Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1936-07-23
PRODUCTION
COST FIGURED
Farmers Union Live Stock
Commission Conducts A
Contest on Probe N.
Cost of Raising Veal Calf
Found to be $19.21 Per
Hundred Pounds.


Last March the Farmers Union
Live Stock Commission, South. St.
Paul, Mimi, and West Fargo, N. D.,
conducted a contest to establish cost
of production on agricultural pro-
ducts, and more specifically on a veal
calf. Three prizes were offered and
winners are as follows: First place
of SIS went to Carl J. johnson, Gran
dy; second prize of $40 went to C. H.
Fuller, Wylie; and the third prize of
SIS went to C. r. Feist, Bowman, N. D..
The entry of the first prize winner is
being published below.
Cost of Raising A Calf.
The capital investment on 80 acres
of land is $4,000. the barn being $1,000
and the corn crib 500. A COW takes
two acres of pasture, one and a half
acre of hay, one half acre of feed.
q use corn feed). Wage being about
standard, 81 a day. Taxes $50 on the
whole farm. and insurance SIS.
Cost of corn az acre)-Interest on
land at 40, SIPS; taxes, zoe; plow-
ing, 6 horses and man plOws 3
acres day.. $1.5O; dragging and
planting, 75c; seed at sc per pound,
zoe; cultivating land 3 times, $500;
picking corn in field, $500; fertiliza-
tion of soil, $3.50. Total cost of -
acre of corn, $13.4O.
Cost of hay az acres)-Interest
on Land at 40, $3.75; taxes, Coo; seed
taking a stand to last 10 years, Csc;
dragging once each year, both ways,
100; Cutting of hay with wear and
interest on machine, $3.50; fertiliza-
tion of soil, $3.50; raking of hay, $1.00;
hauling hay in barn and wagon ex-
pense. $6.O5. Total cost of hay, ~
acres, $23.75.
Cost of pasture, z acres-Interest on
land at 40, $500; taxes, soc; fencing,
$1.OO. Total cost of pasture, $3.50.
Total cost of feed a cow eats, $44.04.
Labor and Other Expenses of Cow.
Grinding of feed at 10c a cwt,
labor in winter, &c months). One
man can take care of fifteen COWS
with the milking $4S.0O; milking in
the summer time, taking cow milks
nine months year, that makes four
and one-half months in the summer
time, ten minutes a day for milking,
$500; insurance, 25c; depreciation on
barn, $500; interest on barn at 40,
$2.67; property tax, Csc; real estate
tax, 32c; medical expenses, $1.00; in
terest on COW, $500; interest and
depreciation on corn crib, soc; de-
probation on COW, $500; one bull for
20 cows, same expenses for bull as
cow, minus the labor for milking,
$3.50. Total labor, etc., $77.1S. Total
cost of COW. $121.22.
Income From Cow.
Cow milks 1913 pounds of butterfat
at 55c per pound, S92.4O; a cow gives
1900 gallons of skim milk (taking
31a % butterfat to whole milky at one
cent a gallon, $1,000; eight tons of
manure at one dollar a ton, $500; calf
at birth, $8.S2. Total income from
COW, $121.22.
Cost of Calf.
Cost at birth, $3.50; the calf is tied
by the COW, SO there is no labor ex
pense, but the calf takes milk from
COW for six weeks, about One-fifth of
the years milk, because COW milks
most right after the calls birlh),
$20.8S. l am not sure about the mar
keting expenses, but they are about
trucking, 4Oc; commission, 40c; yard
age, zoe; state weighing, &c; insur-
ance, 1c. Total expense of veal calf,
$30.73. Calf weighs 100 pounds at
1921 per cwt. gives $30.73.
Production cost, including decent
wages would be around 1921 per cwt.
And now says the Farmers Union Live
Stock Commission, these figures are
not submitted as being absolutely, ac-
curate. Different conditions might
cause some little variation, but these
| figures are believed to be somewhere
in the neighborhood of what is right
The lesson to be learned as result
ers receive is considerably below cost
of production, including only lab
oring mans wage. 1t is believed if
any other farm product were taken
as a base the results would be the
same. Therefore the figures would
prove that present prices are below
production cost.
No business can continue unless it's
income covers operating costs. In
other words it must get cost of pro-
duction. That is true of the farmers
business as we'll as any one e Sc S. Now
that we have established the fact that
cost of production figures are consid-
erably above present market values,
the next question is: How can farm
ers get cost of production?
In order that the answer to that