here varied from
81 10 to Sd SO per bushel with an
average cost of So. 40. Tha cost on
17.9 percent of these farms was
bove So per bushel.
Both the public and the grower
should recognize that. in the long
run, the average cost of production
is not eufficient as price to main.
tain production; for, at this price,
half of the production will be at
loss, a condition which cannot long
continue except where crop may be
continued just to fill nut a general
crop rotation plan.
The Growers Problem.
On the other hand there is reason
TO. careful study of these figures by
the growers who have very high
costs. For example. if it should
prove possible TO bring the price up
to So, al is the aim of large group
of growers at the present time. It's
percent of these Sphinx county farms
would still be producing at loss.
Obviously their biggest problem is to
bring their cost down to that of the
bulk of the producers. This means,
in most cases, better varieties, more
roistion Of crops. and better prepaTa.
tion of coil. The leading factor in
high or low cost is the yield per acre
"a the cost of producing an acre of
wheat varies very little with a high
or low yield. For example. on the
spring wheat farms producing at a
cost below 81. 70 per bushel, the av-
erage yield per acre was Ia % bush.
els while on those farms producing at
a cost of more than Sd per bushel.
the average yield was 5.33 bushels
per acre This illustrates the prin.
ciple often not clearly understood that
if, in the case of any crop, the pro.
duction seem. to b. larger than is
necessary, reduction should come by
growing fewer acres. not by letting
the yield drop down on the acres
grown. If the yield per acre is al.
lowed to drop down to low point,
the increased cost per bushel is al.
most sure to more than offset any in.
crease in price that might come.
South Dakota cost records on all of
the principal crops are being summar-
ized by the farm management depart.
ment at State College, but will not
be entirely complete until the work
with the corn crop Is completed.
There is much need for careful con
sideration of production coats by far.
mers both as to means of securing
adequate prices and a to ways to
lower extraordinarily high costs pei
bushel.
Major o. W. Coursey4 Of Mitchell,