The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-12-04
PROFIT
ON MILK CHECKS
Studies on the Cost of Milk Production
in Vermont Aid in Answering
This Question.

For $50 cows that averaged less than
5000 pounds of milk annually, the part
of the milk check that represented
profit and reimbursement for the own.
er's managerial ability was % per
cent. For PSI cows averaging more
than 5000 pounds annually, the per
cent remaining for profit and the own
er's skill was Al per cent
For the last five years the dairy di-
vision, United States department OF
agriculture has been making studies
which bear on this problem in many
dairy sections of the country; and
two-year Investigations on the require
ments for producing milk have now
been completed on groups OF dairy
farms in six of these communities. One
of the latest of these studies, carried
on in Vermont, is the one on which
the above figures are based. What it
has disclosed in regard to economy of
production and the requirements for
producing milk, may be Of value to the
dairyman who is interested in finding
OUT where milk returns are going.
These figures, which were obtained
from a study of the production records
of 5S7 cows which remained in the
herds I'LL year, show tina. the aver
age annual production of the 1870 low
reproducing cows was 4,l46 pounds;
also that the average production of
257 higher producers was 7.144 pounds
year. After subtracting from ALAG
pounds the amount of milk required to
pay production costs feed, 1910
pounds of milk; labor 500 pounds of
milk, and other costs, $40 pounds of
milk only 900 pounds of milk re-
manned for the profit and skill of the
owner. For the high producing group,
however, 3,074 pounds of milk re-
manned after the following deductions
had been made; for feed 2,302 pounds
of milk, labor 500 pounds of milk and
other costs 962 pounds of milk
Here then were cows in the same To-
cality, in some cases standing side by |
side, and all requiring about the same
labor; yet some were producing three
times as much profit as Others, even
though they were charged with great
er quantities of feed and large
amountsof "other costs"
The figures adduced are significant
also in that they show that in milk
checks size is not always a true meas
ure of real value; but that the per cent
of profit, as determined by the cows
that are kept, plays an important part. |
Requirements for 100 Pounds of Milk. |
The figures. upon which this compari |
son is based were actual records of !
production; feed, labor and other costs
were obtained by monthly ull-day Wis
its on each of the farms for period Of |
two years. Careful records were made |
on these visits of the daily milk pro- |
duction of each COW, feed consumed, la
Dor required, overhead costs, etc, Using |
these data, the requirements for pro- |
ducing 100 pounds of milk were worked i
out, So far as possible the require
ments were determined in terms of |
pounds of feed, hours of labor, etc, so
that constantly fuctuating prices |
would have no effect ON the value of /
the figures. Results may be interpret
ed at any time by using prevailing |
prices.
The requirements for producing 100
pounds of milk, based on s47 cows,
with an average annual production of !
5 ,252 pounds of 80 per cent milk, were
as follows: