The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-10
TOP PRICES SET
FOR TRUCK CROPS


And to get recommendations to
give the OPA,> the State College
Department Of Agricultural Eco
Monies is making a study Of these
crops in the important truck areas
of the state, reports DR.. R. E. L..
Greene, member Of the depart
ment in the Experiment Station.
This study covers the 1913 pro-
duction season and is designed to
show the cost per acre and the
cost per unit of each crop. 1t also
includes information on physical
inputs of cost items, such as the
amount of fertilizer used per acre,
the hours of man labor used per
acre land the physical amount of
other items entering into produc-
ton.
Crops and Areas In the Study
In this study an effort is being
made to get records from farmers
in different sections of the state
so as. to cover the various pro-
ducing areas for each crop.
Information has been collected
on the following crops in these
areas: Cabbage - Avery, Hender-
son and Pamllico counties; canta-
loupes - Scotland and Warren
counties; fresh cucumbers-Samp-
son county; lima beans - Duplin
and Sampson counties; May pears
-Duplin county; peppers - Samp-
son county; snapbeans - Avery,
Duplin and Henderson counties;
squash - Sampson county; toma-
toes - Scotland county, and wat
ermelons, Scotland county.
Data will also be obtained for
late cabbage and late snapbeans
in Pasquotank county. In each
area where crop was studied, in
dividual cost records for the 1943
growing season were taken from
20 to 80 farmers.
Calculation Of Cost
Preliminary summaries of the
data have been completed for all
crops except those in the noun
tain area and Pasquotank county.
In calculating cost, 1913 cost rates
for fertilizer, labor, etc., were
used.
Because of the wide variation in
yields of truck crops in 1913, nor
NAL yields were used in comput-
ing production and costs. This nor
NAL yield represents the produc-
ton a farmer would expect under
average growing conditions.
In calculating cost, both fixed
and variable costs have been in
Guided, that is, costs for things
that are needed from year to year
and those costs for things that
arise only occasionally. This is
true although the farmer would
have to bear certain fixed costs
even though he did not grow a par
ticular crop.
Included in the cost of growing
these crops are such things as
fertilizer, containers, marketing
charges, man, horse and tractor
labor, use of auto or truck, land
equipment charge, and
other miscellaneous items. In cal
cost, no charge was made
to cover risk or to allow a reas-
enable return to management.
Results
Cost of growing these crops va
ried from $54 per acre in the case
of watermelons to $172 per acre
for peppers. The cost of cabbage
was $94 per acre; lima beans.
Sill per acre; tomatoes, $83 per
acre; and snap beans, SOL per
acre.
The cost of producing a bushel
of snapbeans was $1.O1, while the
cost of May peas was $1.06 and
lima beans, $1.39 per bushel. The
cost of Peppers was n cents per
bushel and squash, IS cents per
bushel.
Man Labor Per Acre
In most cases, the cost of man
labor was the largest or next to
the largest item of cost. The cost
of man labor for each crop de-
pended on the number of man
hours spent on the crop and the
rate per hour for the labor.
Total man hours for specified
truck crops are: Cabbage 144;
cantaloupes, Scotland county, 1873;
Warren, 1911; cucumbers (fresh) j,
143; lima beans, 1859; May peas,
40; peppers, 254; squash, 1888:
snapbeans, 1879; and waterlnelons,
70. For most truck crops, at least
so per cent or more of the total
labor needed comes during the
harvest period, DR.. Greene says.
Cost Used In Setting Prices
1t is often argued that any price
set by the Office of Price Admin
istration should be high enough to
cover every cost of production.
However, DR.. Greene points out,
in the same area there is a wide
variation in production costs for
the same crop in any year. This
makes it difficult to set prices that
will be satisfactory to all produ-
GERS.