Farm Business Analysis Studies

Abstract

Farm Business Analysis Studies, or as they were formerly termed, Farm Management Surveys, have been in progress for about twelve years. Within this time this line of study has probably made as great advancement as that of any other phase of Farm Management re search. Twelve years ago very little data on the actual financial conditions of farming in various areas or for a given type of farming were available. Today a number of the State Colleges and Experi ment Stations and the U. S. Department of Agriculture have a good start in this important line of work. The results of the work so far accomplished have been of great aid in showing that, while, as a rule, no phenomenal profits can be expected from agriculture as an occu pation, it is a good life work and, if capital and labor are wisely expended it will return fair wages and a moderate return on the investment. These studies have also aided in establishing some of the fundamental factors affecting profits in farming. Probably it is safe to say that they have been the leading study in this connection. Studies wherever carried on have shown that size of business, yield of crops, production per animal and efficiency in the use of labor are the primary factors for success on a majority of farms. Their im portance in showing the great variation of these factors in a given locality or for a given type of farming and the effect these variations have upon farm profits can also not be over emphasized. It is quite true that farmers readily know that good cows are more profitable than poor ones and that good crops are more desirable than those which do not pay for harvesting, but farmers in all localities little realize the wide variations of these factors from farm to farm and the effect of such variations upon the financial side of their business. In a study of 378 owner farms in Chester County, Pa. (1911), 13 per cent had receipts of less than $50 per cow, while 15 percent had receipts of over $100 per cow. Another study carried out in Sum ter County, Georgia (1913), showed that out of a total of 268