United States

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1795102764

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-179770

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: United States

Place of publication:: Washington

Publisher:: Gov. Pr. Off.

Year of publication:: 1928

Scope:: VII, 112 S

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Report on the farmers' costs of production of sugar beets in the Unitede States for the years 1921, 1922, and 1923

Collection:: Economics Books

COSTS OF PRODUCING SUGAR BEETS 33 These conditions indicate on the one hand that the costs per ton obtained in this investigation are lower than the average for all farms in the country as a whole because of the greater sugar-beet acreage per farm and the higher yields per acre obtained on the farms included in the investigation. On the other hand, it is prob- able that some of this higher yield is due to more thorough cultiva- tion, to the application of greater quantities of commercial fertilizer and manure, to the use of better grade land or to more efficient farm management; and that though the averages for the areas investigated are not identical with the averages reported by the United States Department of Agriculture for all farms growing sugar beets, the farms investigated and the data obtained are representative of the sucar-beet industry of the country. EXPLANATION OF TERMS Direct costs. Direct costs are costs incurred specifically for the crop of sugar beets and directly chargeable thereto. The major items are man labor and horse labor. Of lesser importance are tractor costs and materials such as commercial fertilizer, manure, seed, spray material, water rented or purchased specifically for irrigating the beets, and insurance on the crop. Labor costs include the wages paid for hired labor, wages at the going rates in the community for the farmer and members of his family doing farm work on sugar beets, and the farm market value of the perquisites actually furnished hired labor. The perquisites considered are house, land for garden, coal, wood, vegetables, fruit, milk, butter, eggs, feed for horse or cow, and transportation of labor- ers and their supplies. Where the hired help was given board and lodging by the farmer, the farmer’s estimate of the value of such accommodation was added as a part of the labor cost. These esti- mates were checked carefully by the agents of the commission and where they were evidently out of line adjustments were made. The wages allowed the farmer or operator do not include remu- neration for management or supervision, but merely the equivalent of what would have been paid the laborer had the grower hired the manual labor done. In ascertaining the cost of labor per hour, 10 hours were considered a working day, and 25 working days were considered a month, or 3,000 working hours a year per man. The hours per day as ascertained by the commission’s agents in the field are confirmed by figures published by the United States Department of Agriculture and investigations made by a number of State agricultural experiment stations.!® The investigations made by these agencies show this to be about the number of hours and davs actually worked on farms of such char- acter. On every farm there are certain indirect labor items which can not be charged to any particular farm crop or livestock enterprise and which therefore must be prorated. These include repairing machin- ery, harness, machine sheds, fences, barns, and drainage systems, time spent in purchasing material with which to make repairs, in working on public and farm roads, in looking for labor, and in farm-office work. 10 See T'ables 685 and 586 in the 1922 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture.

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