Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-10-09
Range In Cost OF Producing
Bu.hel OF Wheat Was.
From 81 Cents to $l3.l8;
Average Was $l.53 In
County and SLAB in State.

In 1921 the farm managenent de-
partment of the North Dakota. Agri-
cultural college set out to determine
the cost OF raising various crops on
North Dakota forms. Records were
kept on 1928 farms throughout the
state. four OF them in Grand Forks
county, during the entire year. These
records when, completed were sentAto
the agricultural college, where they
management specialist, who has just
made q report on his findings.
The complete cost o records
from the 126 farms show a range In.
cost of production OF. wheat. foom 81
cents to 1913 cents per bushel, with
an average. cost. Of $1.43. The yield
ranged from one-half to IS bushels
per acre, averaging t9.05 bushels
Flax Cost 1896. @
The average cost OF raising wheat
on the Jour Grand Forks county farms
was $1.63 per bushel; oats, SIS: bar
ley, $.s2; rye, $3.50: fax, s2.s6; pota-
toes, $.44; corn grain, SAT; corn fod-
der, $S.05 per ton, and corn silage,
$3.50 per ton.
The 126 farms which kept records
are located in 81 counties of North
Dakota and are fairly equally dis
tributcd from east to west so that they
represent the conditions. Of the entire
state. They were unsolicited except
that the farm operators were willing
to keep the records for the calcula-
tons. The farms range in size from
. quarter section to three sections.
and the records cover a total acreage
Of 21,21S, with gross production Of
201.519 bushels Of wheat. r.
Those keeping cost of production
| ro0npao IN - rS T0~Ir~ 4-,,-k -,---
Oscar Wilcox, B. w. Cummings,
George E.. Jones and J. J. O'Hara, ali
of Kempton. Records were kept on
cost Of man labor. horse labor, con-
tract labor, seed, manure Irvine,
treating material. threshing, tractor,
automobile. machinery, summer fall
low, salt, feed. building charges, in
terest on stock investment. pasture.
fence. interest on cash, overhead, crop
insurance. and management.
On the Wilcox farm. where $500
was set as the cost of land per acre,
the total cost Of raising an acre of
wheat was s21.1S; oats, 5000; bar
ley. 1881; timothy hay, $1O.33; al
The cost of keeping 6.25 units of
cattle, one full grown animal being
classed as a full unit, was s1,032.13;
LOS units of hogs, five 200-pound
hogs being a unit. cost $4,000. One
animal unit Of chicken is 200 birds.
The cost Of keeping 2.36 units on the
1 Wilcox farm was $382.1S. g.
Reports Vary.
In raising an acre of wheat on the
Cummings farm, man labor cost,
$2.27 horse labor. $1.93: seed. $1.SS;
manure, Sal; Irvine, s.24; t~hresnins,
$3.50; automobile, $.25; machinery,
1913; interest on cash, sol; overhead,
$50. and management, SIT.
The reports vary somewhat in the
cost of raising certain crops, due
mostly to the yields obtained. Farms
producing wheat at low COSTS per
bushel made high yields per acre
Four farms that producted wheat a,
less than 80 cents per bushel made
yields of 20 bushels per acre. Nine.
teen farms that produced wheat , a,
$1.00 or less per bushel made an aver.
age yield of 14.7 bushels. Twenty-sis
farms which produced wheat at cost:
ranging from $l.50 to 5000 per bushe