Page 25

Crop Reporting Service Bulletin
                                    PART III
                             Manitowoc County Crops
       More of the agriculture enterprise in Manitowoc County is, turning
to
the production of feed crops as the livestock industry continues to expand.
The fact that crops contributed 14,6 percent of the cash farm income in 1949
is not a full indication of their importance to the general agricultural
econ-
omy. With pastures, crops provide the basis for the livestock and dairy in-
dustry. Farmers find it relatively more profitable to feed their crops to
cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry, and to market the livestock and livestock
products than to sell the crops as such. Hay, oats, and corn are the three
main crops now grown in the county. According to the 1950 Census these three
occupied 85.6 percent of the land from which crops were harvested.
             Chart 5.- Percentage of Cropland in Leading Crops, 1949
                            Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
                          From 1950 United States Census
/
OATS - 3,5.8%
       Pasture is an important part of the grassland farming now being empha-
sized. The 1950 Census figures show that 28 percent of the farm land in Mani-
towoc County was in pasture. While pastures supply feed mainly during the
growing season, the livestock industry also requires feed during the rest
of
the year. Manitowoc County had almost twice as much acreage in the three
main
feed crops as it had in pasture in 1950.
       Yearly information on crop acreage is obtained largely from the reports
of Wisconsin assessors who collect these acreages each year for the Crop
Re-.
porting Service of the Department of Agriculture.    TrfZormation on crop
yields
is obtained mainly from farmer crop reporters wri iiupply monthly data ddaring
the growing season on crop conditions and yields.  AcrCage and yield data
for
the various crops in Manitowoc County and area data for the individual towns
are shown in the following pages.
25
e¥'