Citation
Costs of picking and hauling Florida citrus fruits

Material Information

Title:
Costs of picking and hauling Florida citrus fruits
Series Title:
<1971-72-> Economics report
Portion of title:
Cost of picking and hauling Florida citrus fruits
Creator:
University of Florida -- Agricultural Experiment Station. -- Dept. of Agricultural Economics
University of Florida -- Food and Resource Economics Dept
Place of Publication:
Gainesville Fla
Publisher:
Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
Creation Date:
1955
Publication Date:
Frequency:
Annual
regular
Language:
English
Physical Description:
v. : ill. ; 28 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Citrus fruits -- Harvesting -- Costs ( lcsh )
Citrus fruits -- Transportation -- Costs ( lcsh )
Citrus fruit industry -- Costs -- Florida ( lcsh )
Genre:
serial ( sobekcm )
periodical ( marcgt )

Notes

Dates or Sequential Designation:
-1972-73.
Issuing Body:
Vols. for <1967-68-> issued by the Department of Agricultural Economics, Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences; <1971-72-> by the Food and Resource Economics Department, Aggricultural Experiment Stations, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida.
General Note:
Some issues have title: Cost of picking and hauling Florida citrus fruits.
General Note:
Description based on: 1967-68 season.
Funding:
Agricultural economics mimeo report.

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Source Institution:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
All applicable rights reserved by the source institution and holding location.
Resource Identifier:
03583885 ( OCLC )
74641566 ( LCCN )
0093-6553 ( ISSN )

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Succeeded by:
Estimated costs of picking and hauling Florida citrus fruits

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Full Text
II


COSTS OF PICKING AND HAULING

FLORIDA CITRUS FRUITS

1955-56 SEASON



by
A. H. Spurlock
Agricultural Economist


A Study Conducted with Funds Provided by the
Research and Marketing Act

Department of Agricultural Economics
Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations
Gainesville, Florida


Agricultural Economics Mimeo Report No. 57-3









COSTS OF PICKING AND HAULING FLORIDA CITRUS FRUITS, 1955-56 SEASON


Contents

Page

Introduction................ .......* ...... 1

Services Performed. .... ........ ...... ...... 2

Costs of Picking and Hauling, 1955-56. . . . .. 3

Capital Investment . .. ,.. . .10

Variation in Cost Between Firms . . . . 12

Comparison of 1955-56 with Prior Seasons . . . . .14




Introduction

Costs of handling citrus fruits from the tree to the packing or processing plant for the

1955-56 season are summarized for 36 firms by type of fruit. Services studied were: (1) buying

and selling, (2) picking, which included delivery to the roadside, and loading in the truck, and,

(3) hauling from the grove to the plant. Ten of the firms furnishing data were citrus dealers

specializing in the procurement, sale and delivery of fruit to the processing plant, and 26 were

principally packers of fresh fruit or processors. Most of the dealers also contracted with other

operators to pick and haul some of their volume. Contracting with other operators to pick and

haul part or all their volume also was common among the fresh fruit packers and processors.

The location of the firms studied was Polk County, 14; Orange County, 10; Lake County,

5; Pasco County, 2; and one each in Brevrd, Hillsborough, Pinellos, Seinnole and Jndan- Rvor

Counties.









COSTS OF PICKING AND HAULING FLORIDA CITRUS FRUITS, 1955-56 SEASON


Contents

Page

Introduction................ .......* ...... 1

Services Performed. .... ........ ...... ...... 2

Costs of Picking and Hauling, 1955-56. . . . .. 3

Capital Investment . .. ,.. . .10

Variation in Cost Between Firms . . . . 12

Comparison of 1955-56 with Prior Seasons . . . . .14




Introduction

Costs of handling citrus fruits from the tree to the packing or processing plant for the

1955-56 season are summarized for 36 firms by type of fruit. Services studied were: (1) buying

and selling, (2) picking, which included delivery to the roadside, and loading in the truck, and,

(3) hauling from the grove to the plant. Ten of the firms furnishing data were citrus dealers

specializing in the procurement, sale and delivery of fruit to the processing plant, and 26 were

principally packers of fresh fruit or processors. Most of the dealers also contracted with other

operators to pick and haul some of their volume. Contracting with other operators to pick and

haul part or all their volume also was common among the fresh fruit packers and processors.

The location of the firms studied was Polk County, 14; Orange County, 10; Lake County,

5; Pasco County, 2; and one each in Brevrd, Hillsborough, Pinellos, Seinnole and Jndan- Rvor

Counties.







Total volume of fruit handled varied widely between firms. Only one firm had less

than 150,000 boxes, and 9 firms had more than 1,000,000 boxes each.


Services Performed

The total costs of operation were obtained from the records of the firms. Using estimates

of the operator, payroll analyses, or sometimes standard ratios, an attempt was made to divide

the total costs of operation into the following services or functions:

Buying and Selling. For specialized fruit dealers this is one of the services performed in

procuring and delivering fruit to the processing plant. Many different types of arrangements are

made with the grove owner as to the price of the fruit and method of measurement. Dealers buy

and sell fruit which they may pick and haul with their own crews, or they may contract with

other similar operators to pick and haul. The costs of buying and selling fruit include salaries

for management, office and buyers; brokerage or commission; telephone and telegraph and auto

and travel expense.

Picking. This is the operation of getting the fruit off the tree and into the highway truck.

It represents the cost per box for the operator's own crews, but not for contract crews. The prin-

cipal costs of performing this service are labor, fuel, repairs, licenses, insurance and deprecia-

tion for the grove trudJc, crew trucks, loading machines, and other picking equipment, and

management and office salaries.

Hauling. This refers to hauling fruit from the roadside to the processor or fresh fruit

packinghouse. It does not include hauling in the grove to the roadside. It includes hauling of

packinghouse eliminations to the cannery, this being counted as a separate haul. This is usually

a somewhat less expensive haul than from grove to plant, according to operators. One of the

reasons for this is heavier loading trucks. Most operators state that hauling costs are about equal

for oranges and grapefruit, but higher for tangerines because of the lighter loading required.






-3-


Costs of Picking and Hauling, 1955-56


The average costs per box for picking and hauling citrus fruit for the 1955-56 season

from the grove to the processor or packinghouse are shown in Tables 1 and 2. These costs are

weighted averages, that is, the total money costs of all firms are divided by the total number of

boxes. Since two distinct types of firms are represented, the costs for each group are shown in a

separate table. The distinction between citrus dealers and packers in methods of operation is

perhaps not as clear as it once was. Both groups commonly pull oranges and grapefruit instead

of clipping. Also, packinghouses often pick some fruit, destined for canneries, by the bulk

methods used by citrus dealers. A few packers also use bulk handling methods for the fruit which

is packed fresh.

The average cost of buying and selling citrus fruits for 1955-56 averaged 2.71 cents per

box for nine dealers, varying from .92 cents to 4.63 cents per box (Table 1). The average

volume was 1, 211,961 boxes. The principal items of cost for providing this service were buyers'

salaries and commissions, management costs, auto and travel expense and telephone and tele-

graph.

Buying and selling unpacked fruit is not a normal function of fresh fruit packinghouses

and no cost is shown for them in Table 2. Some of the packers did have fruit procurement costs

however.

Hauling costs for 9 citrus dealers with an average volume of 785,018 boxes were 11.04

cents per box for 1955-56. This is a composite cost for all kinds of fruit hauled (Table 1).Twenty

packinghouses operating their own trucks had an average cost of 8.82 cents per box (Table 2).

The average volume for the packinghouses was 856, 220 boxes. Hauling cost per box does not

appear to be related to total volume hauled. It is perhaps affected more by the volume per

truck owned, and by average distance of haul, as well as by the proportion of box fruit and

langerines hauled. Based on estimates of operators and a few records of actual loadings obtained








Table I.--Average Cost Per Box for Picking and Hauling Citrus Fruit, 1955-56 Season.
Citrus Dealers Specializing in Buying and Selling, Picking and Hauling.

i : : 1 All Operations:
: Buying : a Picking : Buying and Selling
Item : and t Hauling: : Picking and Hauling
SSelling : Oranges:Grape-aTange-sOranges: Grape-Tange-
a a : : fruit :rines a : fruit : rines
Number of Operators : : 9 : 10 : 9 1 4 :
Ave.volume-boxes I, 211 ,96l :785, 401 148 ,110:94, 398:5,903 .
Cost per Box cents
Labor:
Field foremen 1.90 1.92 2.05 1.90 1.92 2.05
Pickers 17.91 11.84 47.78 17.91 11.84 47.78
Loaders 2.39 2.18 2.69 2.39 2.18 2.89
Grove drivers 1.00 .92 1.32 1.00 .92 1.32
Highway drivers 2.40 2.40 2.40 2.40
Mechanics .01 .18 .09 .05 .18 .28 .24 .37
Other labor .03 .80 .40 1.18 .83 .43 1.21
Total .01 2.61 24.09 17.31 55.20 26.71 19.93 57.82
Workmen's comp. ins.
payroll taxes .09 .81 .63 2.13 .90 .72 2.22
Total labor .01 2.70 24.90 17.94 57.33 27.61 20.65 60.04
m j~j IU Ij i I I| I I I I I II II I I I I II II


Corner Costs:
Gasoline, l, grease
Repairs
Licenses and taxes
Depreciation
Insurance
Interest
Salaries-Management
Office
Buyers
Brokerage. 'and commission
Supplies and shop expense
Ofcsupplies and expense
Telephone and telegraph
Lights, water, power
Equipment rental
Travel and auto
Foreign labor expense
Miscellaneous expense**
Total other costs


Tbtal Costs
* Less than .005 cents.


.05 1.99
.03 1.87
.01 .36
.07 1.73
.02 .44
.08 .07
.53 .76
.16 .28
.34
.53
.04
.03 .05
,21 .04
.02 .03
.01 .44
.39 .06

.22 .18
2.70 8.34
2.71 11.04


.65
.99
.11
.79
.16
.09
1.11
.42


.23
.06
.06
.04
.28
.08
.26
.23
30.46
30.46


.56
.89
.06
.40
.11
.08
.59
.24


.22
.05
.04
.03
.14
.05
.14
.15

21.69


.85
1.50
.20
2.14
.32
.27
2.96
.71


.65
.09
.12
.08
1.07
.22
.61
.22
69.34
69.34


2.69
2.89
.48
2.59
.62
.24
2.40
.86
.34
.53
.27
.14
.31
.09
.73
,53
.26
.63
44.21
44.21


2.60
2.79
.43
2.20
.57
.23
1.88
.68
.34
.53
,26
.13
.29
.08
.59
.50
.14
.55
14479
35.44


2.89
3.40
.57
3.94
.78
.42
4.25
1.15
.34
.53
.69
.17
.37
.13
1.52
.67
.61
.62
23.05
83.09


, legal and audit, advertising, dues, donations and bad debts.


I I


I ===Sa


-4-


** Includes .


I


I


II


I


*


I


I~ ~


I


*





-5-


Table 2.-Average Costs Per Box of Picking and Hauling Citrus Fruits,
1955-56 Season. Fresh Fruit Packinghouses and Processors.


: Picking : Total
: : Picking and Hauling
Item : Hauling : :Grape- :Tange- : :Grape-: Tange-
: .Oranges: fruit : rines :Oranges: Fruit : rines
Number of Operators 20 : 23 : 22 ~ 19 :
Average volume-boxes 5', 220 :652, 202:234,534 60, 697

Costs per box cents
Labor:
FieTd foremen : : 1.85 : 1.53 : 3.14 1.85 : 1.53 : 3.14
Pickers : 17.95 12.05 46 .35 17.95 12.05 46.35
Loaders 3.54 3.21 3.85 3.54 3.21 3.85
Grove drivers 1.28 .92 2.34 1.28 .92 2.34
Highway drivers 2.48 2.48 2.48 2.48
Mechanics .21 .15 .08 .18 .36 .29 .39
Other labor .01 .11 .04 .12 .12 .05 .13
Total 2. 70 24.88 -83 55.98 27.58 20 .53 58 .68
Workmen's comp.ins.
payroll taxes .15 .87 .68 1.81 1.02 .83 1.9 6
Total labor 2,85 2575 18,51 57.79 28.60 21.36 60 .64
Other Costs:
Gasoline,oil,grease 1.76 .60 .51 .67 2.36 2.27 2.43
Repairs 1.67 1.67 1.32 1.43 3.34 2.99 3.10
Licenses and taxes .28 .06 .03 .11 .34 .31 .39
Depreciation I .36 .56 .30 1.38 .92 .66 2.74
Insurance .19 .08 .05 .20 .27 .24 .39
Interest *
Salaries-Management .33 .76 .44 1 .93 I.09 .77 2.26
S Office .11 .11 .13 .14 .22 .24 .25
Supplies-shop expense .01 .05 .03 .12 .06 .04 .13
Ofc.Supplies and exp. .02 .02 .01 .02 .04 .03 .04
Telephone and telegraph .03 .05 .03 .11 .08 .06 .14
Equipment rental .10 .07 .03 .18 .17 .13 .28
Travel and Auto expense .03 .21 .11 .66 .24 .14 .69
Foreign labor expense .30 .12 .92 .30 .12 .92
Miscellaneous expense** .08 .24 .12 .67 .32 ._20 .75
Total other costs 5.97 4.78 3.23 8.54 10.75 9.20 14.51
Tota Costs 8823 3053 21.74' 66.33 39.35 30.56 75,15

* Less than .005 cents.
includeses lights, water, legal and audit, advertising, dues and subscriptions, donations and
bad debts.





-6-
In 1951-52, grapefruit cost about 9 percent less, and tangerines 38 percent more to haul than

oranges.

Picking costs as shown in Tables 1 and 2 include all amounts paid for direct labor for

picking and delivering to the roadside, grove truck expense and a portion of overhead and

management expenses. Picking labor was allocated to the various types of fruit from payroll

analyses and piece-rates insofar as possible. Fuel and repairs were prorated on a box basis

equally to all kinds of fruit. Certain overhead expenses, in particular those tend to be fixed,

were distributed between the several types of fruit in the inverse ratio of the usual number of

boxes picked per day by a picker. The average of these estimates by operators placed two-thirds

as much overhead per box on grapefruit and twice as much on tangerines as on oranges.

Total picking costs for 10 citrus dealers picking oranges averaged 30.46 cents per box,

and for 9 dealers averaged 21.69 cents for grapefruit (Table 1). Only four of these operators

picked tangerines with their own crews, and these picked only small quantities. The average

cost per box for picking tangerines was 69.34 cents. Labor, including workmen's compensation

insurance and payroll taxes, was the largest item of cost in picking fruit, being about 82 percent

of the total for oranges and 83 percent for grapefruit and tangerines.

For 23 packinghouses which operated their own crews, total picking costs for oranges

were 30.53 cents per box, and for grapefruit 21.74 cents. Total picking costs for tangerines

averaged 66.33 cents per box for 19 firms. As with the citrus dealers, the principal items of

picking costs of the fresh fruit packinghouses were labor, gas and oil, repairs, licenses, insur-

ance and depreciation. These items were usually complete in the records of the packinghouses,

but some of the smaller overhead items were not complete. Frequently such items as telephone,

office expense, lights and water, interest, management and office salaries were charged entire-

ly to the packing operation and none allocated to picking and hauling,








The last three columns of Table I show the combined average costs for citrus dealers for

the complete operation of moving fruit from the tree to the cannery, which includes buying and

selling, picking and hauling. This is obtained by adding together the costs allocated to the

separate services. Oranges cost 44.21 cents per box, grapefruit 35.44 cents and tangerines

83,09 cents from tree to cannery.

For fresh fruit packinghouses, the last section of Table 2 shows the combined costs of

picking and hauling each type of fruit for 1955-56. Since packinghouses do not normally have

buying and selling costs for unpacked fruit this section of Table 2 is not comparable with the

;ast section of Table 1.

Many ctrus firms, both dealers and packers, contract with other pperotors to pick and

haul, or both. Contract picking and hauling was separated from the firnr3 own crews. Rates or

amounts paid contractors are not shown in Tables 1 or 2 because of the difficulty of determining

the exact service performed and the kind of fruit. Contracted picking for 1955-56 costs 26,9

cents per box, and contracted hauling averaged 11.1 cents, but the kind of fruit is unknown.

Most of the items of cost are self-explanatory, but a few comments may serve to clarify

some classifications.

Labor cost is the amount paid by operators to their own crews for the service indicated.

Field foremen were sometimes paid a weekly salary, and sometimes aper-box rate Pickers were

paid a piece-rate per box, varying with the kind of fruit and the difficulty of picking. Most

operators paid about 11-12 cents per box for picking grapefruit, 40-50 cents for tangerines,

and around 17 cents per box for budded oranges. The rate for picking seedling oranges was 20

to 35 cents per box. Any condition which made picking more difficult usually required a higher

gpideirroafte,






-8-


Loaders transfer the boxes of picked fruit from the ground to the grove truck. The boxes may

be dlt on the truck floor, or poured into the truck body, depending upon the disposition intend-

ed for the fruit. Loaders were paid a piece-rate per box usually 2-1/2 to 4 cents per box.

Several different methods of handling fruit in the grove were in use. Some firms used a

tractor and 10 box containers to load the fruit directly into the highway truck, and some operators

used a tractor and 25-box carts instead of grove trucks. These innovations eliminate the loaders

and make the average rates shown for loading less per box than they would have been had all

used the hand loading method.

Grove drivers were usuallyaaid on an hour basis. In a few cases the foreman drove the

grove truck. Highway drivers were paid a weekly wage in most cases, but sometimes a per-box

rate. Their function was to drive the large trucks from the roadside to the citrus packing or

processing plant. Mechanics or shop employees were used by some operators to keep trucks

and other equipment in repair.

Other labor includes workers such as testers, cooks, watchmen, yard and scalehouse

labor, and crew truck drivers.

Workmen's compensation insurance and payroll taxes were added to the amounts paid

workers to determine the total direct labor costs.

Gasoline, oil and grease cost was the amount consumed by grove and crew trucks,

loading machines, highway trucks and in some cases by buyer's cars.

Repairs covered all automotive equipment ahd loading machines, buildings, and in

addition field box and ladder repair and replacement.

Licenses and taxes were principally the truck and auto licenses, but also included

business bonds or licenses and taxes on any property used in the business.






-9-


Depreciation is the allowance to cover the estimated wear and tear on the physical

assets used in the business. The total amount of depreciation was calculated by the firm's

accountants in most cases.

Interest is the amount paid for the use of barowed capital. Very few of the firms

paid any considerable amount of interest, indicating that they were furnishing most os the

capital required to operate the business. No charge for use of the owner's capital is included

in Tables 1 or 2.

Salaries were paid to management, office employees, and fruit buyers where employed

by the firm. Some of the citrus dealers were partnerships and individual proprietorship and

had no paid management this function being performed by the entrepreneurs. In these cases

the owner was asked to estimate the value of his labor and management. If only the paid

management costs had been included the per-box costs of management for dealers (Table 1)

would have been as follows:


7Mcnayemnt
Operation Paid par Box
BuMying' oflseing .17 cents
Picking Oranges .29 cents
Grapefruit .20 cents
Targerines 2.62 cents
Haul ing 23 cents
However, this procedure would have left some citrus dealers with no management expense, as

compared with other firms where management was fully paid, All management salaries shown

for packinghouses were actually paid, though some of such firms did not allocate any of their

management or office salaries to picking and hauling operations.






-10-


Brokerage or commission was sometimes paid on the sale of, or procurement of,fruit by

other buyers.

Supplies and shop expense include pickers' tickets, and various supplies and shop

tools and materials not easily classified with some other expense.

Office supplies and expense include stationery, postage, bank charge depreciation

and insurance on office equipment.

Telephone and telegraph was used principally in buying and selling of fruit, but a

portion was allocated to picking and hauling also.

Lights, water and power expense included the office consumption and sometimes power

for graders or fruit elevators.

A few firms rented equipment of various kinds for a part of their operations.

Travel and auto expense was incurred mainly in the buying and selling of fruit, but

also some in supervising the picking crews and fruit hauling. Some firms paid a mileage rate

for autos used, while some owned the cars and supplied fuel, reparis, etc.

Miscellaneous expense included a great many items, some of which were sizeable

sums for a few firms but averaged small amounts for all. This group is made up of advertising,

public relations expense, dues, subscriptions, donations, driver's expense accounts, labor

camp expense, business bad debts, legal and audit and many unclassified items of expense.


Capital Investment
Capital invested in the various physical assets required to pick and haul citrus fruit

by 24 firms is shown in Table 3. The firms included 7 citrus dealers and 17 fresh fruit packers,






-11-


Table 3.--Average Capital Invested in Citrus Picking and Hauling Equipment,
24 Firms, 1955-56 1/
Average Average per 1,000 Percent of
Class per Firm boxes handled 2/ Total
C o t ... .. --II I o
Cost Book Value Cost Book Value Cost Bsok Value
Land and Buildings $ 8,337 $ 5,286 $ 10.26 $ 6.50 6,2 8.9
Autos, trucks, trailers 106,470 39,348 131.00 48.41 79*2 66.1
Boxes, ladders, field equip. 16,729 13, 397 20.58 16.49 12.4 22.5
Office equipment 2,950 1481 3.63 1,82 2.2 2.5
Total $1340,486 $59,5 12 $165.47 $73.22 10070 100.0
I/ Value of some assets not always completely obtained. Land and buildings and office equip-
ment were frequently included in packinghouse assets for fresh fruit packers. Boxes and
ladders were often not carried on the books as an asset,
/ Largest volume handled, either picking or hauling, Average volume per firm 812,758 boxes.


Total book value of investment per firm averaged $59,512 or $73 per 1,000 boxes
handled. Of this 8.9 percent was in land and buildings, 66.1 percent in automotive equip-

ment, 22.5 percent in boxes, ladders, loaders and other miscellaneous equipment, and 2,5

percent was in office furniture and equipment. The original cost of the total investment

averaged $134,486 per firm and was about 56 percent depreciated. On the basis of book

value, the total investment per 1,000 boxes was slightly higher for the dealer than the packers,

The packers had more investment in field boxes than dealers, but lower investment in land

and buildings. However, their records often did not separate land and buildings or office

furniture from the packinghouse assets.

None of the costs in Table 1 and 2 includes interest on capital invested in picking

and hauling equipment. Interest paid by the firms for the use of borrowed capital is included,

though very few had interest expense. If interest at 5 percent were included on the book

value of the operatorSs capital it would amount to .37 cents per box picked and hauled for the

24 firms whom capital investment was obtained.





-12-


Variation in Cost Between Firms

Total cost varied rather widely between firms for providing the same service. These

Variations in total cost for picking and hauling in 1955-56 are shown in Tables 4, 5, and 6

for citrus dealers and packinghouses combined. Not enough is known about the individual

firm's operations to provide much information about reasons for costs being high or low. The

data do not show any relationship between volumes and level of costs, In fact some of the

smaller operators had relatively low costs.

Total picking costs for 10 citrus dealers and 23 packinghouses varied from 26.0

cents to 38.7 cents per box for oranges, and from 18.1 cents to 30.1 cents per box for grape-

fruit.

The range in cost for picking tangerines was from 56.3 cents to 81.3 cents per box

for 23 firms (Table 4).

Hauling costs for 9 citrus dealers and 19 packinghouses varied from 4.0 cents to

13.3 cents per box (Table 5).

For picking and hauling combined, (but excluding buying and selling) costs for 25

firms, both dealers and packers, ranged from 31.0 cents to 48,9 cents per box for oranges and

averaged 40.0( cents. The modal group of 13 firms had costs between 35.3 cents and 39,5 cents

for oranges. Picking and hauling costs for grapefruit for 23 firms varied from 23.8 cents to

37.0 cents per box, averaging 31.2 cents. The modal group of 11 firms had costs between

30.0 cents and 34.8 cents per box, Picking and hauling tangerines varied from 64.8 cents

to 90.5 cents per box, and averaged 75.9 cents for 16 firms. Seven of these firms had costs

between 73.5 cents and 76.8 cents per box.







-13-


Table 4.-- Variation in Total Cost Per Box for 33 Firms for Picking Oranges and 31 Firms
Picking Grapefruit and 23 Firms Picking Tangerines, 1955-56 Season
Citrus Dealers and Packers


Cost per Box
(cents)
18 20.9
21 23.9
24- 26.9
27 29.9
30 32.9
33 35.9
36 38.9
55 59.9
60 64.9
65 69.9
70 74.9
75 79.9


Oranges


STangerines


Gropefruit
Number of Firms
T14-


80 84.9 1
Total number of firms 33 31 23
Average Cost Per Box (cents) 30.5 21.7 66,4
Range in Costs (cents) 26.0 38.7 18.1 -30.1 56.3-81.3

Table 5.--Variation in Total Costs Per Box for Hauling Citrus Fruit from Grove to Cannery,
28 Firms, 1955-56 Season,
Citrus Dchlers and Packers
Cost Per Box Number of Firms
( cents) Number
4 5.9 2
6 7.9 3
8 9.9 12
10- 11.9 10
12- 13.9 1


Average Cost Per Box (cents)
Range in Costs (cents)


9.5
4.0- 13.3






-14-

Table 6.--Variation in Total Cost Per Box for Picking and Hauling Citrus, 1955-56 Season. I/
Citrus Dealers and Packers
Cost Per Box Oranges .Grapefruit Tangerines
(cents) Number of Firms
20 24.9 I
25 29.9 8
30 34.9 4 11
35 -39.9 13 3
40 44.9 5
45 49.9 3
60 64.9 1
65 69.9 3
70 74.9 4
75 79.9 3
80 -84.9 3
85 -89.9 1
90 94.9 1
Total Number of Firms 25 23 16
Average Cost Per Box (cents) 40.0 3U12 75.9
Range in Costs (cents) 31.0- 48.9 28,3 37.0 64.8 90.5
1/Citrus dealers had an additional cost of buying and selling fruit averaging 2.; cents per
box which is not included above.

Comparison of 1955-56 Costs with Previous Seasons

Total picking and hauling costs for 1955-56 were not much different for all firms

from the averages of preceding seasons (Table 7). Operating costs for the citrus dealers were

higher for all services performed for 1955-56. Costs for fresh fruit packers were slightly higher

for picking fruit, but lower for hauling in 1955-56. The fluctuation in total costs each season

has been wider for tangerines than for oranges and grapefruit. Very few of the citrus dealers

picked tangerines with their own crews, and packinghouse crews picked them in much smaller

volume than other citrus.

Most of the season-to-season variation in cost for each service is due to firms included.

These have not remained identical each year, and as previously pointed out, costs vary widely

between firms.





-15-


Table 7.--Total


Costs Per Box for Buying and Selling, Picking
and Hauling Citrus Fruits, Six Seasons


: No. : Buying : All Operations:
Season : of : and : Hauling : Picking : Buying and Selling
:Firms :Selling : : : Picking and Hauling
: a : Oranges :Grt. :Tangerines Oranges:Grft. :Tangerines

Citrus Dealers
1950-51 9 3.84 10.31 28.36 0 18.62 # 56.93 0 42.51 32.770 71.080
1951-52 15 3.37 10.19 28.33 20.41 53.06 41.89 33.97 66.62
1952-53 II 3.02 9.63 27.82 21.12 50.07 40.47 33.77 62.72
1953-54 13 2.74 9.50 29.83 19.73 62.14 42.07 31.97 74.38
1954-55 11 2.36 8.47 28.89 19.58 63.25 39.72 30.41 74.08
1955-56 10 2.71 11.04 30.46 21,69 69.34 44.21 35.44 83.09

FreshFFruit Packers and Processors
1951-52 II -1/' 9.240 28,530 19.23" 62.590- 37.77 2.471 71.831
1952-53 18 -r/ 9.75 29.77 22.24 59.78 39.521 31.99 69.53 1
1953-54 24 -T/ 9.67 28.41 20.70 60.81 38.08130.371 70.481
1954-55 24 -T/ 9.84 28.94 21.12 64.78 38.78130.961 74.621
1955-56 26 -T/ 8.82 30.53 21.74 66.33 39.35130.56175.15 1

)Total All Firms
1951-52 26 3.37 2/ 9.810 28.42 19.51 0 61.93 41.60 32.69 75.11 0
1952-53 29 3.02 / 9.71 29.12 21.98 59.62 41.85 34.71 72.35
1953-54 37 2.74 / 9.61 28.87 20.58 60.86 41.22 32.93 73.21
1954-55 36 2.36 i 9.38 28.93 20.91 64.72 40.67 32.65 76.46
1955-56 36 2.71 / 9.47 30.52 21.73 66.39 42.70 33.91 78.57

1/ The cost of buying and selling unpacked fruit is not incurred by fresh packers and is not in-
cluded in the total of all operations. Thus their total costs are not comparable with citrus
dealers.


1/ Average cost for citrus dealers.