In producing seeds of hybrid corn and grain sorghum, there are both additional cost considerations and income adjustments. First, since hybridization requires cross-pollination, alternate blocks of males and females must be planted. Planting costs are thus increased. Grain sorghum fields are rogued from 6 to 9 times to remove off-type plants. Detasseling of corn by hand to insure the desired cross is an additional labor expense, but the achievement of male sterility may eliminate this operation. Because only the seed from the female plants are of the desired hybrid type, only part of the total yield of hybrid corn and hybrid sorghums produced in the seed field can be sold at seed prices.

Growers specializing in alfalfa for seed supply most of the seed. Those who let their plantings for hay go to seed if the price is high enough also account for a sizable amount. Nearly all of the alfalfa grown for seed in California and the Columbia Basin of Washington is planted in rows. The hay produced on these stands is chopped and spread or given to anyone who will harvest and remove it from the field.

In California, rotations consist of 2-3 years of alfalfa seed and 2 years of such crops as cotton, melons, and grain. The seedgrower may farm these rotation crops himself or rent the land to someone else. Or he may be a "migratory" tenant farmer producing seed on several farms as fields become available that have appropriate crop histories for meeting the requirements for certified seed.

In some other major producing States primarily in the Great Plains and the Intermountain area alfalfa seed is usually taken from stands planted for hay. The first cutting is almost always for hay. The second and third may be for hay or seed. Per acre costs for seed production vary from 11.50 to 15 dollars per acre, depending on the method of harvesting. The farms are multi-enterprise farms, many of which include livestock enterprises.

Most of the seeds of Ladino clover are produced in the Sacramento Valley of California on soils that are not adapted to the production of deep-rooted crops. Much of this production is on land which was originally used for dry-farmed barley and sheep pasture. Many of the growers have retained their sheep enterprise and utilize the early spring growth of Ladino for pasture. Ladino is usually grown in rotation lasting about 8 years-4 years of Ladino and then 4 years of a combination of sudangrass, corn, barley, and other shallow-rooted crops. The land must not have grown whiteclover unless it was certified Ladino for 4 years to be eligible to produce certified seed. Most of the producers of Ladino seed sown their equipment except for possibly suction machines for harvesting the seed on the ground from shattering. Much of the suction harvesting is done by custom operators for a percentage of the crop.

The production of sudangrass seeds is concentrated in California, Texas, and Colorado. Sudangrass will grow successfully under many different soil conditions and in combination with many crops. In California, for example, sudangrass may be grown in combination with tomatoes, sugarbeets, alfalfa, Ladino clover, corn, barley, and milo. It may be grown in combination with rice on a different type of soil.

No special cultural practices are required except that the crop may have to be mowed or swathed and dried in the windrow before threshing to avoid losses from shattering.

PRODUCTION of grass seeds exhibits extremes similar to those found with other seed crops, both in terms of total acreage and in the relative importance of the crop in individual farming operations. Some have small seed fields and care for them as time can be spared from other activities. Commercial producers give the seed crop care comparable to any other crop of equal possibilities of net return.

Grass seeds in the Great Plains, the Intermountain region, and the Pacific Northwest are produced under both dry farmed and irrigated conditions. Some are planted in solid stands, but row plantings can be cultivated and irrigated more effectively. Seeds are also taken from native stands of some grasses when the set of seed and market are favorable.

Forage, as well as seeds, is usually produced on grass stands in this region. Typically, the farms producing small grains and livestock find a grass seed enterprise to be well adapted and profitable. An additional cash income from seed and additional forage for livestock are provided. As a multiple-purpose planting, relative prices of seed, forage, and livestock determine to a large extent whether seeds are harvested from a given grass planting in any year.

In the predominantly irrigated regions of the West, grass plantings on farms are primarily for the production of seed. Per-acre inputs and costs are greater, but yields are generally higher as a result of more intensive cultural practices. Plantings tend to be small, however, and are invariably conducted as one of several enterprises on a farm. Farmers experienced in the production of other types of seeds under irrigated conditions often add a grass-seed enterprise. They usually have the necessary experience and equipment. When added to other seed enterprises on a farm, the production costs can be reduced by taking advantage of supplementary relationships which exist. Established contacts with the seed markets may further contribute to a profitable grass seed enterprise on these farms.

By ANY measure, the production of seeds in the United States is an important agricultural enterprise. Yet an analysis of the agriculture in the major seed-producing areas indicates that seed production is relatively less important than other enterprises, both within the area and on individual farms. There are usually other crops that on the average will bring higher net returns than seed crops.

The organization and financial structure of a typical farm producing sudangrass seed in the Sacramento Valley area of California illustrates this point. Sudangrass seed is considered an important crop in the area, but it typically occupies only about 10 percent of the crop acres of the farm, produces only 6 percent of the gross income, and contributes about 3.5 percent of the net income.

Sudangrass is a good rotation crop because it uses much of the same machinery as milo and barley, thus making more complete use of these capital items. It also loosens the soil, and many crops can be planted in the stubble with a minimum of soil preparation. The rather wide variation in prices and yields makes this a good speculative crop when the income of the farm is fairly stable as a result of including such crops as tomatoes and sugarbeets grown under contract and barley and alfalfa.

On a farm that produces alfalfa seed in the San Joaquin Valley area of California, the seed crop occupies 60 percent of the land area and furnishes 50 percent of the gross income. Even so, the seed crop provides less than 30 percent of the net income.

Thus, for two of the dominant forage seed crops in California, the seed enterprise represents a relatively insignificant part of the total income at average yields and prices.

One reason why a farmer elects to grow a seed crop is that he sees a chance to make high net returns on a small acreage. Some flower crops occasionally offer such possibilities. High yields sold at a favorable price can provide substantial net returns. If the acreage required is small, the total cash outlay may still be within the reach of the operator of a relatively small farm.

Another reason is that some seed crops provide an opportunity to use resources that for one reason or another cannot be used as effectively by other enterprises.

In some areas, producer contracts that stipulate a purchase price are attractive to many farmers. Such a contract may appear to add a measure of certainty to the farm income, although this added certainty may be more imaginary than real because of the many other variables that affect income. Contracts of this type may also help the farmer to obtain production credit.

Farmers often are willing to sacrifice the opportunity for very high incomes to avoid excessive variation in income, particularly if available capital is limited. This argument is often advanced to explain the farmers' reluctance to increase the proportion of land allocated to seed production. For some seed crops, particularly the few flower seed crops grown by individual farmers, this explanation may be valid. Wide year-to-year fluctuations in yield and price where not stipulated in a contract may occur.

Available evidence fails to support this argument when applied to many of the field crop seeds. Often, the variation in yield, price, and income are equal to or lower than those for other crops grown on the same farms. This is particularly true of seed crops grown under contract on irrigated farms in the West.

A part of the income of a farm operator is due to his skill in making managerial decisions and accepting responsibility for the decisions. The level of income in agricultural production thus is related to the managerial skills required and the financial responsibilities to be assumed. Since good management is essential to successful production of seeds, the management income to individual producers should be relatively high over time. Yet evidence we have suggests that this is not necessarily the case.

The answer lies in the fact that responsibility for many of the management decisions in seed production is retained by the contracting seed company and, in some cases, it assumes substantial financial responsibility ordinarily borne entirely by the producer in other production lines. Thus what appears to be a wrong allocation of returns between producer and contracting company often may be quite in keeping with the relative contributions of the two parties to the production of seeds of many specialty crops.

CHESTER O. MCCORKLE, JR., is an associate professor of agricultural economics and an associate agricultural economist in the agricultural experiment station and on the Giannini Foundation at the University of California in Davis.

A. DOYLE REED is an extension economist in farm management at the University of California.