Geographical Phases of Farm Prices: Oats

Excerpts from the report: The price a farmer gets for his products varies greatly according to the section of the country in which he is situated. For some crops—the staples even—twice as high a price level frequently prevails in one part of the United States as in another. In this bulletin a survey is made of the sectional differences throughout the United States in the producers' prices of oats. Some consideration is also given to the influence of producing areas, trade routes and consuming centers upon such variations, and to local factors which qualify price advantage—factors such as relative yields in bushels to the acre and costs of production. Sectional differences in the farmers' price of oats have been charted on Maps 1 and 2. In Map 1 a price unit of 10 cents has been used to show tendencies due to broad general influences, as distinct from the minor variations due to local factors. Minor variations are shown in Map 2, which is more detailed. The farm prices of oats, by counties, which form the base of these maps—averages by counties for the five years, 1910-1914—are given in the Appendix; also a further explanation of data and methods.