Geographical Phases of Farm Prices: Corn

Excerpts from the report: The present investigation is confined chiefly to the influence of producing areas, trade routes, and consuming centers upon prices paid to farmers for corn and to a survey of the regional differences in such prices. Existing types of agriculture are determined by a combination of physical and commercial factors. Physical limitations upon most agricultural products may be said to be measured by the average yield in bushels to the acre. High or low yields per acre decrease or increase costs of production. It is also apparent that commercial limitations on production are to a large degree reflected in the price obtained by the farmer. When the varying farm prices of a product are properly charted on a map they are seen to increase or decrease in determinate directions. The regions of lowest and of highest prices are thus shown clearly, also regions or zones of intermediate prices. The directions of the price movement vary with each product. Small areas appear where farm prices are higher or lower than in the surrounding territory or zone. The "geography of farm prices" is thus a controlling element in crop selection. The county has been used as the basis of measurement in this bulletin. It represents the smallest unit of area for which farm prices are to be had. The base figures were compiled from the annual reports of about 30,000 township reporters of the Bureau of Crop Estimates for December 1, 1910-1914, inclusive. Five-year averages were used instead of quotations for a single year, in order to represent more nearly normal rather than occasional conditions. A tabular presentation of the prices of corn, by States and counties, is given in the Appendix (p. 45). Geographic variation of prices is depicted by means of maps and graphs.