COSTS OF PRODUCING SUGAR BEETS 39 
results on the basis of ‘“‘per acre of sugar beets harvested,” ‘per ton 
of sugar beets harvested,” and “per pound of sugar extracted,” respec- 
tively. The costs shown, both inclusive and exclusive of interest 
charges, are given for the years 1921, 1922, and 1923 and a weighted 
average is constructed for the three-year period 1921-1923. On each 
of the three bases, a comparison is made of average costs with the 
average returns to growers. 
Costs per acre of sugar beets harvested. —For the United States, the 
average three-year cost of producing an acre of sugar beets was found 
to be $70.79 without allowance for land rental and interest on other 
capital, and $85.98 including an allowance for interest. The three- 
year average return to growers for the sale of sugar beets from an 
acre was found to be $87.88, so that the average indicated excess of 
returns over costs was $17.09 per acre when an interest allowance 
was not included in costs and $1.90 per acre when an interest allow- 
ance was included. 
As between the costs in the several States where the investigation 
was made, there was a variation in the three-year averages inclusive 
of an allowance for interest of from $70 per acre (for Ohio) to $98 (for 
Utah and Idaho). For the three-year period, the difference between 
the average cost per acre to the growers (including an allowance for 
interest) and the average returns ranged from an excess of cost of 
38.02 (for Michigan) to an excess of returns of $20.91 (for Montana). 
Costs per ton of sugar beets harvested.—The average three-year cost 
per ton of sugar beets harvested for the United States was found to 
be $6.21 exclusive of interest charges, and $7.53 inclusive of interest. 
Because of the important differences in yield in the several States, 
the order of States is quite different when arranged in accordance 
with costs per ton of sugar beets harvested than when arranged in 
the order of costs per acre. The three-year average costs per ton of 
sugar beets harvested were lowest in Nebraska ($6.40 per ton) and 
highest in California ($9.87 per ton). On this basis the order of the 
States was Nebraska, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Ohio, 
Utah, Michigan, and California. For the United States, the three- 
year average returns to the growers exceeded the average costs without 
interest allowance by $1.49 per ton and the cost with interest by $0.17 
per ton. 
Costs per pound of sugar extracted from sugar beets.—Perhaps most 
significant from the point of view of the consumer are the average 
costs of producing sugar beets on the basis of ‘per pound of sugar 
extracted from the sugar beets.” On the average, in the United 
States during the three years, 263.9 pounds of sugar were extracted 
per ton of beets paid for by the factories. Therefore, the average cost 
of the sugar beets per pound of sugar extracted was 2.35 cents with- 
out allowance for interest and 2.85 cents with interest, resulting in an 
average excess of returns over costs of 0.57 cent and 0.07 cent per 
pound, respectively, by the two methods of calculation.