The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1931-06-04
RENTON co.
! FARM RECORDS
SHOW TRENDS
..oe volume of Business, High
v;elds and Lowered Production
Casts Help Maintain Good La
bor Income.

Farms having apples, and in
many cases strawberries and early
,otatoes to market in 1880, had a
a;s;nct advantage over farms less
,vorsified, according to an analy-
:. made of 90 typical Benton
s ~ farm records by R. M. Tur-
81 &C. extension economist, Washing
=. state College, and E. c. Dur
s Ua county agent. Dairy and poul-
So So PRODUCTS were low in 1880, but
a. = we'll into the average setup
a - q period of years. A fruit
.,ouer with soft fruits in addition
= three or four varieties of ap-
rles had a good chance Of one or
Two fruits having a crop OF bring
ing q good price.
No one farming type is best for
.nv region but there are certain
definite factors which have an i'm
nortant bearing on profits and
ioss. Il is evident that many farms
are too small in the amount of
business done, having either too
few acres, too few cows, or too
few intensified crops such as the
truck crops. Among those analyz-
ed. the large volume farms aver
AGED A. cows, 16 acres in crops,
10 acres in tree fruits, total re-
ceiuts s7s75, and labor income
Of s1965 per farm, while the small
volume farms averaged 6.3 cows,
1877 acres in crops, 1.5 acres in
tree fruits, total receipts of $2A78
and labor income of only $149
or approximately 1-30th that OF
the large volume farms. Labor in
come is what is left after expenses
depreciation and interest are de-
Quoted from the receipts.
Yield is probably the most inn
portant single factor affecting the
costs and ultimately labor income.
The records of fruit farms re-
vealed that where 200 boxes of APP
pies were harvested, it cost an av-
erage Of s2.01 a packed box de-
livered at the warehouse and only
"a cents a box where 1000 boxes
were harvested. In other words the
cost per box for growing, pack
ing and hauling the small yield to
the warehouse was more than two
times that of the larger yield. The
same principle applies to all other
crops as we'll as to the production
per cow or per hen. The analysis
Of FIVE high income farms showed
that high production per unit was
the important factor in maintain
Ing the high labor income.
The % Benton county farms an
alyzed in this study averaged 1876
acres in crops; 1.95 acres in po-
tatoes, z acres in asparagus az
farms); 1.29 acres in grains I'll
farms), 2 acres in strawberries
Is farms), 10 acres in hay, "A
acres in tree fruits, 81 cows, 2.3
hogs and 81 chickens. The total
receipts averaged $4424 of which
o2S per cent was tree fruits; 1.3
strawberries, 8. asparagus; 4.8 po-
tatoes; lis dairy; SO other live
stock; ~ eggs and po-ltry; 5.
other sources; 81 other crops and
~ per cent increase in livestock.
The average labor income WAS
up with your own farm.
Many farms sustained severe
sos4.14. Compare this average set
losses in 1880 with only a few
breaking even. Every thinking
farmer is studying his own bust
ness more closely in order to make
every possible adjustment. Costs
can and should be reduced still
further SO that greater savings
may be realized. While the cost of
smngs the farmer buys is coming
ooWn, it always lags behind the
IAN IN price of raw materials in
siuolng farm products. Adjustment
IN the exchange value is a slow
process. Farmers must consider
more than ever the need for elm
mating low producing cows, hens,
ala even turning low producing
caitlVated areas into pasture. The
slosest scrutiny of any leaks in
Tue farm business must be made if
reasonable labor income is to be
made during the present year.
5llemmer and Ketchum are