D3o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 10,1952
Bigger—Better? Which?
Is bigger better? Is an increase
in size correlated with an increase
in profits?
The answer to both of these
questions is “yes sometimes and
no other times.” Unfortunately
many farmers just see the first
part of that answer.
I must admit that we in Ex
tension may be part of the
problem. It is a lot easier to “see”
the solution to a farm business
economic problem as an increase
in size. For example: We look at a
50-cow operation with a projected
debt repayment capacity of $24,000
per year. The operation needs a
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Brackett’s Ag Advice
By John E. Brockett
Farm Management Agent
Lewistown Extension Office
repayment capacity of $38,000. Our
first inclination is to look for ways
to economically expand the herd.
There are a number of reasons
we do this (I am not making ex
cuses just stating the facts).
First we have been conditioned to
the fact that the farmer will more
readily accept our suggestions if
we grease them with expansion.
Second it is easier to project profits
through increased production
units, based on a per unit return
now, than through the unknown
return we may get from improved
efficiency. Third no one likes to tell
a farmer (or anyone else) that
their managerial ability may be
limited. Fourth the expansion
move is probably in line with the
recommendation from the many
other advisors and quasi-advisors
a farmer encounters every day.
On The Average
On the average (how often I hear
that expression) larger operations
do appear to be more labor ef
ficient, more energy efficient, and
more profitable. This is true
regardless of the article
publication, or success story we
read.
My labor studies from the early
1970 s show that size is a factor in
labor efficiency. My energy use
studies in the late 1970 s show that
size is a factor in energy use ef
ficiency. Sam Dam’s annual
-Farm Analysis” summary shows
that the larger herds are more
profitable than smaller herds.
“On the average” can be
somewhat misleading though
unless we also look at ranges and
means. For example: if we had 10
farms producing com and 3
produced 40 bushel per acre, 3
produced 50 bushels per acre, 37
produced 60 bushels per acre and 1
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produced 220 bushels per acre the
average would.be 67 bushels per
acre. In reverse if 3 produced 90
bushels per acre, 3 produced 70
bushels per acre, 3 produced 60
bushels per acre, and one had 10
bushels, the average would also be
67 bushels per acre.
In the first case 9 of the ten
farms produced less than the
average and in the second case 8 of
the ten farms produced more than
the average. We would have known
a lot more about the 10 farms if we
had been told the range 40 to 220
bushels in case one and 10 to 90
bushels in case 2. We would have
known even more if we knew the
mean (the point where half are
below and half above).
In case one this would have been
50 (3 below, 3 at, 4 above). In case
two, the mean was around 70 (3
above, 3 at, 4 below).
Ranges
If we examine some of those
averages that appear to make
bigger better, we can find that “
‘tain’t necessarily so.” For
example: in the previously
mentioned labor study I found that,
Although larger herds (average 70
cows) used 22 percent less labor
per cow than small herds (average
42 cows), the range in labor use
among those larger herds was 100
percent.
Or to put it in actual terms of
man hours, large free stall
operations averaged 64 hours per
cow per year while small free stall
operations averaged 78 hours per
cow per year. The range among
the larger operations was 42 to 84
hours per cow per year. The range
among the smaller operations was
66 to 96 hours per cow per year.
Production per man hour of labor
had an even greater range.
The same situation is true when
we look at profits. I have worked
with literally hundreds of farm
analyses over the past few years.
The range in income per cow has
been fantastic, from close to zero
to well over $l,OOO. Size is a factor
but even within size groups, the
range is tremendous. Production is
a factor and so is the milking
system. However, in each of these
there is a big spread in the profit
picture.
The End Result
The end result is that most
fanners could probably increase
income rather substantially
without making a big investment
in expansion. In the next column or
two I’ll discuss some ideas on how.
Guernsey
youth
(Continued from Page 029)
Windsor, president; John Myers,
Littlestown, vice-president; Leona
Hobaugh, York, secretary; and
Kathy Lehman, York, treasurer.
Entertainment for the evening
featured the barbershop har
monies of the Lanco Lads, spon
sored by Fred Myers, Vigortone
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