retail grain trade are doing a relatively efficient and competent job in se- 

 lecting, assembling, and milling ration materials at the lowest cost. Most of 

 these companies have either nation-wide connections or contacts, and are 

 probably in a position to adopt as many of the advances in volume handling 

 of grain as the particular requirements of the local market will permit.*" 



Sources of Supply. 



Grain-feed needs in New Hampshire are met from mills within and 

 without the State. However, the latter group accounts for about 65 percent 

 of total sales. Where are the feed companies selling in New Hampshire lo- 

 cated? What factors explain these locations? Where do mixed-feed in- 

 gredients originate? What services are performed by feed companies? 

 How are retail feed stores supplied? 



Number of Firms. 



A compilation from the feedingstuff inspection lists for the State indi- 

 cated 36 firms selling complete mixed grain-feeds in New Hampshire in 

 1953. f While Table 5 reflects states in which the home offices of these 

 firms are located, there is some similarity between the patterns of home 

 office and mill locations. In terms of number of firms, most brands of feed 

 sold in New Hampshire originate from mills outside the State. 



The 17 firms in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont listed in 



Table 5 sell almost entirely within 



Table 5. Location and Number of Firms New England. Four are essentially 



Selling Complete Mixed Feeds in cooperatives in type. Ten, including 



New Hampshire, 1953 ^j^g Cooperative, operate entirely 



within, or are intended to service 

 primarily, the State of New Hamp- 

 shire. The 19 firms listed in states 

 outside New England sell over a 

 wider geographical area (many on 

 a near-national basis). The locations 

 of these firms probably reflect, in 

 order of numbers, these factors: (1) 

 nearness to the concentration of the 

 nation's milling capacity in the Great 

 Lakes area; (2) nearness to surplus 

 grain areas; and (3) relatively cen- 

 tral location within area serviced. 



Mixed Feed Ingredients. 



The complexity of modern grain-feeds, and the magnitude of the task 

 of assembling ingredients, is well illustrated by a compilation of the num- 



* For a discussion of methods in the Southwest see Hudson, W. J., and E. K. 

 Henschen, The Transportation and Handling of Grain by Motortruck in the Southwest, 

 Produce and Marketing Administration, U.S.D.A.. May, 1952. 



tDavis, H. A., and V. F. Staab, Inspection of Commercial Feedingstuffs, made for 

 the State Department of Agriculture, Station Bulletin 403, Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, July, 1953. 



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