Statistical comparisons of record-keeping farms and a random sample of Iowa farms for 1939

This bulletin summarizes a comparison made between 1055 farm records and a geographically stratified random sample of 782 farm survey schedules both covering the year 1939. The record group was found to contain many more large farms than the representative sample. Also it contained more farms of the cattle-feeding type, and fewer crop farms and dual-purpose cattle farms than the sample. Even when the record farms were compared to random sample groups of farms of the same size and the same type there were many pronounced differences. The record farms commonly produced a gross income at least half again as great as the representative farms. Data from the random sample, however, were obtained by the survey method rather than by records; consequently they may be incomplete by some 12 or 14 percent. But this still leaves a wide difference between the two groups in production per 100 acres. Net income per 100 acres also varied significantly between the two groups of farms, with the record farmers well above the representative sample. Thus an extra acre on the record farms added $9.18 to net income on the average while an extra acre on the random sample added only$5.01

Twenty-one years of Iowa farm records

This bulletin summarizes over 11,000 records kept by Iowa farmers from 1920 to 1940. It shows the reactions of a group of relatively efficient farmers to changes in prices and in weather during a period that begins at the end of one great war, includes the reconstruction period that followed, the secondary Great Depression, followed by a period of serious drouth, economic recovery, and finally some of the initial impacts of another major war. It is estimated that from 1920 to 1940 gross sales on these farms were 140 to 190 percent of those on the average Iowa farm. The record keepers also put more into their farms than did the average farmer, and operating expenses exceeded the average by about 60 percent. Trends of income and organization have varied between type of farming areas. Since the late 1920\u27s the acreage of corn in the cash grain and the eastern livestock areas has declined about 10 percent. In the dairy area the decline was relatively minor; but in the western livestock area it amounted to nearly a fifth and in the southern pasture area to nearly a third because of advancing erosion and a series of drouths. The southern pasture area has shown a pronounced general reduction in production and income as compared to other sections. Gross income recovered rapidly after 1921 from the low level of the primary post war depression, rising from $1,700 per 100 acres to$3,000, a level which was held from 1925 to 1929, declined to about $800 in 1932; and then recovered to$2,800 by 1940. Net income followed the same general course, but fluctuation was not so great because of adjustments in expenses

Farm organization and management in Webster County

In the cash grain area farm tenure is one of the most important factors influencing the type of fanning. Crop-share tenancy means a high percentage of land in corn and usually a small number of livestock per farm. Heavy sale of crops off the farm tends to deplete fertility and reduce yields. The greatest differences in farm organization, however are associated with the disposition of the crops after they are raised. On the farms studied there was but little difference in the crop rotations followed as between the principal types of farms, though there was considerable variation within each type

An economic study of the hog enterprise

Wide variations in feed consumption and other costs of hog production were found in each of the three studies reported in this bulletin. These variations in costs are found to be mainly the result of practices used in the management and feeding of the breeding herd and the fattening pigs. The average consumption of corn per hundred pounds of gain was between 434 and 457 pounds for the three groups of farms. To this was added from 38 to 56 pounds of oats, 5 to 12 pounds of tankage, 4 to 9 gallons of skimmilk besides small amounts of other concentrates. Cost of production varied with prices of feeds and other materials. In the Humboldt County study a reduction of 10 cents per bushel in corn prices, 5 cents per bushel on oats and 5 cents per hour on labor together mean a decline in the cost of hogs of just about a dollar per hundred pounds. In the Humboldt County study it was found that the costs on the breeding herd, including the feed eaten by the pigs during the suckling period, amounted to about one-third of the total costs in the production of hogs. About 25 bushels of corn, 7 bushels of oats, 147 pounds of tankage and 31 gallons of skimmilk were fed per animal in the breeding herd per year

Prospects for agricultural recovery, III. Estimating advantages of the corn-hog plan to the individual farm

This is one of a series of bulletins dealing with agricultural recovery and considers specifically the corn-hog plan of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. The need for such a plan was discussed in Circular 148 of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, in which it was said that, Until our foreign trade is reestablished, that is, until imports are increased, exports must be reduced. Therefore, temporarily at least, some plan to facilitate the orderly retreat of our cotton, wheat, hog and tobacco producers is not only desirable but in all probability essential.” The present plan and its advantages are being discussed currently by the Extension Service and in literature distributed by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. It is believed that the present plan is the most practical one yet devised for handling the emergency aspects of the corn-hog production problem

An economic study of the cattle feeding enterprise in Iowa

This bulletin is a part of a larger and broader study which attempts to explain the economic forces and conditions which have caused the development of the present types of farming in Iowa, and their location under the particular conditions where they are found. A study of this sort is not intended to be, and should not be, purely analytical. It should trace the development of the present forms of farm organization, and should proceed to point out lessons to be drawn from their development for the guidance of the practical farmer. Such a study cannot stop at an examination of the present system alone. Our present economic institutions are rooted deeply in the past. Our present economic environment would not be what it is had it not passed thru the specific course of development that has gone before. For this reason a brief historical sketch of the development of the beef cattle industry is presented

Horses, tractors and farm equipment

Data were obtained from, 28 farms in Iowa County on the expenses on horses, tractors and equipment. In studying the labor requirements of crop production, data were secured from about 100 additional farms in five other Iowa counties. It was found that the larger farms had an advantage in the number of acres of crops handled per horse. On farms with horses only, the acreage per horse increased from 12.5 where there were under 80 crop acres to 25 where there were 120 to 150 crop acres. On the larger farms a tractor, for use in the busy seasons, permitted keeping a smaller number of horses and working each horse more hours per year. The expense of keeping a horse a year varied widely, but on most of the farms it amounted to between $60 and$110 per horse, with about $90 as the typical figure. Of this about three-fourths represented the cost of feed

A statistical study of the prices and production of beef cattle

This study attempts, as far as possible, to find explanations for the various major and minor movements in prices of cattle since Iowa became an important beef producing state. An examination has been made to see if there are elements which may be expected to influence prices in the same manner in the future