Gunnison news-champion., 1924-07-18
FAMILY SIZED CATTLE
RANCH FOUND MORE
EFFICIENT BY EXPERTS

lAaHA-as anu AAAF PtfEfAAA III
ranching Is toward family size ranch
business, says the United States De-
partmsHt Of agriculture.
Advantages Of the family size ranch
are that il maintains highly efficient
utilization Of labor and does not have
- own profits reduced by the hiring
of additional labor on an extensive
scale. But though the small ranch is
the most efficient, il is not followed
in order of efficiency BY the ranch a
little larger On the contrary. second
place is held by the largest ranches
These have a lower calf crop than the
family-size ranches, but they can
materially overcome this handicap By
more efficient use of feed and labor,
due TO the fact that one man c.n
handle 500 10 1000 cattle practically IS
easily Is he can care for 200.
Investigations are being made By
the department into the question what
Is the proper size of 4 cattle ranch.
This problem has been thrown into
the foreground prominently in the last
two years, under the pressure of con-
dltIOHs which have made ranching for
the most part improbable. There
As not the same incentive TO find
out the most efficient size of ranch in
the pre-war period, when margins of
profit were satisfactory for all but
the very inefTiciently conducted ranct.-
ing enterprises. So far the depart
ment does not undertake 10 make a
definite statement as to the best size
of ranch. II declares however, that
some ranches are undoubtedly too
large for efficient operations, while
others are too small.
Another important indicator to de-
termine the profitableness or unprofit-
ahleness is the manner in which the
rancher holds his grazing land. Cen
orally the man who leases q good share
Of his land has an advantage over the
ranchmen who own most of their
lard. His taxes and repair costs per
calf are much lower Gross costs of
producing calves on IS ranches south
west of Wichita Falls, Texas in 1922,
varied from s22.55 head to s6l.T5 n
head. The lower cost range was op-
Grated by a man who leased all his
land and had no taxes or repair ex-
penses on equipment or improvements.
The high cost ranch had $500 of its
total investment in decided land. Fx-
perts in the department say that the
handicap of a large charge for land
Is difficult to overcome. especially il
the land is operated on borrowed capi-
tai.
This Is brought out by n detailed
study of the operating cost of produc-
ing a calf on the IS Texas ranches al
ready mentioned. Operating costs
mean cost of labor. taxes. deprecia-
ton of equipment, feed, salt, etc. II
does not include any allowance for
rent, interest or payment for the labor
Of the operator In 1920 the aver
age operating cost of producing calf
from these ranches was S25.52- In
1921, the cost was sl9.25. These costs,
il these ranches had not been burden
ed with high charges for land and in
terest, would have meant a good pro-
fit on the animals. But the gross
cost Was increased by amounts repre-
senting rent and interest, either paid
or on the operators investment to a
total in 1920 of s5i.l0; in 1921 of
S4i.ll, and in 1922 Of S40.37. These
figures show how land charges and in
terest payments affected the price
necessary to make ranch cattle profit
able. High production costs, in other
words, are largely due TO the fact that
each calf carries money charge for
interest or indebtedness. II is point
ed out by the department that the fix
ed charges on cattle ranches represent
actual money payments which the
rancher must make on a specified
date il he is not to undergo forced
liquidation. Relief for mortgaged
ranchmen would therefore be obtained
better thru an increase in the prices
Of what they sell than thru lowering
Of the price of what they buy. In the
first place they would have more cash
to meet fixed charges, whereas in the
second case they would only be bene-
fitted by a saving on their operating
costs. Though a downward readjust-
ment in the prices of what they have
would help them, it would not entirely
cure the present trouble.
Frequently, says the department,
the amount of capital needed to oper-
ate the average cattle ranch is under
estimated. Capital in improved land
usually represents the largest sirgie
item. The next largest item is in
the productive livestock of the breed
ing herd. The total investment OF
the Is ranches already referred to
varied in 1922 from s42 ,265 in-<he case
of an operator grazing cattle owe,
1900 acres, to s642, ,6s6 in the case OF
a ranch outfit grazing 64,500 acres
Only FIVE of the fifteen ranches had a
total investment of less than 500 600
The average land indebtedness was
| $3.50 an acre of decided land. 1t took
a capital investment Of s31,770 te
produce 100 calves.
There has been decrease in the
last few years in the amount Of
interest paid by cattle ranches. This
| decrease is attributed partly to reduc.
ton in interest rates on both land anc
/ cattle loans, and by greater use OF
i the intermediate credit system. One
! difficulty which the intermediate credit
/ system could lessen is the handicap
! Of short-time loans which have forcet
many ranchers to sell heifer calve:
that should have been kept to replaci
old cows. Over-stocking has some
times resulted from the farmers nee
h ~osity tn produce sufficient returns II