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planned and production items widely used if a fanner is to survive the cost-price squeeze.
How can farmers keep costs down? For instance—machinery? The economists say to buy only the machines that will pay for themselves in the operation, reduce repair and maintenance as well as operating cost by careful attention and timeliness of repair, and decrease machinery costs per unit of work by increased volume of use through expanded farm use or custom work. Hiring custom operators to do certain jobs may be the , answer on some farms.
Labor continues to pose a problem. Non-farm employment is becoming more competitive for the farm labor supply, and average farm wage rates are up 3 per cent over a year ago. However, the number of workers on Virginia farms increased about 5 per cent from September 1960 to September 1961, in contrast to the downward trend for the rest of the nation. The Virginia increase was in both family and hired help.
Taxes levied on farm real estate rose 8 per cent over last year, pushing the average tax per acre to a new high of 1.20 on United States farms. Market values of farm real estate increased only slightly in the year ended March 1961. As a result, the marked rise in taxes levied pushed the tax-tovalue relationship to 99 cents per $100 of full value recorded since the early 1940’s, but is considerably lower than the record of $1.50 set in 1932. Taxes levied on farm real estate in 1960 absorbed nine pet cent of the total net farm income,
Prices of feed grains will average higher in 1962 than in 1961 In the feeding year now starting the feed program is expected to rej duce moderately the carryover oi 1 feed grains. Prices of oats and bar ley have declined less than sea'
69.6%