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<br />N <br />c.., <br />~ <br />..""' <br /> <br />12,355 head for 1954 and 16,780 head for 1959 (table 32). All hay produced <br />in 1944 totaled 63,542 tons compared with 79,019 tons in 1959. Total hay <br />production is adequate to meet the dry feed requirements of the livestock. <br /> <br />A comparison of the value of farm products sold by source a,nd value of <br />crops harvested can be obtained from table 32, also. In 1949 and 1959 <br />the spread between value of fa:rmproducts sold and value of crops harvested <br />was greatest, but about the same relative magnitude for both. Livestockmen <br />benefited by feeding livestock in 1954, also, but they lost by feeding <br />crops to livestock in 1944. . <br /> <br />As gross sales of livestock and livestock products, other than poultry and <br />poultry products and dairy products, decreased in proportion to gross sales <br />of farm products, the difference between gross sales of farm products and <br />grosS value of crops harvested became less. L" genet'al, gross sales of, <br />livestock and livestock products indicated the profitability of farming <br />in the Vncampahgre subbasin during the censuS years studied. <br /> <br />j <br />Gross v.a:lne of crops harvested per acre increased from $59.0Q{ per acre <br />in 1944 to $74.00 per acre in 1959 ,while crop acreage harvested decreased <br />from 82,160 acres to 75,024 acres. <br /> <br />Total fanns decreased in number from 1,831 in 1944 to 1,342 in 1959 and <br />average size of farms incrf'ased from 316 acres to 508 acres. Value of <br />land and buildings per farm increased from $5,499 in 1944 to $24,485 in <br />1959, whileaveragr: irrigated acreage per farm increased from 57 acres <br />to 79 acres. Even in the Uncompahgre subbasin, containing the Uhcompahgre <br />project, farm numbers have decreased 27 percent since 1944; farm sizes <br />have almost doubled;vallle of land and buildings per farm has increased <br />mere than four times; and irrigated acreage per farm has increased by 39 <br />lH!rcent. <br /> <br />Proportion of irrigated farms to all farms has remained fairly constant <br />at abbut 95 percent, while proportion of tenancy has decreased from 24 <br />percent in 1944 to 13 percent in 1959. <br /> <br />Markets and Transportati~ <br /> <br />Most of the cattle are sold as calves from the Uncompahgre subbasin. Some <br />of the calves are sold to contract buyers who ship them Ea.st 'by truck to <br />the Midwest for feeding. Some of the calves are trucked South to feed <br />.yardS in Arizona, and still others are fed out in the local area, especially <br />near Delta, Colorado. A sugar factory at Delta processes the sugar beets <br />grown in the area and the beet~ulp is a cheap, succulent feed for cattle. <br />Corn Silage, grain corn, and sorghums are reasonably priced for feeding, <br />also. <br /> <br />The majority of the dry beans sold are shipped by truck to the southwestern <br />States, including Texas. Denver consti,tutes the, market for vegetables <br />arid potatoes, which are shipped by ra.il through Grand Junction. Fruit is <br />proeessed in Delta for further shipment. Moravian (mal~ing) barley is <br /> <br />- 81 - <br />