Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-08-10
FARMERS. MUST
REDUCE COSTS.
WILLARD SAYS
Declares Cattle Yield Most
Certain Return On
Investment.

business, Rex Willard told a meeting !
of investigators and extension work
ers at the. agricultural college here
today. Every time the farmer plants
al acre Of grain he can gamble that
it has only forty-four chances out of
every 100 of ever reaching maturity
and there are &56 chances against it.
This isn't a pessinistic guess but a
result of observations made on more
than one hundred widely scattered
said. @
Must Reduce Costs.
Here is the conclusion Mr.. Willard
of figures from many farms for sew
eral years:
Cost OF per bushel OF wheat pro-
duction must be reduced or a num-
Der of wheat farmers in North d.
kota will DOR be driven out OF bust
ness.
A less acreage OF wheat per farm
must become the practice.
On this less acreage a greater yield
per acre must be made. "a fifteen
bushel to the acre average Is neces-
sary to make it pay, he said.)
On the other acreage a greater d.
versity of feed and cultivated crops,
including legumes, appears to be an
economic necessity.
Raising of live stock reduces risk
more than anything else for it is the
surest return Of all. g
Objects Of Meeting.
The meeting here was held to
acquaint the workers with the cost
production work the college is doing
under Mr.. Wizards supervision, to
determine the following: "
/. To find the leaks if there are
any, 49, g,ss.
2. To find out how the efficient
farmer operates and makes money.
8. To determine which enterprises
on the farm are profitable and which
not.
l.. To determine the size and type
of farm that can be operated most
efficiently; that is, to. get the right
balance between the size of the farm
and the combination Of crops to make
best use of work stock, buildings and
other equipment. o.. 1
s. To learn what combinations Of
enterprise in crops and stock will pay
the farm organization taking costs
and risks into consideration.
The farm accounts department Of
the college has secured the co-oper-
alton OF 1875 farmers. in the state who
have kept records of acreage, num-
these, amount Of work put upon each
crop and class of live stock, cost OF
all labor, cost Of board, work horses
and machinery and overhead.
Cost of Production. !
Here are some of the things these
figures show. he said:
H., Wheat-Six recording farms in
Ramsey county show little variation
hin per acre cost of raising it-$15.03
lowest and $16.4s highest. Difference
in yield brought a greater difference
in cost per bushel-$1.09 low and
$1.54 high.
General items of wheat production
costs ARE being determined so that
they may be used in the future.
Thus available figures compiled
show a an average of six hours an
acre Of a mans time is necessary to
raise wheat (not including thresh-
ing). !.
horse labor.
Seed 1 to 1 IL bushels per acre.
Irvine, "a to 2 pounds.
The highest acre cost Of producing
wheat in 1921 yet found is $32 per
acre-lowest IS. The 1921 yield
ranged from 2 to "a bushels per acre.
Other Crops.
Potatoes were produced on one
farm at an average cost of 81 cents
per bushel. In 1921 farmers aver
aged a loss on wheat (some as much
as 81 a bushel) but a profit on po-
tatoes-a few cents to SO cents a
bushel.
corn-Acre cost in one county
Summer Fallowing-Must be dis
tributed to overhead expense or other
crop production. Costs IS to $40 per
acre. II farm is not too large 1t is
generally possible to rest the ground
BY raising corn and potatoes with re-
l ,,Nk "S~,.k o. ~~~@I anA fhnA0 rhrinD In
Income where following does not.
Horses-Itt is necessary to allow for
investment. depreciation and feed.
The average work horse on the North
dakota farm gets In only about 80
4 days work a year and this brings
Available records indicate that 1t
was cheaper to work a horse than a
tractor in 1921 but. these do not con-
slider that q tractor can do more
things and that q man can 0nish a
job quicker with it.
Cattle Costs. 4
Because Of a marked decrease in
,cattle prices between the beginning
land the end Of 1921 only a few farm
ars made money. with cattle Be-
cause Of severe feed conditions many
cattle were carried through the year
Ion low costs-some as low az $40 to
1850 pei head. Income from sale Of
'jd4iry products and beef amounted
lfrom a few dollars q heRdxto SITS q
head per year. a ma can5earn from
Il 40 to 25 cents per hour. summer and
,dhwinter caring for cattle In, some
leases. In others, nothing was made.
Labor Diststbution.
by including raising OF other crops
land live stock with wheat. the farmer
not ,onH eliminates risk but also
:ispreads his labor and the use Of his
EEWork stock; and equipment over 1
n greater number Of days. thus making
tlrnuch Al 60fcenfs a day for each day.
,Ilabor done BY horses has been noted