SWISS FARM VALUES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19437, 24 October 1925, Page 23 (Supplement)

SWISS FARM VALUES

INTERESTING REPORT. Mr A. G. Ruston, of the Department of Agriculture, Leeds University, who was granted a Travelling Research Fellowship by the* British Ministry of Agriculture for the purpose of studying agricultural co-operation and farm costings in Europe, gives an interesting report on the latter subject, so far as Switzerland is concerned. From this report it is shown that during the past 20 years the labour bill on Swiss farms has averaged between £4 12s and £l2 9s per acre; the gross yield per acre was between £lO and £2B, and the net returns between £1 16s and £22 per acre. The capital invested in Swiss farms ranges from £l5O per acre on holdings of from seven to twelve acres, to £75 per acre on farms of over 75 acres, while the net balance per acre after allowing all charges is from £1 per acre to £2 3s Gd. The cost of Swiss land is put down at £4B per acre, while buildings cost £5B 10s per acre; implements and machinery £l3 per acre; live stock £l4 per acre; and store and floating capital £7 per acre. New Zealand farmers mav marvel at the low cost of land in Switzerland, but since no mention is made as to the charges on it in the shape of rates, taxes, etc., its true value cannot be determined. The extreme cost of buildings per acre, of course, is accentuated by the general small size of the farm, but the value of buildings and machinery seem to be out of all proportion to the value of stock per acre, for, after all, Switzerland is largely a stock-raising country, and the farmer depends largely upon dairying for his monetary returns.