Mathews, J. L. The Farmers' union and the tobacco pool. Atlantic, vol. 102, p. 482-491. October, 1908. Michell, H. The co-operative store in Canada. Queen's quarterly, vol. 23, no. 3, p. 317-338. January-March, 1916. Queen's university, Kingston, Canada. Minnesota farmers' institute annual. Co-operation number. St. Paul, 1913. Moorhouse, H. W. A reorganization of farming. mechanical college. Bulletin 74. 1914. Oklahoma. Agricultural and Morman, J. B. Business coöperative organizations in agriculture. In Bailey, L. H. Mortensen, Martin and Davidson, J. B. Creamery organization and construction. 1913. I. Creamery organization and construction. II.-Building plans. Iowa. Agricultural experiment station. Bulletin 139, parts 1 and 2. Nahstoll, G. A. and Kerr, W. H. A system of accounting for cooperative fruit associations. U. S. Department of agriculture. Bulletin 225. 1915. National conference on marketing and farm credits. Proceedings of the first National conference on marketing and farm credits, in Chicago, April 8, 9 and 10, 1913. 1913. National conference on marketing and farm credits. A collection of papers read at the third annual sessions of the National conference on marketing and farm credits in joint program with the National council of farmers' coöperative associations, in Chicago, November 29-30 and December 1-2, 1915. Madison, 1916. New York (State). Department of agriculture. Manual on cooperation. Its Circular 94. 1914. New York (State). Department of agriculture. Proceedings of the first annual conference of cooperative associations. Its Bulletin 63. 1914. The order of Patrons of husbandry ("The Grange"). International institute of agriculture. Monthly bulletin of economic and social intelligence. 6th year, no. 6, p. 1–16; and no. 10, p. 1-11. June and October, 1915. Pearson, R. A. Agricultural organizations in European countries. New York (State). Department of agriculture. Bulletin 66. 1914. Powell, G. H. Poe, Clarence. How farmers co-operate and double profits. New York, 1915. Powell, G. H. U. S. Depart Ray, R. J. The co-operative Grangers of Johnson County, Kansas. 1909. State board of pub1912. Sinclair, J. F. Agricultural co-operation. Wisconsin. State board of public affairs. Report upon co-operation and marketing, part 1. 1912. Sinclair, J. F. Distributive or store co-operation. Wisconsin. lic affairs. Report upon co-operation and marketing, part 4. Stockbridge, F. P. The coöperator's big dollar. World's work, vol. 24, no. 5, p. 534-540. September, 1912. Systems of marketing farm products and demand for such products at trade centers. U. S. Department of agriculture. Office of the Secretary. Report 98. 1913. Taeusch, C. F. Rural cooperation and cooperative marketing in Ohio, 1913. Ohio. Agricultural experiment station. Circular 141. 1913. Taylor, H. C. The marketing of Wisconsin potatoes. Wisconsin. Agricultural experiment station. Bulletin 256. 1915. 85964°-Bull. 547-17-6 Thompson, C. W. Technical studies in egg marketing. Minnesota. Agricultural experiment station. Bulletin 132. 1915. U. S. Industrial commission. Report of the Industrial commission on the distribution of farm products. Its Reports, vol. 6. 1901. Weld, L. D. H. Cooperation in Minnesota. International institute of agriculture. International review of agricultural economics (Monthly bulletin of economic and social intelligence). 7th year, no. 2, p. 12-27; and no. 3, p. 25-32. February and March, 1916. Weld, L. D. H. Coöperative marketing of grain in western Canada. University of Minnesota. Studies in the social sciences, no. 4, p. 96-108. 1915. Weld, L. D. H. periment station. Weld, L. D. H. Weld, L. D. H. Farmers' elevators in Minnesota. Minnesota. Agricultural ex- The marketing of farm products. New York, 1916. Statistics of coöperation among farmers in Minnesota, 1913. Minnesota. Agricultural experiment station. Bulletin 146. 1914. Winslow, Erving. Co-operation. North American review, vol. 197, p. 838-847. June, 1913. Wolff, II. W. Co-operation in agriculture. London, 1912. Youngman, Anna. The tobacco pools of Kentucky and Tennessee. Journal of political economy, vol. 18, p. 34-49. January, 1910. ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 20 CENTS PER COPY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BULLETIN No. 548 Office of the Secretary Contribution from the Office of Farm Management Washington, D. C. May 24, 1917 THE BUSINESS OF TEN DAIRY FARMS IN THE BLUEGRASS REGION OF KENTUCKY. The purpose of this bulletin is to present a brief analysis of the business of 10 dairy farms which were found among 187 farms 1 selected and studied during 1914 in Mason, Scott, and Madison Counties, in the bluegrass region of Kentucky. This analysis will show how these farms were organized and will point out the factors which made some of them profitable. From so few records it would not be possible to analyze thoroughly the economic situation relative to dairying in this locality, but the analysis should be of some practical interest to the bluegrass farmer who already is running a dairy farm or who is about to organize one. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF DAIRYING. The fact that this locality is famous for bluegrass would suggest a favorable locality for dairying. The adaptation of the soil to bluegrass pasture is the distinctive natural advantage which this locality. has for this type of farming. The climatic factors, however, partly 1 An analysis of these farms, including the 10 dairy farms, is given in U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 482, Farming in the Bluegrass Region. 86323°-Bull. 548-17 offset this advantage, especially for the production of cheese and butter. The long summer months are warm, with a lower rainfall than the winter months, while in the extensive dairy sections of Wisconsin and New York the highest rainfall is during the summer months, which average 7 to 8 degrees cooler than in Kentucky. These adverse conditions have not interfered with the increased production of market milk where there is a demand at good prices, but they are a handicap especially in the production of cheese, which is produced to best advantage in a climate that is relatively cool. Most of the dairy farms in the region have developed near such large cities as Cincinnati and Louisville, where large quantities of milk and cream may be marketed. Lexington, a city of about 40,000 inhabitants, and several other towns of 5,000 to 15,000, furnish a market for a few dairy farms in the central part of the bluegrass region. RECEIPTS FROM DAIRY PRODUCTS, TOGETHER WITH LABOR INCOMES, ON EACH OF TEN FARMS. The business of each of the 10 farms studied may be summarized briefly, as follows: TABLE I.-Size of farms, with number of cows and with receipts from labor income and dairy products. 1 This farm fell $139 short of paying expenses, including interest on investment. Thus it will be seen that these ten dairy farms depend mostly on market milk for income. Cream is next in importance. Very little butter is marketed. The one dairyman depending mostly on butter for income failed to make expenses, counting interest on investment among the expenses. The market price of milk distributed to customers ranged from 7 to 10 cents per quart, and cream 60 cents to $1 per gallon, depending on market opportunities and quality of product. Near the smaller towns the milk is mostly bottled and is marketed at the door of the customer. In the vicinity of larger cities it is mostly shipped in and retailed through local distributors. When this was done the farmer received 15 to 20 cents per gallon for milk and paid 14 to 2 cents per gallon to ship it 30 to 50 miles. The labor incomes on most of the farms were large, as compared with those of successful farms of other types in this region. The average labor income on 187 farms was $750, while the average of these ten dairy farms was $1,773. Table I shows plainly that of the ten farms studied those which sold market milk and which had high net receipts per cow made the most money. OTHER SOURCES OF INCOME. While dairy products furnished the main source of income on these farms, the farmers found it profitable to diversify to some extent. Other common sources of income were tobacco and wheat. In some cases a few steers were kept. There was some income from the sale of dairy cows, young stock, and calves. In some cases also there was a substantial income from swine and poultry. The percentage receipts from dairy products and tobacco on these farms were as follows: TABLE II.-Percentage receipts from dairy products and tobacco. Tobacco is a crop specially adapted to the region, and on many farms it is the main source of income. The percentage receipts from dairying on the ten farms in question, as shown in Table II, included net receipts from dairy stock and from calves. During the past two years (1915 and 1916) Farm No. 4 has found hemp a profitable crop, not only because of recent increase in price of this product, but because during its growing season hemp requires no attention, while the harvesting is done in a few days by machinery and the other operations in preparation for marketing may be let out to negroes who are experienced hemp workers. 1 Labor income is what the farmer makes above expenses, which include current interest on the money he has tied up in his business. |