REPORT OF THE ACTING CHIEF OF THE OFFICE OF FARM

MANAGEMENT.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

OFFICE OF FARM MANAGEMENT, Washington, D. C., October 14, 1918.

SIR: I am submitting herewith the annual report of the Office of Farm Management for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1918.

Respectfully,

E. H. THOMSON,

Acting Chief.

Hon. D. F. HOUSTON,

Secretary of Agriculture.

The unusual conditions brought about by the war have made necessary abrupt and important changes in the management of farms in all parts of the country. These changes, in the main, have been in the nature of adjustments to meet difficulties in securing an adequate supply of farm labor and of necessary materials used in production. To the problems involved in making these adjustments the Office of Farm Management naturally has directed its major activities during the past year. Before this country became involved in the war, a number of routine farm management investigations were in progress, but these were laid aside in all cases in which it was found that those engaged in the work could be used to better advantage in work bearing more immediately upon the war emergency. Just as it was necessary to put the farm on a war basis, so the activities of the Office of Farm Management have been put on the war basis with a view to helping to solve the problems that are foremost in the minds of the farmers and most in need of attention during this crisis.

The primary problem has been to increase the production of all farm products, notwithstanding decreased facilities for production. In the face of an unusual situation it was necessary to plan a safe program in farming, one which would insure an ample supply of food products, not only for ourselves, but also for the allied powers. It was no time for experiment or untried innovations, but rather for the most efficient application of standard methods that could be depended upon to bring results.

This program demanded maximum efficiency of labor, for in most. cases less labor than usual was available. In the main, this efficiency of labor could be realized only by the wider and more effective use of machinery and teams. Such use necessitated unusually careful·

planning of the farm work, to eliminate idle periods as far as possible, and to insure the fullest possible utilization of all available forces of production.

Not the least of the problems to be solved was that created by the acute shortage of concentrated feeds for live stock. This shortage was especially grave in certain areas, and in many localities necessitated the complete rearrangement of farming systems to provide a larger supply of home-grown feeds, grains as well as roughage.

Obviously one of the most direct ways of increasing production is through keeping crop yields on a high level, by the skillful use of fertilizers, manures, and legumes. A more thorough study of the problems of maintaining crop yields than has yet been made is imperatively demanded by war-time conditions, and this is to-day one of the major lines of investigation that are being followed by the Office of Farm Management.

FARM-LABOR PROBLEMS.

The responsibility of handling the farm-labor problem in cooperation with the various State and governmental labor agencies was assigned to this office. Farm Help Specialists were placed in the several States to conduct educational campaigns and perform the functions of a clearing house on all problems arising out of the shortage of labor on farms. These farm-help workers cooperated with State and Federal agencies in each area, so as to insure the maximum efficiency in the conduct of the work and to avoid duplication of effort. The work, in the main, was confined to ascertaining the farm labor needs of a community and reporting these needs to the various agencies that might be in a position to supply labor needed. Steps were also taken to develop and apply methods which would insure a more careful estimate of the actual needs of farmers in each district during rush seasons. Great difficulty has been experienced in the past in definitely determining the labor needs of any one community far enough in advance to permit planning to meet the shortage. Surveys were made in some of the grain-producing districts of Kansas and the Dakotas, and the results indicated that a fairly accurate estimate can be made of the labor needed for planting and harvesting by having at hand data on the extent and organization of the farms in any particular region.

As a

Perhaps the greatest achievement that may be credited to the farm labor activities with which the Office of Farm Management has been concerned is the establishment of cordial cooperation and sympathetic understanding between farmers and local business men. result of this cooperation crops have been harvested by aid of the business men from cities and towns in hundreds of localities where large losses would undoubtedly have occurred from sheer lack of labor. About 35,000 persons were thus obtained to help harvest in Kansas, 15,000 in Nebraska, 20,000 in Oregon, 10,000 in Missouri, 12,000 in Indiana, 25,000 in Illinois, and proportionate numbers in practically all other States. The farmer has thus learned that local town and city folks can assist greatly in this emergency work and has come to look with favor upon their cooperation. The effect has been to bring farmer and town resident into a more cordial relation.

The results achieved along this line are especially helpful toward providing the harvest labor needed in a constantly enlarging agricultural program. Too much emphasis can not be placed upon the phase of the labor work that has to do with bringing into close cooperation and alignment all the forces which have more or less to do with the labor problem and framing a program that will eliminate as far as possible the loss due to having an over supply of labor at certain places and shortage at others, and that will make possible the use of all the local labor to the fullest extent and thus save transportation of workers from distant areas and necessary loss of time occasioned in such travel.

CROP ECONOMICS.

The problems of crop economics vary widely according to the region and the crops involved. The activities of the Office of Farm Management along this line for the past year have had to do with the study of farm practice in the production of sugar beets, corn and silage, wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, rice, fruits, cotton, soy beans, hay, and legumes, such as clovers and alfalfa. Attention has also been given to pastures, their importance, and the methods of making them a more effective part of the farm business.

Very extensive investigations have been made on the production of sugar beets. In the irrigated districts in the Mountain and Pacific States, also in Michigan and Ohio, farm-practice studies on this crop have been collected on over 1,500 farms. These include data on the number and extent of the operations, the equipment used, the effect of these operations upon the yields obtained, and the relationship that the sugar-beet enterprise bears to the rest of the farm. business.

In the study on the production of silage, information has been obtained on the best practices and methods followed by growers in various districts, especially in the northern dairy regions; the effect of the degree of maturity on yields, the shrinkage and wastage in storage, and the feed requirements as determined through the experience of the best live-stock growers.

The investigations in the production of wheat and other small grains have had to do primarily with the place that these grains should occupy in the rotation; with farm practices with reference to weed control; with the conservation of moisture, the reduction of the amount of labor necessary in the various operations, and the elimination of waste and damage by weather and other agencies.

Studies of fruits have been confined primarily to the apple-growing districts, with a view of determining the extent of area that the orchard should occupy on a general farm, the relationship that it bears to the rest of the farm business, and the practices which make it a profitable part of the business. Data have been collected on all the operations incident to the growing of apples in each region.

The investigations of cotton have been associated with studies of the soy bean and the velvet bean with a view of working out rotations which will maintain a high level of yield in all these crops, with a minimum of labor. Soy beans and velvet beans are comparatively new crops in many parts of the South, and there has been urgent need of more information on these crops.

Investigations of hay and other forms of dry forage have been confined largely to improved methods of making hay, special attention having been given to methods which decrease man-labor requirements. A number of bulletins have been published dealing with improved methods of handling hay, especially in the South and East. Need for greater attention to pastures is more and more apparent. Although funds have not been available for making a careful study of this problem, attention has been directed to the importance of pastures and the place that they should occupy on live-stock farms.

LIVE-STOCK ECONOMICS.

The farm-practice studies with reference to the management of live-stock farms, particularly in the corn-belt States and in the north Atlantic districts, have been continued with valuable results. Special attention has been given to the requirements in the way of feeds and labor, as worked out by experienced live-stock men in each of these districts. There is an increasing demand for information of this nature, and the farm-management studies which have been conducted along this line have been a very fruitful source of data on this subject.

Records covering a five-year period on a number of beef-cattle farms in the Central States give a very accurate index of the needs of this industry in the way of equipment, feed and labor; also give indication of the returns that can be expected in raising and in fattening beef cattle and in the production of baby beef on corn-belt farms. Attention has been directed to those factors which make the production of feeder cattle a profitable enterprise in the Middle West, a problem especially important in view of the decreasing supply of feeder cattle from the ranges and mountain regions.

Extensive studies have also been made in the practices found on farms where fattening sheep is an important enterprise. Another important problem has been in connection with determining the place which sheep should occupy on the small farms in the East and North Atlantic States. A bulletin has been published dealing with the possibilities of a revival of the sheep industry in New England. With present prices, the question of farm equipment and power is of increasing importance, especially in view of the quite general substitution of tractors for horses, and the gain that thus may be effected through the products from land formerly required for the support of work stock. Data have been published giving the hours of labor performed by work horses as found on a number of farms in different parts of the country, and the feed requirements and labor necessary in providing for their maintenance. Such information has been exceedingly valuable in planning efficient systems of farm organization.

FARM-EQUIPMENT INVESTIGATIONS.

Under the stress of war-time conditions a more intensive utilization of all kinds of farm equipment has become necessary. The difficulties in securing labor and the increased cost of motive power make it desirable to use those machines which will effect the greatest saving in time and expense. Farm-management investigation of the economics of various kinds of machines, their cost and practicability, has been especially useful at this time.

The tractor has received a great deal of attention from farmers in most parts of the country. Continued demands have been made for information on the factors which determine whether it will pay to purchase a tractor, with special reference to size of farm business and kind of farming followed. Detailed reports on the performance and practicability of all kinds of tractors have been obtained from more than 12,000 owners of these machines. Several publications have been issued giving the latest experiences of tractor users in different parts of the country and indicating the conditions under which the purchase of a tractor is advisable and the results that may be expected from its use.

The labor situation on dairy farms has emphasized the importance of the milking machine. Very careful investigations conducted on more than 300 farms on which various types of milking machines are in use have enabled the office to answer the questions relating to this form of equipment. Particular stress has been given to such questions as the size of herd which will justify the purchase of a milking machine, the time saved through its use, the cost of its operation, and its effect, if any, upon the dairy cow.

Attention has also been directed to the care of machinery, with a view to insuring its maximum efficiency and reducing expense for repair and replacement, as well as to certain special equipment problems, such as the use and practicability of wood-sawing outfits, the use of corn-harvesting machinery, and the care and operation of thrashing machines. Particular attention has been given to the use of larger machines wherever practicable and to the introduction of new labor-saving machines in regions where man labor can be saved by their use.

FARM TENURE.

Investigations on terure have been largely discontinued, though such data as already have been collected have been summarized and published. Attention on this subject has been directed to working out a suitable lease contract for farms of different types. More particularly, these studies pertain to dairy farms and grain farms. Inquiry has shown that tenants remain longer where the lease is on a one-year basis, but renewable if both parties are satisfied.

FINANCIAL ANALYSES OF THE FARM BUSINESS.

Analyses of the farm business as developed in various regions have been made and have been especially helpful in furnishing information on the amount of capital required for each type of farming and for the various-sized farms. Especially valuable information is available on the returns which may be expected from farming in each district and under different systems of management. The proportion of capital invested in land and real estate, in equipment and work stock, and in funds for operating the business has been determined for each kind and type of farming.

Investigations on this subject are being extended from time to time in new areas where conditions are changing and where additional data are needed, as well as in the same areas over 5- and 10